Day 87 East London, South Africa

Weather
Upper 70's, cloudy

Map

What we did

Today’s excursion took us to the Inkwenkwezi Private Reserve, a stop that offered a few memorable moments, though it wasn’t the most outstanding safari experience overall. After about an hour’s drive to the reserve, we hopped straight into open-air jeeps for a 2.5 hour game drive. The first 30 minutes took us through dense forest along some of the bumpiest roads we’ve encountered so far and unfortunately there were no sightings of anything. Eventually, the landscape opened up, rewarding us with sightings of zebras, blesboks, and a pair of giraffes grazing in the distance.

The highlight of this safari was a white lion breeding area which was an enclosed space of around 10 or so acres. The lions here are supplemented with a cow every couple of weeks, though they still do some hunting on their own as each lion needs to eat their weight in meat each month. Driving through, we passed remnants of previous meals and soon spotted two lionesses resting in the tall grass. We were able to get remarkably close, about 6 to 8 feet away! This made for an unforgettable, if not slightly intense, photo opportunity. Their presence up close was nothing short of amazing. We were advised not to make loud noises,, stand up or put our arms out of the vehicle. As long as we followed those instructions, we were relatively safe. Towards the end of our drive we also saw 2 rhinos. Amy joked it was like Noah's Ark where we saw 2 of each animal (other thank zebra and antelopes which were plentiful).

Due to delays in arriving at the cruise port, the next group was eager to take our places in the jeeps. We paused briefly for refreshments and restrooms before heading back to our ship.

Although we were glad to see the white lionesses, overall, this was not our favorite safari.