Day 5 - Springbok Lodge
Our last day in Mohlabetsi has come all too soon. The team eschewed the usual early morning game drive, having a long drive ahead of them and so having to get away relatively early. Saying our goodbyes to Lena and Seline, who have been excellent hosts/drinking partners throughout our stay, we packed and boarded the buses for a seven and a half hour drive to Springbok Lodge in Kwazulu Natal, hopefully arriving sometime before the daylight faded, making the lodge easier to find.
Or at least that was what was hoped for. In the event, the drive was more like eleven and a half hours with a few short stops for lunch and fuel, thanks at least partly to the South African habit of closing some very long sections of road for "roadworks" (despite not seeing a soul actually working on the road), entailing some (approximately eleven according to Micks count) lengthy pauses en-route.
Along the way, the team chose various ways to amuse themselves - Gareth decided that he'd had enough of holiday, and so got stuck into a laboratory writeup, requiring the conversion of one of the vans into a mobile office. Gary was magnanimous in defeat at monopoly, and DC decided to do his best to sabotage the other vans by circulating some erroneous directions. The remainder of the team whiled away the hours with a combination of sleeping, shifting position, and sleeping some more.
Iain and Karen's van was the first to make it to our destination, sometime after 7pm, with the remainder of the vans arriving shortly thereafter. A swift freshen up, and then an introduction to our tents (yes, tents - all be it tents with hot and cold running water, a full bathroom, air conditioning and power!) followed by dinner and an early night for everyone, somewhat tired despite having not really done anything other than sit in a van all day.
Quote of the day goes to James for his proclamation "I'm a lovely german girl" - yes, of course you are James...
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