I'll start..

experience #1
Arriving at Singita and seeing its beauty

experience #2
Singita. It just got better.

experience #3
The tears shed when we left Singita and the hostesses hugged us goodbye and the rangers waving to our planes as we left the runway.

experience #4
Realizing we had become a family when we all didn't continue on and Brad/Leslie and Pam/Marc left us. Our goodbyes at the airport, knowing we will be doing this again together if we can.

experience #1 -- For starters, noticed how well the group treated those that waited on us and the few non-ROARers on Rovos Rail. I knew then that this was going to be a good group to hang with for several weeks.

experience #2 -- Our suite at Sengita and all its trappings.

experience #3 -- The Kill. Mother Nature in the raw. Can't help but have various emotions.

experience #4 -- parting and knowing that the adventure could never be cloned in the future.

experience #5 -- relieved that we never said "no" when asked if we would like to join the ROAR group.

Cheers! Ray

All of the above...memories, like the song ( Brad and Doug sing along). Andi is right...the rangers at Singita waving good-bye to us next to their Range Rover's...sob sob

I left my heart in Africa :mecry:

Another shining moment:

Anne and Gary composed a song for Ngaire that was harmonized by Brad and Doug (Ithink) thanking her for ROAR and presenting our gift to her in a restaurant somewhere on the Capepoint tour. Memory a little fuzzy here....blame it on the chardonnay.

#1 -- The kill, without question. Gory but riveting.

#2 -- more Sauvignon Blanc than I've drunk in my entire life!

#3 -- unavailable due to #2

I also will treasure many of the memories expressed above.

But, returning to my room at Singita the last night after our final game drive and finding my bathroom full of votive candles, the sinks and floor strewn with flowers, a hot bubble bath drawn complete with bottle of champagne and two glasses by the tub (I kept my eye on the door for guests...). It was such a lovely surprise. This photo really doesn't do it justice.

[img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0TgD*AngWgWP2QPcJ6rY2ELh5cKJSyfyFrWCYd*SxT3*1VoHQyQR9IkzADM*5XiUI!BVWZYd41bXJPvXX0u36eRBycvsTLj4pvyc7jwc5z!wsFxPZBsvP2w/102_0273.JPG?dc=4675571131303714282[/img]

Oh Suzanne, someone (Andi?) had mentioned about that experience right after it happened, and it sent chills (good ones) down my spine! How wonderful!

I'll add some
#1+ Meeting all the wonderful people on the trip--both old friends and new.
#1 Singita, of course--I loved the Boma dinner and the Bush breakfast
#2 The view from Table Mountain--who could forget that????
#3 The wonderful South African wines--we'll definitely be adding some to our cellar as a companion to the Argentinian and Chilean wines.
#4 Dinner at Baia with the whole group and at Madame Zingaras with Olivia and Joanna (it was bohemian Meditteranean and delicious) and of course, the Indian dinner at Buchara (sp?)

WOW - what a wonderful thread. Keep it going ROARers...

Please notice in the pic Suzanne posted, the flowers were not scattered. Each petal was carefully placed in an arrangement. This was on the floor and also covered our sink areas. It was magnificent.

- Dinner at Forty Ate with Mary Ellen, Jim, Linda and Ron;
- the wonderful dinner and breakfasts at Bishops Court with Ray, Penny, Andi and Doug;
- Karaoke interruptus with Marilyn and Suzanne on Rovos Rail;
- sporting a fleece, winter gloves and rhinestone sandals for after-dinner cocktails after seeing our breath on Rovos Rail;
- the township tour in Capetown;
- the community tour in Singita;
- the massage outside on the deck in Singita;
- the soaking at Victoria Falls;
- swimming laps in heated (?) pools at Cape Grace and Royal Livingstone;
- enjoying all of the game drives with Marc, Arlene, Olivia, Joanna, and Suzanne;
- the bush breakfast;
- meeting the cellarmaster at Singita and enjoying lunch with him (thanks, Suzanne, for thinking of it!!)
- Joanna's speed skater look (best for keeping the insects out of one's ears) during the early morning portion of the drives;
- writing Ngaire's song while she was sitting next to us on the van;
- giving the ROAR necklace to the Livingstone security agent who broke into a dance of joy;
- enjoying the fantastic trip Ngaire, Ken, Linda and Ron hosted for all of us.

