HAPPY BIRTHDAYVERSARY TO US!

On the 11th of April 2014, we travelled to the Ivory Tree Lodge for a second visit, to celebrate Mr.O's birthday and our 32nd wedding anniversary. (Liam calls it the "birthdayversary" as we were married on his 30th birthday!)

This year, I planned to spoil my husband! He received a zebra cover for his #1 driver, a book on travelling South Africa and four private tennis lessons. But, the best part was that I was able to SURPRISE him with a romantic dinner for two in our rondavel. The staff actually surprised me even more with the elegance and style with which they presented the evening! We had a delicious meal under the stars whilst listening to African music coming from the township below the hills.

Cheers to our 32 years of marriage!
And here's to the next happy 32 years together!

We played 18 holes of golf on the
Gary Player course at Sun City.
It was a beautiful day, but walking the
18 holes was very tiring.

 

I needed a "rest" beside the evening fire to rest my weary legs!

  

 

We saw some animals during the daybreak safaris. There had been much rain
with some flooding only a month ago. The roads were very eroded and the grass
almost shoulder height. The animals were in there. They could probably see us, but we did
not see many of them. We were fortunate to see a fleeting glimpse of a leopard
before it disappeared into the scrub!

Seeing a hot air ballon land in the middle of the park was a spectacle.
Lucky, they did not land in the middle of a pride of lions!

The BEST part of the safari was left until last! As we were 2 km from the gate,
a herd of elephants came sauntering down the middle of the road. They
had a little baby elephant calf with them! Our ranger stopped the car. There were
nine in total, with the grandma matriarch off to the side. They came to within 2 metres
of our vehicle!!!! Mr. O thought they were going to put their trunks in the jeep!
They lifted their trunks to smell us. They rumbled their tummies and shuffled their
 feet to communicate to each other that we were of no harm.
A magical experience!