Port Elizabeth and Kichaka

On Monday September 15th we left Joburg at 4:30 in the morning to fly to Port Elizabeth. We were all a little tired with the early flight but we were looking forward to the safari. The TSA would be shocked and appaled with the security at the Joburg airport. We just walked around and we didn't need ID or even a boarding pass with our name on it. It was crazy! We drove about 45 minutes to the Kichaka Game Lodge and we were totally impressed with the beautiful landscape on our way there. The first thing we saw as we entered the main lodge was this hippo just walking around in the backyard. We were so excited!They feed us a beautiful lunch and then we went to go check out our bungalows!Kell and I were so excited we documented each step of the way with photos. This was the walk-way to Milkwood (our cabin.)Here's Kell at the door, we were super excited to find out what was waiting for us inside!Each bungalow had sliding doors that would open the whole corner of the room out the the private deck with our own plunge pool. The rooms were beautiful and the giant tub was awesome to soak in after a long cold drive.We were finally able to go on our first game drive. They were almost like being on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland but in real life! The first large animals we saw were three giraffe. They were beautiful and graceful animals. I think I could watch them for hours!

This big guy had really dark spots and I think I liked him the most of all the giraffe we saw because he had been attacked by the lions a while ago and had scars all down his legs. I think they gave him character and he reminded me of my good friend Kell who also has a scar leg!
After we left the giraffe, we went in search of the elephants! These were amazing creatures. We didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with them since it was getting dark and they were heading into the bush, but what we did get to see was amazing.

We saw a couple of warthogs that night and then as we got back to the lodge and they started to show us the dinner menu we realized that we had a choice of steak or warthog. When in Rome, right? It was actually quite good, it tasted pretty much a pork chop. Yummy!

This was what we got to come home to, the lights leading us to the main lodge where people were waiting to give us hot chocolate and the fireplaces were roaring!


We ate a late dinner and then headed back to our rooms for a good nights sleep, only to get our wake-up call at 5:30 the next morning for the morning game drive. This time were in on a mission to see more of the big 5!