My first Rhino

We arrived from the shortest flight Rach or I had ever been on (just under 50 minutes) into the smallest airport we had ever flown into (it had about 4 rooms). We were escorted to our lodge in a safari jeep and then we got to witness the Kapama Game Reserve River Lodge for the first time....after seeing Pumbaa (warthog) and wildebeest on the way in.

We arrived and realised we didn't know the place we were going into...it was amazing. 5 star. As in, actually 5 star rating. The room was incredible, we could spot nyala and mongoose from the shower (when they wandered by anyway), the lodge was sensational, the views superb and the food amazing. We were excited. And we hadn't even had our first drive.

The first drive was everything we hoped for but we didn't dare expect. As soon as we were out the gate we saw a giraffe and we were excited. But then as the drive continued we couldn't believe all we saw. We saw hippo and elephant - two animals that were sensational to see in the wild - with the elephant herd including a baby elephant who hooted his trunk at us in the cutest display of anger I had ever witnessed. We saw lion in the dark after our guide slipped off road and came up behind a male lion without even realising it. Then we saw the lionesses and cubs. It was awesome.

But the part of the drive which was the most incredible for me and got me most excited was seeing my first Rhino. There were 3 of them roaming the bush which we got to witness. They were graceful yet clunky, powerful yet delicate. They were fragile yet beastly. They seemed prehistoric yet present. Truly beautiful creatures that we were fortunate enough to see more than just this time.