18TH - 21ST MAY

We arrived at the customs mid morning and thankfully yet another hassle free customs. They were very laid back and reminded us of the Peru/Bolivian crossing in terms of chilled-ness! Mike was driving so I was able to sit in the back and admire the lovely countryside that was passing by our window. We had booked into Sondzela Backpackers which is in a nature reserve, so were looking forward to seeing yet more animals. This reserve didn’t have any of the big 5 or dangerous animals which meant that you were able to get out into the reserve and walk, something which myself and Rob were both missing. Self drive safaris are great but they do involve an awful lot of sitting!

We arrived at the reserve and headed down the bumpy track. We passed by some warthogs and antelope before we turned a corner and were confronted by 4 or 5 zebras standing in the road, they didn’t

really seem like they wanted to move so we waited and waited. After a couple of minutes they decided they would move on and let us on our way. We arrived at the hostel and were pleasantly surprised, it was lovely. I think we all instantly decided that it would be top to chill here for a couple of days. The hostel had the most amazing views over the reserve and had its own resident ostrich, which liked following you around!

After settling in, we had a wander round the gardens and a nosey at the rondevals, traditional African style huts. Mike had spied a flyer for quad biking and was very keen on doing it. Normally it would have been a bit too expensive for us but seeing as Mike was on holiday we thought what the heck. It was only £35 for the full day and that included lunch and dinner, so you couldn’t really complain too much! He booked it for Saturday but then we decided to change it to Sunday