Day 8

Got picked up for a mini safari around the wetland park in search of more wildlife which was so much greener with lushes vegetation compared to the park we went to yesterday - we were the only two in the game viewer so it felt like the whole experience was a private tour. We drove through the park for 40km+ quite quickly, only stopping for any interesting game such as rhino or large herds of zebra or wieldebeest so that we could make it to the beach at Cape Vidal for the low tide which is ideal for snorkelling. We got to the beach which is huge and refreshingly more populated by monkeys in the area than people. Managed to get a good 45 minutes of snorkelling before the tide was coming in quite hard, but was amazed at the amount of tropical fish that we could see so close to the shore. After spending a while swimming with the fish and drinking water through the snorkel (Curtis' first time snorkelling!) we spent a few hours relaxing on the beach before heading back through the bush still on watch.

Stopped off at a popular picnic spot for lunch with our game ranger whom we've got to know quite well over the last couple days before taking a walk up to a spectacular viewpoint overlooking the bush on one side, with the sea on the other. While admiring the views, we were fortunate enough to spot some rhinos in the bush, as well as watch the whales through the binoculars breaking the water and flapping their fins in the sea!

Back to the lodge for a South African dish (Bobotie) and pudding (not entirely sure what it was, but our clean bowls shows how nice it was). Quick change into our safari attire before heading out on a night time safari in search of the illusive leopard - the only animal we have not spotted on the Big 5. Still pleasantly warm for the safari and actaully found it easier to spot the animals at night with the spotlights reflecting off their eyes. We were really concentrating on the reflection of blue eyes, as these are the cats in the wild! Managed to track a few, but losing sight of them before we could catch up to them across the felt. Didn't find the leopard, but spotted some hyena. Still a succesful night (finding hippo, rhino, giraffe, wieldebeest, snakes, zebras, antelope and even a mole) and while not one for pictures it was a great experience!

Back to the lodge, and you guessed it....straight to the honesty bar for a drink before bed.

C & E