Cheers, Anne

Great topic!
- Meeting our fellow ROARers!
- Driving half of the Garden Route for 2 days
- Meeting group at Cape Grace Hotel. So exciting!
- Day one on the Train: 24 hr. Chardonnay experience...so many laughs.
- Day one night - Waking up in the middle of the night to see the clusters of brilliant stars as the train sped over the South African veld.
- Night two on the train - Suzanne, Suzie, & Marilyn arriving at dinner wearing glasses, mustaches, & nose masks in their formal wear.
- The "Big Hole" at Wimberley antics...
- Arrival at Singita - big WOW. Rangers picked us up in their landrovers, to be called "Landies" hereafter.
- 1st night drive: "Flipping Landrover" experience....Ranger Kevin almost flipped it over while driving in very thick bush. We all had to vacate the vehicle & stand in the DARK in the bush with all sorts of creatures nearby...hearts pounding. Mary Ellen, Linda & I held on to each other to keep from freaking out....
- Trying to respond to Ngaire when she asked me about how I felt about the "African" experience at Singita...major meltdown of emotion.
- 3rd night drive: "Angry Bull Elephant" - While having sundowners out of the landy in the bush, Ranger Kevin suddenly instructed us to "get back into the landy carefully"....he heard an approaching elephant & it was a big bull elephant in musk (hope that term is spelled correctly.)
- "Angry Bull Elephant" experience, continued: All of us leaped into the landy without spilling a drop of wine while holding onto our glasses & being frightened to death. Ron Littiken wins the prize for not spilling wine while he also was holding his camera & big lense. He took 1 giant leap to the top of the vehicle. Well done, Ron! Needless to say, we were FREAKED out. Ranger Kevin successfully spoke to the elephant in his commanding voice & got the elephant to back off only after the animal had gotten within 2 feet of us! The audio of our voices during the frightful time was taping on Linda's video camera...can't wait to hear that!! Later at dinner, Ranger Kevin told Don that he was 1 second from firing a warning shot.
- Last night drive: Ranger Kevin shined the spotlight into the night sky to teach us how to find the Southern Cross. He also pointed out other interesting constellations...I left my heart beating there...very special moment.
- Sharing a landy, tracker, ranger & all the above game drive experiences with GREAT folks: Linda, Ron, Mary Ellen & Jim.
- Going to the African village near Singita. Watching the village's young children perform their songs & little dances for us. Meeting other villagers, i.e., the singers, JBB's, Miner's Dance, village women prepare their food for us. Such grace & beauty these people have.
- Receiving a neatly typed recipe for the main course I had for dinner 1 night at Singita within 15 minutes of saying to Anne, "I wish I had the recipe for this." The Chef gave me a neatly typed recipe for it, addressed to me. Talk about great service!!
- Rose petals leading ot the bubble bath & champagne chilled waiting for us in our cabins when we arrived from our last game drive...we all have put this on our lists....truly "magic"!!
- Taking off in the airplane leaving Singita watching the rangers waving "goodbye" with their hats. Big emotional moment. So hard to leave "heaven".
- Watching Marilyn & Suzie frolicking with the grey/blue monkeys next door to us at the Royal Livingstone...I was trying to take pictures & one almost got into our room. Marilyn had just warned me!
- The "Four Corners" longest day trip! Otherwise known as, "The Amazing Race" through 4 countries in one day, plus 10 passport stamps! Great people & many laughs were had by all.
- Flying in the 6 seater over Victoria Falls to Botswana, with Ngaire saying, "Now darlin, you've got nothing to worry about!!" She was right...No nerves, just absolute beauty.
- Wearing the "mosquito net hat" that Ngaire gave me in Botswana. I felt like Katheryn Hepburn.
- Hippo near tent in Botswana snorting & honking in the dark...Wild thunderstorm beating the tent to add more drama.
- Flying low over Botswana from Linyanti to Maun in 6 seater plane over Okavango Delta with lookalike, Glenn Close, as pilot. Truly an "Out of Africa" experience.
- Having to say, "goodbye" to fellow brothers & sisters (ROARers)...."'till we meet again!"

Thanks, Michele & Don
Editing to add: P.S. Thanks to Suzie for those terrific ROAR necklaces...I'm still wearing mine.

To a sweet, sweet lady and her husband.....
"Till we meet again, indeed"

Michele, that was a sheer magical post, thanks for sharing..r/wes

Meeting all the wonderful ROAR people
The view from Table Mountain
Dinner at Forty Ate with Anne, Gary, Ron and Linda
Taking a bath on the moving train (it's so easy to cause a flood......)
The whole Singita experience
Sharing a LandRover with Michele, Don, Linda and Ron
Walking safari with Kevin and Kenny
Stampede Sundowners with a very agitated bull elephant (and watching Ron's amazing levitation ability)
Stargazing in the bush
Victoria Falls
Thieving monkeys with unusually colored anatomy
The sheer enjoyment of traveling under the care of Ngaire and Ken and Linda and Ron

For me it was meeting new people for the first time and seeing old friends in such a wonderful spot in the world.

Actually realising what a truly GREAT group this was as we hassled with the bags, storing, changing things around, making sure we all had our bags. It is a real challenge with this many people and bags, transfers and airports and yet NO ONE lost a bag during - I was amazed. Only bags lost were by the airlines before we started our tip. When the four couples did not have visas or rooms on arrival at Livingstone (the Hotel messed up) they were so calm as I sorted out the mess. All ended well. A tribute to the group and there wonderful flexible and helping attitude. I learned a lot too so next time there will be things that can be done to make it all smoother.

As a side note the $360 Ken and I paid for the visas the hotel was not going to pay back. Well after much negotiation just as I was leaving for the airport I won that negotiation (wont share how) and they agreed to pay me back. HOWEVER, can you believe a five star hotel did not have $360.00 in cash. They had to go to the gift shop, raid that cash register, dig in their purses and we finally got the money, in three currencies. Botswana, Rand and US dollars. That really amazed me - I took it, whatever currency it was.

