Welcome To A South African Sunset…

This was our very first night on safari. How could we ever top this Giraffe greeting us as the sun was setting at the Singita Boulders lodge in the Sabi Sands private reserve near Kruger National Park in South Africa…

Welcome To Singita Boulders Lodge In The Sabi Sands Private Reserve…

That’s my wife Alex on the deck of our room, which overlooks the Sand river and Singita’s private nature reserve beyond….and yes, we saw lots of animals from our deck, like this Water Buffalo:

We were blown away by our experience at Singita: an incredible staff – and the animals, roaming freely – like this herd of elephants who wandered by across the river from our room as well:

So, we had safaris without ever leaving our room, but when we did leave – that’s when it was truly spectacular!

Our Singita Sundowners!

Here’s how a safari works: every single morning we did a 6a safari that lasted for 4+ hours, then we had a few hours off for lunch and relaxation before heading back out for our afternoon safari at 4p…our days always ended with a “safari sundowner”, where our Guide George and Tracker Louis stopped at a gorgeous viewing location and put out snacks and drinks for us to enjoy!

Here was our view:

As the sun set, we headed back to camp, where we came across this Giraffe…check out how he twists his very long neck around:

We also came across some Zebras getting a few last sips before dark…

The sunset was truly spectacular – what was also incredible was what happened after dark as we drove back to the lodge…we came across a Leopard! Check this out!

We tracked the Leopard for almost a half hour as it wandered near our lodge! I’ve said this before, there are NO restrictions that keep the animals from roaming freely – more on that in a moment…and about that tracking:

That’s Louis in the tracker’s seat on the front of the jeep…he taught us so much about how to track…and our Guide George is also an incredible tracker as well:

We learned so much from them, and Louis – on the right – gave Alex some tips and she took over at sunset one night!

Alex loved being a “tracker trainee”, but when it was time to drive she got back int he jeep and let Louis do his job!

When we got back to the lodge, there was a wonderful “Boma” underway –  a communal gathering for celebration, storytelling and of course, an outdoor feast!

Check it out:

After the food, there was singing and dancing…we loved it – here’s some of the fun as one of the Guides joined in:

As you can see, our Singita safari adventure was the beginning of the “trip of a lifetime” – including Hippos!

Yes, this guy was excited to see us! See more of our Hippo adventure here:

So much to share from our “trip of a lifetime”…from Lions and Zebra to Giraffes – oh, and Baboons sitting in a field:

And, oh, and remember when we stumbled upon this?

Yes, this was our second Leopard encounter and you can see them both here!

As I showed you, one of the most magical aspects of a safari are the incredible sunsets – and a traditional “boma” – here’s more of this traditional celebration here:

We had a magical safari adventure, and I’m going to continue to share the stories…here is a tease I shared of our trip…

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Categories: Africa, Exotic Travel, Memoirs, nature, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir

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