200th Post...and it's a wild one

I finally have finished going through the remaining pictures from our last safari location.  I am usually much better at uploading pictures, and posting, but for some reason (and maybe it's the amount of photos) it has taken me longer to finish our South Africa trip.  Also, I noticed today, this is my 200th post, so why not make it a wild one....

After our amazing experience at Phinda, we boarded yet another tiny plane, and flew to our next, and final safari location, Dulini Lodge in Sabi Sands.  This game reserve is located around the famous Kruger National Park.  Ironically, we were joined on our last game drive by the daughter of Kruger founder, and a few of her friends.  She was a very sweet woman, and shared a few stories from growing up in the Park.

I combined all our pictures from Sabi Sands into one photo album.  Be prepared to see many cute babies, the sad effects of rhino poaching, a leopard kill, and the mystery item Ryan ate during our walking safari.

With all the big animals running around, we can't forget about the tiny fellas....

Ryan spotted this guy during a lunch at our lodge....

Precious.....

Gorgeous.....

Saying Hello.....

Cuteness alert....

We survived all our wild, and crazy African adventures.....

Dulini - Sabi Sands Photo Album

A Birthday Feast...

Ryan's birthday dinner involved many firsts.....

Not the first time for this, but I asked Ryan what he would like for his birthday dinner......

It turned into a Chopped challenge, he named off a few ingredients for each course of the meal:

Appetizer: Popcorn

Side Dish: Marshmallows

Main Dish: Peanut Butter and Jelly

Dessert: Oreo and Ice Cream

Curious as to how this was the result?  His original response, was "same as last year."  I remembered the hours it took me to make the Chicken Pho and Spring Rolls, so I encouraged him to think of something else.  His next response, "peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."  If only I knew then, what I know now, but I responded with, "you can't have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for your birthday dinner."  Which then led to a birthday feast...

Appetizer: Bacon and Parmesan Popcorn

Main and Side Dishes: Peanut Butter stuffed Chicken breasts with PB&J sauce, marshmallow pastry puff, and marshmallow, strawberry salad with strawberry vinaigrette. 

And the granddaddy of all dinner finales.....Oreo Ice Cream Cake

The shocked birthday boy

Believe it....

Quit drooling on your keyboard...

Everything turned out very well, I was especially happy about the ice cream cake.  Only one problem, I did not like the peanut butter stuffed chicken (Ryan enjoyed it), I felt it was bland, not visually appealing, and when compared to the other meal components, it was a fail.  Not one to accept failure, and since everything was completely made up by me, I decided to give it another try.

I thought of this idea the next morning while working off the ice cream cake on the treadmill.

Bacon wrapped PB&J meatballs....MUCH better....

Birthday Dinner: Part 2, the next evening

And if I wasn't busy enough creating the dinner menu, it is also Russian custom for the birthday boy (or girl) to bring in treats to the office.  So, I made these tasty treats for Ryan's birthday party at the office...

Coca-Cola chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter cream cheese frosting...

It goes without saying, Russia does not provide me with many options to fill my time, so when it comes to spoiling my husband on his birthday, it is worth every minute.

Ryan enjoyed the dinner challenge so much, he has decided to create a monthly challenge.  Stay tuned to see what his next mystery ingredients will be, and what I'll create...

С Днем Рождения

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

From high....

to low....

and sand....

to snow....

My husband, friend, and adventure partner...
May your next year continue to be filled with many wonderful experiences.

I love you very much!

Phinda Game Reserve...

Our second day at Phinda did not start typically.  Ryan had scheduled a scuba diving trip for the morning, and a beach getaway for me.  Instead of boarding the vehicle for the morning game drive, we set off on our little plane again, to nearby Sodwana Bay.  The option to fly is much better than driving.

I was going to go out on the boat with Ryan and snorkel while he Scuba, but when I saw the beach, I decided to stay on land, soak up some sun, catch some Zzzzzs, and read a bit.  Ryan went off to the boat, and returned about an hour later.  We had a relaxing lunch on the beach, and then made our way back to the lodge for our afternoon game drive.  Ryan took his GoPro and got a few pictures.  He is currently in the process of looking at new underwater cameras, so look forward to more underwater pictures from a trip we have planned later this year....

The infamous Big Five, buffalo, elephant, rhino, lion, and leopard, we saw all five at Phinda.  Our first game drive included buffalo, and rhino.  The remaining drives brought us the rest of the five, and frequent sightings (we only saw the buffalo during our first game drive, and did not see buffalo at all during our time at Sabi Sands).

Imagine sitting in the vehicle, driving through the grass, and having these eyes staring back at you.
It was a bit startling.  

Beautiful eyes. 

Boys waiting for Dad to give them so food.  Notice the Dad's eyes?
Our Ranger told us that he is blind in the blue/grayish colored eye. 

All this talk about the Big Five, what about my Friendly Five?  I already shared pictures of the first three, penguin, zebra, and giraffe.  The final two are....

