We were in the "bay" slowly tooling around when we woke up around 6am. We were expecting to arrive an hour late today at about 8 instead of 7. We thought we remembered the pilot arriving by being lowered from a helicopter with our 2001 visit. When he hadn't arrived by about 6:45am we thought maybe we confused it with Port Elizabeth. No, minutes later after Clay laid down and put his feet up he saw the helicopter coming on the bridge cam. He tried to get out up top but was too late. After we docked, the helicopter came back and lifted him off again and again Clay missed a photo. This is one of only a few ports that transport pilot captains by helicopter, so it is exciting. No one on the ship gave any heads up or comment about it.
We all actually did a cheerful face to face immigration clearance today. They handed us our passports as we entered the port side of Palm Court. We walked to a table of South African officials where they collected the arrival document the ship had us fill out in February. They stamped our passports. We are required to carry our passports on us throughout South Africa. We saw the Mozambique visa and the stamps of the other African islands.
We left the ship between 15 and 30 minutes behind the revised scheduled time. We drew bus 7 and it wound up being very unlucky. It was sealed up as it had AC but it wasn't working. Doubly unlucky we baked in direct sunshine in the morning and on the way back in the afternoon. We had chosen to return to Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve because we had such a great experience in 2001. It was the last week of November then and it was colder and rained that day. It made for great animal activity. Today was hot and sunny and not conducive to animal watching. We also only had time today for a 2-hour game drive with a box lunch after. We actually got back to Serenity at 3:30 instead of the 4:30 pm printed on our tickets. We don't sail until 9 pm. Reflections notifies us that Richard's Bay laws forbid Serenity to serve alcohol to us except at meals. Anyway we saw 3 of the big 5. We had a very poor but close up view of a male lion! He was hidden under a thicket, but it was right beside the road. The big 5 are lion, leopard, cape buffalo, rhino, and elephant. We saw cape buffalo, lion and white rhino today. Another first was getting photographs of warthogs. On our last visit they were very shy. Today the first animal I saw was from the bus as we crossed the road grate. It was a lone elephant standing beneath a tree on a hillside in the distance. It was flapping its ears. Otherwise we saw warthogs, monkeys, cape buffalo, giraffes, nyala, impala, white rhinos, a lion, and some birds. I was very glad we'd been here before. Otherwise, I'd rather do the safari game drive at WDW Animal Kingdom! Pasted below is the tour description. We paid $219 each.
EXCURSION
HLUHLUWE-UMFOLOZI GAME RESERVE DISCOVERY
Thrill to a chance to observe the rare white rhino, along
with other fascinating creatures such as elephants, lions, zebra and giraffe,
with a game drive in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve.
DURATION
APPROXIMATELY 6 HOURS
An approximately 90-minute journey along the national road
brings you to the game reserve, which preserves not only the wildlife of
Zululand, but also something of an indefinable rusticity and beauty of the
natural surroundings.
Many things make the reserve special, most notably its population
of white rhinos. Thanks to conservation efforts that began with Operation Rhino
in the 1950s, the park boasts the largest population of white rhino in the
world. The species has been brought back from the brink of extinction, growing
from a population of fewer than 20 worldwide in 1900 to more than 10,000 today.
In addition to its iconic white rhino, the reserve is home
to a spectacular variety of bird and other animal life. In fact, this is the
only state-run park in KwaZulu-Natal where all the big five game animals can be
found. Adding to Hluhluwe-Umfolozi’s storied appeal is the 1995 visit by
then-President Nelson Mandela, who paid a call to the park to help celebrate
its centenary.
During your own park visit, keep an eye out for lions,
leopards, elephants, buffalo, blue wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, cheetah, kudu,
and warthogs.
As your spectacular two-hour game drive concludes, step down
from your 4x4 vehicle and rejoin your motor coach for the 90-minute transfer to
the pier, giving you the chance to share your park impressions with your fellow
Crystal adventurers.
Important Notes:
Guests should be aware that there is an approximately
three-hour, round-trip drive to the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve; however,
the fascinating sights included in this excursion are its main focus and more
than compensate for the length of the journey. As this excursion involves
traversing rough and bumpy roads in a 4x4 vehicle, it is not recommended for
guests with back or neck problems. It is recommended that guests wear
comfortable clothing, a hat, sunscreen and flat, comfortable shoes. Guests
should also bring binoculars. Guests are not permitted to use cellular phones,
speak loudly or stand up in vehicles during the game drive, as this activity
will disturb the animals. Smoking is not permitted during game drives. Wildlife
sightings, while likely, cannot be guaranteed. This excursion will operate in
all weather conditions. The order of sights visited may vary.
Last night we got new pillows. Much firmer. Nice. Today we got a new shower curtain. A lot of people are off the ship now for overland safari trips. The dining room was really empty. Dinner was not very good. For the 2nd time a waiter offered to cut my meat for me! You'd think they'd offer a sharp knife first. The other night I struggle with a regular knife and when the woman next table got the same dish she got a big steak knife. Anyway, I don't know if it is just me or not.
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