Day 2 at Gondwana started with a very early morning wake up call. I’ve never been a morning person so I went to sleep with the fear of the phone blaring in the morning. Luckily, Mr Love heard it first and answered it (hashtag sorry, not sorry!). We managed to pull ourselves out of bed, before sunrise, so that we didn’t waste any opportunity to see the animals at dawn.
We were escorted to the bar for a brandy, kidding, tea and rusks first thing. I don’t usually drink hot things, but I’m slowly starting to get into it now that I’m getting older *cough cough*. Tea in the morning when you’re still half asleep is quite a vibe! I like it.
Our ranger collected us and we jumped into the back of the bakkie. I sat right behind him as I wanted the best view. Mr Love sat on the last row of the truck and said he had twice the joy ride! While you may be the highest, you are also the most prone to being bumped around. He said he nearly went overboard a few times! I liked my seat in the front as it reminded me of standing up in the back of the bakkie when we used to drive over desert plains as a child in Namibia.
The morning was crisp and beautiful. As the sun rose, the mist burnt off to reveal a further view. The first friends we saw were a herd of impala and a few zebras.
We continued to a wattled tree area, but we didn’t see any animals. As soon as we had turned the bend he received word, via radio, that the lions were heading to the area we had just left! So we quickly u-turned and headed back to find a daddy lion and his two cubs on their way down the road.
The lions at Gondwana are beautiful. They are like Disney lions! Perfectly groomed! I asked Soli (our ranger) about that and he explained that the more lions there are in an area, the more likely they are to fight and get injured. These lions are beautiful, the cubs were playful, the dad was loving and most importantly, they are living happily at Gondwana.
Once they found their spot, they sat down to warm up in the sun (every cat loves a little morning sunshine!) and to wait for the mother lion who was out hunting.
We left the lion family to enjoy their morning and carried on our way, which led us to the mommy lioness. It was great to see Dad doing some babysitting while Mom brought home the venison 😉 How modern of them! We found mommy lion on a ridge looking for prey.
The lioness walked down directly towards us as we all sat quietly looking on. Once she’s seen us (it didn’t seem to bother her) our ranger drove closer. She then walked RIGHT up to us (not in a friendly way, in a I’m-busy way) and we were able to see her up close. She was incredibly beautiful.
We left her alone and moved on to have our second cup of morning tea at the top of a hill. It was wonderful to take in the vast South African landscape to the sounds of the wild.
After tea, we returned to the lodge for breakfast, enjoying various antelope on the way back.
Once back at ‘camp’, Gondwana greeted us with a FEAST of a breakfast. And I mean a feast! From cold hams and cheeses (European) to cereals and a fully cooked breakfast to sweets. I enjoyed a scone with strawberry jam and cream for a starter breakfast before tucking into half an English breakfast. Delicious!
After breakfast we strolled back to our room and crept into bed for a few hours catch up. We were on holiday after all 😉
*Thanks for reading. What happened after lunch up soon! BCTC
