June 2 – Durban, South Africa – Thanda Safari Private Game Reserve to Port Elizabeth, South Africa

rhino blocking our way - they win

Weather – 24º

Steps – 11,256

eagle

Humidity – little

Floors climbed – 101!

Today, sadly, is the last day at the safari. When we first booked this off-the-ship/overland tour, I thought a safari should longer, I was wrong. We love it here and could definitely stay for a few more days, but we saw all we wanted to see in the short time we were here. A few more days would have given us more time to enjoy the lodge.

morning zebras

Once again, we were up at 5 and were on the road by 6:15. Our pick-up to go
back to Durban for our flight was for 10AM, so we were on the clock. We searched and searched for lions, but none were to be found. We covered A LOT of area. Although we were disappointed to not see the lions again, we were happy to see every other animal (no leopards) we had already seen again. Even an elephant who we literally bumped into as we rounded a corner.

animals love the road

We actually found an eagle that was a pretty sure sign a fresh lion kill was nearby, but we found nothing

We had no time for a coffee break and were back at the lodge by 9. Chris and I were still full from last night’s dinner, so we just ate some of the continental offerings and didn’t order anything hot.
That gave us time to go back to the room to pack up.

checking us out

The transfer back to the airport was exactly as it was 2 days ago, but in reverse. The highway is very modern, with toll booths. On either side of the highway are farms of sugar cane and eucalyptus forests.

Derek

The King Shaka airport in Durban was built for the 2010 World Cup, and despite being small is new and modern. We were checked in and through security in less than 10 minutes. Although I had to take my laptop out of my carryon as usual, we didn’t have to worry about liquids, or shoes, or much anything else.

WOAH!

Our plan was to do a bit of shopping (we both bought t-shirts) and go to the lounge we saw for a
couple of local beers. We sat at the bar and said all we were interested in were beers, as we approached the bar we saw that they had beer taps…nope, no beer – waiting on a renewal of their liquor licence. There were 4 business lounges, the only
one Chris’ credit card could get us into was closed…we took the hint and just found a random seat.

interesting bathroom ad

Soon we were on the very small (a row of 1 and a row of 2), but still jet airplane. The very efficient flight attendants had a chicken wrap in front of me and a beef one in front of Chris with an accompanying glass of South African white for me and a beer for Chris within 20 minutes of taking off -
the flight was only 90 min, but they were amazing.

why not?

By 630 we were back at the ship, unpacked,
filled a laundry bag, chilled in the room for a bit and were back to our usual evening routine.

Unfortunately, we saw virtually none of Port Elizabeth (now actually called Gqeberha, after the city’s river), but that's what happens on cruises with overlands...you have to make choices.

I had blesbok for dinner, similar to pork loin – very tasty.

Bed was EARLY – no casino, no show, no guess that tune, no star gazing, no blogging…BED!