Day 8
Up at the crack of dawn. We saw a herd of Buffalo and some Baboon’s this morning on our run. Nice sight. The Baboon’s were going ballistic when they saw us. They obviously see us as a threat. We headed into town to get out uniforms. It felt a trip that I made a long long time ago with my mother to get my first uniform! Now when we were the gear we can feel like proper guides. Well at the moment we feel a bit like fakes but I guess that will disappear as we gain the knowledge that we’re all here for.
Hoedspruit is considered a big town in these parts. It’s the equivalent of a small town down the country in Ireland. The pace of life is easy going and the expression which we hear a lot “Time in Africa,” describes the attitude aptly enough. Nothing happens here very quickly. Anyway we applied for our Learner driving licenses and will await the test. It’s gas, I got my license a full 14 years ago now back home and I’ve learned a fair amount of bad habits since then so I suspect I’m gonna have a hard time getting my full license when the time arises! I might have to leave a few hundred Rand in the ashtray for the instructor and see how that goes!
On our way back from Hoedspruit we came upon loads of game. Two beautiful male Giraffe’s strutted their stuff for us along the road. Well maybe not for us, they were actually staring each other out of it across the fence. It’s a pity the fence was there. They are very majestic movers for animals of their size. When they finished posing for pictures they took off back into the bush.
As we rounded a bend and drove down into a big hollow we met a bus coming in the opposite direction and guess what happened when we slowed down and pulled over to let the bus pass. No not a puncture but the drive shaft capitulated on us! Now that shouldn’t really happen but obviously we are in Africa and the mechanics that gave the game viewing 4 wheel drive a service neglected to see the big crack in the bolt that held things together. Queue us looking under the chassis having a look at the damage and the Yank taking pictures of the aforementioned broken drive shaft!! Yank’s are gas, they’ll take pictures of anything. A bit like the Japanese I suppose in ways. Anyway we had to chill out and call for backup in the form of Sean with the other Land Rover. It wasn’t that hard to chill when you consider we were present for a beautiful sunset with the Drakensburg mountains as a backdrop. Things could’ve been worse. We gave the other 4 wheel drive a tow back into a reserve and abandoned ship. Not before we stripped anything that could be stroked from it. I didn’t realize that there is crime even out here in the bush! We’ll probably go back to the vehicle tomorrow to find it on blocks!
So back to college for us after dark and ravenous. I guess it could have been worse. If the bolt had snapped when we were on the open road I mightn’t be here to tell the tale so it has a happy ending. Karma man! We’ve got a game drive tomorrow so something to look forward to……..
Up at the crack of dawn. We saw a herd of Buffalo and some Baboon’s this morning on our run. Nice sight. The Baboon’s were going ballistic when they saw us. They obviously see us as a threat. We headed into town to get out uniforms. It felt a trip that I made a long long time ago with my mother to get my first uniform! Now when we were the gear we can feel like proper guides. Well at the moment we feel a bit like fakes but I guess that will disappear as we gain the knowledge that we’re all here for.
Hoedspruit is considered a big town in these parts. It’s the equivalent of a small town down the country in Ireland. The pace of life is easy going and the expression which we hear a lot “Time in Africa,” describes the attitude aptly enough. Nothing happens here very quickly. Anyway we applied for our Learner driving licenses and will await the test. It’s gas, I got my license a full 14 years ago now back home and I’ve learned a fair amount of bad habits since then so I suspect I’m gonna have a hard time getting my full license when the time arises! I might have to leave a few hundred Rand in the ashtray for the instructor and see how that goes!
On our way back from Hoedspruit we came upon loads of game. Two beautiful male Giraffe’s strutted their stuff for us along the road. Well maybe not for us, they were actually staring each other out of it across the fence. It’s a pity the fence was there. They are very majestic movers for animals of their size. When they finished posing for pictures they took off back into the bush.
As we rounded a bend and drove down into a big hollow we met a bus coming in the opposite direction and guess what happened when we slowed down and pulled over to let the bus pass. No not a puncture but the drive shaft capitulated on us! Now that shouldn’t really happen but obviously we are in Africa and the mechanics that gave the game viewing 4 wheel drive a service neglected to see the big crack in the bolt that held things together. Queue us looking under the chassis having a look at the damage and the Yank taking pictures of the aforementioned broken drive shaft!! Yank’s are gas, they’ll take pictures of anything. A bit like the Japanese I suppose in ways. Anyway we had to chill out and call for backup in the form of Sean with the other Land Rover. It wasn’t that hard to chill when you consider we were present for a beautiful sunset with the Drakensburg mountains as a backdrop. Things could’ve been worse. We gave the other 4 wheel drive a tow back into a reserve and abandoned ship. Not before we stripped anything that could be stroked from it. I didn’t realize that there is crime even out here in the bush! We’ll probably go back to the vehicle tomorrow to find it on blocks!
So back to college for us after dark and ravenous. I guess it could have been worse. If the bolt had snapped when we were on the open road I mightn’t be here to tell the tale so it has a happy ending. Karma man! We’ve got a game drive tomorrow so something to look forward to……..
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