Everyone went in their separate directions.the day we finished our planned safari. Jim, Pam, Ken and I flew to Marataba. I have seen some beautiful lands in my travels but this place is one of the most beautiful, definitely for a safari in South Africa.

Our first afternoon served up great elephants and a fairly habituated baboon troop, lots of antelope, giraffe and birds. There is a river, and lakes and watering holeswith neat boulders all over the place with lots of high reeds and greenery everywhere. You are very close to spectacular mountains that change color during the day.

The next morning we left late and went to see trails lodged

They have built a trails lodge for those that like to walk. Floor to ceiling Windows look out over spectacular scenery. Rooms are not large but well laid out. Only eight guests but they have a fifth room if a group of 10 come. Not my kind of place but I can see people who like to hike will be in Heaven. Particularly a group of hikers that know each other. Cannot even comprehend how they built this lodge on the side of a hill. From a certain point everything had to be hand carried in for construction.

The last afternoon we went for a cruise in a pontoon boat. They had drinks, snacks and comfortable chairs. We saw a hippo, some antelope and lots of birds all with the backdrop of the mountains. It was so peaceful.

They have a lot of lions here, the big Kalahari type. But the four of us told our ranger we wanted to just take in the scenery and relax and just see what was around. Jim git some good warthog.

Only problem was that a big storm was coming in so it was very windy. The last night the storm hit with vengeance. They only have tented accommodation at the main lodge. The best tent I have seen with a concrete floor and solid walls on over 50% of the tent. However still a tent and with just the wind it was so noisy.

When the storm hit at 2.30 am in the morning we were bombarded with noise. This must be what hurricane or tornado sounds like. There was hearty hail just under golf ball size. I was not nervous just overwhelmed by the noise and power of Mother Nature. The next morning everyone was talking about surviving the storm. This seldom happens and never in winter. It was a massive system all over South Africa. We heard one tent collapsed and the main beam broke. No one was hurt but they had to move those guests during that storm.

On the way to the airport we drove through many areas of water on the road. Just before we got to the airport we had TWO flat tires. Something must have been under the water. The vehicle had only one spare tire. So we had to call for rescue vehicle to take us to the plane.

So a little drama over the last twelve hours but we looked at it as an adventure. Something we would not forget.