You wouldn't really consider Cheetahs friendly, but I think they are absolutely gorgeous.  We found these two males lounging in the grass.  This was the only Cheetah sighting we had at Phinda and Sabi Sands.  

Warthog?!?!  Yes, he is a Friendly Five.  The poor guy gets called ugly by everyone, but I think he is cute (so ugly, he's cute).  I greatly enjoyed watching them run all over the place with their tails sticking up in the air.  Not to mention, I had a tendency to start singing, "when I was a young warthog...." from Lion King.

Want to see more pictures of the Big Five, and my Friendly Five?  

Check out our album, Phinda Game Drives. 

I mentioned before, game drives are really an adrenaline rush.  Being in a vehicle, tracking animals, finding animals, and being so close to them is really unreal.  It is a drastically different experience compared to viewing animals in a zoo.  Even looking at the pictures, I can't help but comment on how truly beautiful the animals are.  What really catches my attention are the eyes of each animal.  We were fortunate to have so many wonderful, up close experiences.  Phinda was an incredible experience, and that was only the beginning.  Next stop, Dulini Game Reserve in Sabi Sands.  We were told we would have leopards everywhere!

Is that really our plane?!?!

We took a South African airlines flight from George to Durban, and as we landed in Durban, Ryan pointed out a small, blue and white plane.  "I wonder if that is our plane." My response, "are you serious, is that really our plane?!?!"  After collecting our baggage, we were met by our pilot!  Ryan's first question to him, "What color is your plane?" His response, "Blue and white.  Why do you ask?"

Loading up, hence the reason for only small duffel bags. 

Beautiful views during the hour long flight. 

If you wish to experience our flight, check out our Flight to Phinda Photo Album. 

Coming in for our landing

Airport security....haha

After our landing, we were driven to our lodge, quickly checked in, and then sent out on our first game drive.  I must admit, my first opinions of the game drive were not the highest.  It was all a bit overwhelming, flying from George to Durban, hopping in a tiny plane and flying to Phinda Lodge, then being whisked away on a game drive.  I found a seat in the back of the vehicle, and just went along for the ride.  Everything was going well, we were seeing animals, but then the best thing happened, and completely changed my entire impression of game drives.  Our ranger stopped the vehicle, and asked if anyone wanted anything to drink.  The other two couples on the drive with us had been there for a couple days now, so they knew the drill.  I was getting ready to ask for a bottle of water, when the others started requesting beer, and gin and tonics.  Seriously?  Well, I figured I would give it a try.  "White wine, please?" And I was handed a bottle of wine.  Thank you very much, I think I can handle game drives, carry on.

It was also during our game drives in search of the "Big 5" that I came up with my "Friendly 5" five animals that I consider to be my favorite.  You already met one during an earlier blog post, the lovely (my most favorite) Penguin!  Two more of my "Friendly 5" were seen during our first game drive, in no particular order, zebra, and giraffe.  Stay tuned for the remaining two....

Speaking of "Big 5" we were able to see all during our time at Phinda.  We met two of the five during our first game drive, the rhino, and buffalo.  Check out our first game drive for more pictures, including buffalo, nyala, impala, hyena, and a glimpse at the beautiful game reserve.  

Since our first game drive went so well, and I was told about a fantastic drink they make during the morning game drives, I was anxiously awaiting "hunting" more animals.  I became a bit intense, and didn't mind the 5:00 a.m. wake up calls for our morning drives.  Who can stay in bed when you are surrounded by animals?  It was a true adrenaline rush.

Knysna

Bungee jumping, wake-boarding, cheetahs, and monkeys are the highlights from our time in Knysna.  The guest house was the nicest location we have ever stayed in, a family run house, and the family was more than welcoming.  Places always say they try to be your "home away from home" but here, we truly felt like we were staying a few nights at a relative's home.  It was on their boat, that Ryan was able to go wake-boarding.

Mark, the guest house owner, and driver of the boat told Ryan that he could flip anyone off a tube.  Always up for a challenge, Ryan jumped on.  I do not know how he did it, but twice, the tube rolled, and when it came up, Ryan was still on.

I previously blogged about this, but Knysna was also where we made our way to bungee jumping.  If you do not remember that experience, feel free to refresh your memory HERE.  It was at this location that we stopped for lunch, a celebratory "we survived" drink, and a walk along the beach.

Monkeys and cheetahs were also on our activity list, we visited two separate parks, Monkeyland, and Tenikwa Cheetah Park.  The monkeys were a great experience, walking through trees, and being surrounded by various kinds of monkeys.  At the cheetah park, we were able to walk around with all the cats, except for the leopard.  Looking back, after our safari drives, our time at the two parks were pretty calm.  They were a great introduction to the animal experiences that would greet us the next few days.

More photos from Knysna, including our hairy, eight-legged room guest (you were warned), post bungee trip, monkeys, and cheetahs can be found in our Knysna Photo Album.