Here we are, less than one full day in Africa and we already feel at home thanks to the beautiful people everywhere. But it’s not a surprise as, according to Merryl Streep, “we’re all Africans really…?” Really.

As soon* as we arrived we were whisked away on our first game drive. A lovely first glimpse of the flood plains, we saw plenty of Pumbas, a journey of giraffe and a herd of buffalo were the highlights. Dinner was a braai, cooked on the outside, we all sat at a long table after having been serenaded  by and then dancing with the many staff. When we asked, our guide informed us his favourite of the vegetables was the chicken.  Sitting around the fire after dinner one of our new friends (about 5 out of 9 guests seem to be teetotallers, meaning we only had 4 people to talk to) who must have been a muso (and a vegetarian from Munich…so double weird) was desperate to find a guitar without luck.  Having just met these people, I refrained from musing “surely with all these elephants there must at least be a piano somewhere?”

The expected highlight of the trip was thrust upon us on our first morning in the Okavango delta. Our elephant experience. Months of preparation, ie. Getting into elephant-like shape and character, didn’t prepare us for what will always be a high point in our lives.  In fact Lea even went as far as to say it was…”elephantastic”.   Hope she hadn’t been waiting long to use that one.

The morning started slowly, as we weren’t going on a safari, we could sleep in until 7…if you could sleep with all the amazing noises outside the tent…Lea sure could. We then had a lovely breakfast, Lea had her eggs scrambled and I had mine in omelette form…neither of us were game to order our eggs poached on our big elephant day.

I think the photos should speak for themselves, but let’s just say we had a couple of drinks at lunch and got a little trunk.

We also, unintentionally, had meat for lunch…on Good Friday. Sorry Jebus.  I think someone really needs to come over here and teach these Africans about Christianity.
*Of course by soon, we mean a quick shower and a double G&T…which you quickly work out becomes your standing order. No singles for you!