A touching moment for me when the group presented me with two vases from the wine tour that I absolutely love. It was not necessary for them to do this but it was so appreciated and of course Anne and Gary's great composition. These two are so talented. It was a highlight for me.

All the wonderful animals. The two day old elephant that could hardly walk, still showing blood. The cheetahs we had not seen for a long time, the leopard and her two cubs with the hyena coming along trying to get a cub and the growling and snarling between the hyena and mother leopard. I still cant believe we left the lion kill 15 minutes before it actually happened but SO glad the Wolfs, and Schuette's got to see that. There are so many memories of Singita pictures really tell the story.

The people, the people the people. What a wonderful group - all different and yet all sharing common bonds and interests. Taking this many people on my first escorted land trip was a daunting thought with all the transfers and complications of the trip. Most group tours have little flexibility, and the A&K and Tauck tour people have done it a 1000 times and have it down to a science. This was fresh terrority and many people in the industry told me I was crazy! However, with this group of wonderful,happy and flexible people it was pretty much a breeze. I will take them anywhere they want to go!

Walking through Victoria and Albert waterfront with our flashing lions presented to us by Suzie! The addition of the flashing lion paw to our flashing lion presented by Pam on the Rovos rail - formal night. The guys had ties but also flashing jewelry and the girls had the sunglass and nose masks. We did not take the formality too seriously. The lights went out for a minute in the train dining car and all the flashing colors of our jewelry lit the room. It was a hoot.

The sunset cruise on the African Princess was wonderful, we had the whole deck and the night was as calm and beautiful as it could be with a fantastic sunset. We missed Suzanne that night but she was with us in spirit.

I am going to come back and add more but have to run to the office now - work awaits.

I think the one thing I'll remember most vividly for the rest of my life is that split second when I felt Cedric's hands lock around my upper arms as he interrupted my perfect backwards swan dive out of the tour bus. He was truly my guardian angel that day!

Also sitting around the table in the food court of the mall, eating pizza and drinking Coke, that far away from home.

And those Singita french fries! Wish I had some right now.

Oh, and contemplating a crevasse that we needed to cross, in order to get closer to the elephant herd that had the newborn baby. Andrea and I were shaking our heads, no way we couldn't end up standing on our noses; Willis casually looked at Nick and waved him on. As we were leaving, another vehicle took heart from us and crossed it; Tommie was on that one, and she looked at me with her jaw completely dropped.

Marilyn, upon meeting Ngaire for the first time in the lobby of the Cape Grace Hotel, executed a deep curtsy to the Queen of ROAR :nw:

Rovos Rail: So many fond memories of ROAR and when I was out for a walk today, I thought about the time a number of us were "socializing" in the beverage car and when it was time to take the long trek to our quarters to dress for the evening meal, we formed a conga line and sang "I've been working on the railroad" and "Swing Low Sweet Chariot"

Cheers! Ray
"It's the truth that wine improves with age: the older you get, the more you like it!
(Unknown)

This thread has been such a treat to read! Thanks, ROAR'ers! These memories you will cherish for the rest of your lives, I am sure.

Hi Kristin:

You are indeed right that we'll cherish the memories forever regarding the ROAR adventure.

I thought of another one while typing this. When out on a safari one morning, I had just videotaped an Impala herd and all at once I blurted out "Penny ate your brother last night!!"
The Impalas froze and looked so startled for a several seconds and then bolted out of sight. What laughs! I don't know what got in to me to blurt that out but truly Penny did have Impala the night before.

Cheers! Ray

Too funny Ray!! <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" />

This is my top 10 list...

#10 Africa’s friendly people
#9 Amarula & Hot Choclolate in the Morning :D
#8 Sunsets
#7 The Virgin Clubhouse in London
#6 Meting all the LCTers in Cape Town and having lunch the first day :lct:
#5 Rosenhoff Bed & Breakfast
#4 Dinner under the stars the last night at Singita <img border="0" alt="[beer]" title="" src="graemlins/beer.gif" />
#3 The lions roaring after dark on the first game drive
#2 Getting soaked at Victoria Falls
#1 The four corners tour

I hadn't read this thread, infact how did I miss it? What an amazing wonderful and cherished experience all of you ROARING great people had.

To start off with, apologies to Marilyn for teaching her a Yiddish word that does not exist. (Well, what do I know other than SNL and Barbra??)
It is not Berklempt (spelled phonetically as I heard it). It is verklempt .

Whatever.

We looked at each other upon arriving at the "great room" at Boulders and started "tearing up" big time :mecry: . (By the way, there was no alcohol involved, just sheer emotion...) It was just one of those moments.

The first of many...

Reading this topic over I'm verklempt. The stories of "How we met" by Marc and Arlene and Anne and Gary. Our ROAR vinophile sprite, Suzanne and her hand waving monologues. The sweet smiles always on Ken and Ray's faces. Olivia, Jerry and me "the sinners" always together and the best part.... the "sistahs" thinking out loud how they wished their Mother could see them now. :mecry: