Kedar Lodge

Ok, January is almost over… I really need to finish blogging about our Christmas trip, don’t I?

After some time in Johannesburg we headed about 2 hours out of the city to a place called Pilanesburg National Park. The night before we headed into the park we spent New Years Eve at Kedar Lodge. It was kind of cool to sleep in a hut like room- but when you can see the sunlight through the roof you worry that rain might come in. Luckily, despite the heavy rains that night, we did not get wet and the roof held strong. The lodge had a few animals roaming around, which is always fun for the girls, and a pool, which we used as Sophie had been dying to swim the entire trip.

We were too late for the night game drive. So we decided to go on the Pygmy Hippo Walk instead. They also have a couple pygmy hippos that you can try and find on their hippo walk. So, we walked along the path looking for hippos, and we were so excited to find one of the 2 hippos- he was sleeping in the water.

That night we celebrated New Years (around 9:30) and had sparkling cider and fancy drinks as we listened to the bugs hum in the dark. There were no big celebrations… but as we usually are asleep by 10 anyways this worked just fine!

The next morning we got up for the game drive. We were the only people on the truck, which is always fun, and had a good time. The resort only has antelope type animals (kudu, springbok, impala, waterbuck, eland), zebras, giraffes, and wildebeests… none of the big 5, but still a nice ride. The best part was, by the end, we could identify most of the antelope animals- it was really helpful while we were driving around Pilanesburg. The girls favorite part of the drive was the “naughty giraffe.” So called by the driver. Apparently this particular giraffe used to be fed from the trucks, so he followed the truck around looking for handouts- he was just right there for a LONG time, and Violet was bummed he didn’t just follow us home afterwards!