Impala in Ithala

Lion Park, Joburg to Ithala
We woke with the dawn to see what animals were around just outside our ‘tent’ and I did manage a few backlit zebra shots.  It was then the long drive over to Ithala Game Park with some interesting roads encountered!  There are so many settlements strung out along the route, so many people just hanging around with nothing to do and so many shacks that are homes!  The whole journey took longer than anticipated and we didn’t get to Ithala until just after 5.  We had missed the game drive by only a few minutes although it may have been full anyway.  We decided to do a self-drive around and picked a route which looked interesting.  The tracks are just rough –some rougher than others and, as we didn’t have a 4x4 hire car, we picked something that was theoretically possible with a normal saloon car. 
 
What we didn’t know (our haste and ignorance rather than the fault of Ithala) was that a large part of this track had been damaged by recent rain and needed the higher wheel base of a 4x4. When we got to the notice which said this, we thought we’d carry on and see how it went.  WRONG decision!!  It was already dark and, after a while, it was as bad to go back as to carry on; it became the hairiest and most scary journey I have ever done. We could so easily have got stuck or had the car damaged which would probably have meant just waiting for rescue.  It would not have been safe to get out and walk because we didn’t know which way to go and also the surrounding countryside contains leopard, elephant, rhino and other creatures who would not have been happy to see us.  Fortunately John is an excellent driver and it is this that saved us.  His skills meant that all the horrors of the track were successfully negotiated and the car came out of it with everything working and no damage to the bodywork. We don’t know whether our mobile phones had signals or not to call for help, but I doubt it.
We were both immensely relieved to get off that track and back onto the road that lead to the main buildings and our accommodation.  After a meal and a much needed glass of wine we fell into bed exhausted but with the alarms set for 4.30am in readiness for a morning game drive with a ranger!
 

Despite all the adventures of the day we did manage a few decent photographs including a group of three giraffes –dad, mum and young one (my extra) and a very cute group of Impala which is my blip picture.