Day 10 Kapama
Sadly today is our last day with our
ABD family. As there are only 2 flights a day in and out of the local airport, we had some time before our flight. And....that means one last morning game drive.
It was another beautiful, cool day out. We headed out with Rassie, Collen and our ABD guide Jennae once more. The area is just so amazing, it’s hard to put it into words. It really is magical driving out in the jeep not knowing what you may see. We found a couple of giraffes hanging out, and after following them for a bit we found an amazing assortment of animals. Giraffes, zebras, and impalas all around us.
It was a very Circle of Life moment. We continued on our way and drove for quite a long time. Rassie would stop along the way to check out some birds or explain some of the vegetation but otherwise we kept driving until we found… buffalo.
There were so many of them. It was a very “ABD moment”. Everything had been building up to that moment. We saw 4/5 of the Big 5 and tried to find Buffalo the last few drives to no avail. Yesterday, we stressed to Rassie and Collen that we were OK not finding buffalo. We had so many amazing encounters. So many rare ones. So many beautiful sights. We felt we had really accomplished a lot in Africa. Nevertheless, they kept searching for buffalo. So, we found them during the last morning drive before flying out. It was a sight to see.
Rassie explained just how dangerous Buffalo are. They’re like the mafia of African animals. They will find you and they will kill you. Rassie asked Collen if he came upon some elephants, would he run? “No,” he shakes his head. How about lions? “No.” A leopard? “No.” Rhinos? No.” Cape Buffalo? “Yes.” The buffalo will absolutely attack you. Even if they lose you, they’ll track you down and find you. They’re the most dangerous animal in Africa.
We found some elephants hiding…
and some more giraffe…
and another lion hunting…
It was a great game drive and brought a terrific close to the ABD.
These guys were the best!
So, we grabbed breakfast, packed up and headed out with Rassie to the airport. A few animals came out to wish us farewell.
We boarded our little plane which was late picking us up, but I don’t think it affected anyone’s travel plans.
This was a fabulous ABD. I told Jennae and Craig that out of 9 now this was the best ABD I’ve done. I came back from Africa changed. Not just to have experienced something fundamentally different from my own culture. Not just to have seen these beautiful creatures in their natural habitat. It’s the people, the music, the landscape, the animals. There’s a synergy that can’t be explained, but must be experienced. It’s emotional. It’s magical. Over the last several years we’ve been fortunate to do a number of ABD’s, visit Aulani, do several European cruises with
DCL, and of course the Parks. They are all amazing. However, I really feel this is the best experience, the best storytelling as ABD prefers to see it, that Disney offers.
Post ABD…
We said our goodbyes to our family. Jennae and Craig were kind enough to walk us over to the Intercontinental Hotel. We were heading up to Zimbabwe to Victoria Falls, but would have to wait until the morning to catch the next flight. The Intercontinental was certainly nice, but being in any airport hotel between travels is like being in purgatory. They did have a nice restaurant, Quills, though serving pretty good African food. Cool masks on the wall and porcupine quills artistically hung above us. Pretty cool. But it was a means to an end. Tomorrow… Zimbabwe.
Also, we obviously chose to stay at the airport in Johannesburg. That was a very conscious choice. For one, there's not much in the city to do for a traveler with a few hours. There is a public square with a giant statue of Mandela that is accessible by train from the airport, but other than the statue and a Hard Rock there's nothing there. Plus the train service ends around 8pm, so I didn't want to be stressed in finishing dinner in time to catch the last train. On top of that, the city doesn't have the reputation of being the safest in South Africa. It could be totally fine, but it wasn't worth the trek away from the airport. I think staying and eating at Quills was the smartest play for us.