The Wild Side of South Africa

“Are you comfortable guys?”

“Yeh we’re cool Greg!” we both answered as the rotors picked up to lift off pace!

Then with a quick move of the stick we lifted off the ground at Kruger Airport bound for the bush!

For our 5th wedding anniversary I wanted to surprise Audrey with not only a trip of a lifetime to Africa’s most exclusive private game reserve, Londolozi, but also to arrive in style by chopper!

As we flew over the mountain ranges towards Londolozi I had secretly arranged for the heli to land at the top of a mountain where I cracked out a bottle of bubbles and raised a glass to us and our awesome adventure!

Looking out through “God’s Window”, as the view point is called, we pondered on our journey thus far and how grateful we are to have sailed over 24,000 miles together around the planet this year and to have done it in the style and with the route we’ve taken! It is amazing what can be packed into a year if you really go for it!!!

We enjoyed a very special half hour on the mountaintop until the weather closed in and we took to the air again, onward to Londolozi!

We touched down and were greeted by our guide, Alfie, who took us down to settle in at Pioneer Camp, which is the most exclusive camp in Londolozi… a good friend of EJs had arranged for us to be upgraded so we were ecstatic!!!

Some of this excitement came in the form of this Bull elephant protecting his herd!

We shared our camp with just 2 other couples. There was a lovely newly married couple, Rich & Simone who had tied the knot a few weeks prior in New York and were finishing up their honeymoon in South Africa. We were also surprised and delighted to be sharing the camp with Sir Peter Harrison & his partner Yana! Sir Peter is a passionate sailor and racer and was the principal backer of the previous British America’s Cup Team. It was a true pleasure for us to spend quality time with him although it meant we didn’t stick to our plan of “No sailing chat for 3 days”!!

We didn’t have to go very far from camp this day as this female leopard was right outside the camp.

A day in Londolozi starts at 0500 with a cup of tea and some fruit brought to your villa and then you meet Alfie at the Land rover at 0530. You spend 3 – 4 hours driving around tracking the animals and going through bushes and rivers, in fact you go wherever you need to go to view the animals!

This female leopard was off to find her cub!

You arrive back for breakfast at around 0930 and then have the rest of the day to yourselves until 1600 when you hop back in with Alfie for the evening drive! That finishes around 1930 for dinner and early bed before the next morning!

Nothing can prepare you for the animals…in the fact the word animal doesn’t describe the beauty and wonderment of these majestic creatures!

Wildebeest!

Leopards, Lions, Cheetahs, Rhinos, Hippos, Giraffes, Elephants, Hyenas, Impalas, ostriches, crocodiles, Zebras & many more animals & birds.

We had the pleasure of sitting right next to them in the wild and experiencing them in the present moment!

Zebra!

Impala’s

It’s so easy to forget what’s REAL and truly important in our lives and a trip to the bush, like when you are at sea, I find somehow reconnects you to Mother Earth and the Universe.

I once heard a statistic that said, “80% of things we worry about never come true!” I can well believe that….I wonder what would happen if we devoted that 80% to living in the moment and being in awe of our wondrous lives and dedicate ourselves to truly living our dreams!