Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Tammy woke me up at 6:30 thinking her clock was wrong. I laid in bed and tried to fall back asleep until 7:30 but couldn’t. We had gone to bed early so I was pretty rested. We got ready in our cold rondavel and headed down the hill. We got down there at 8:20 and most people were already done with their coffee. I quickly had a cup of coffee and a rusk (like a non-sweet biscotti) that Renée had made. We got ready to leave for a hike. It was already warming up so Tammy and I ditched a few layers in her parents’ room so that we didn’t have to walk up the big hill.

We hiked for about 3-4 miles and enjoyed the beautiful landscape. Some of Tammy’s family members shared crazy stories about pythons and other snakes. They assured us that since it was winter, all the snakes were hibernating. By the time we made it back to camp, it was less than two hours until lunch so our plan of having breakfast when we got back didn’t come to pass. Instead, I had an apple and a piece of sourdough bread to tide me over. 

Porcupine Quill

Andy, Colin, John, Aidan, and Tammy taught me how to play Acquire, a hotel game where you buy stock and merge smaller hotels. I came in second place. 

We had another delicious lunch and then we had a bit of downtime before we left for another hike across the river. We walked down to the lodge and an inflatable raft was waiting for us. Our group was large enough that it took two trips to get everyone across the river. Two people paddled back to get the rest of us. It was a self-bailing boat with holes around the edge near the floor that water can come in and out of. When we got across the river, we had to walk through some tall grass where a herd of cows was grazing. Laird took Bailey, their dog, the long way around so the cows wouldn’t get nervous.

We hiked up a small mountain and made out to the top where there is a waterfall when it rains. No one had had any cell service at the camp so everyone else started messaging people. It was pretty funny. I don’t have international cell service so I just enjoyed the view.

We hiked back down and prepared to cross the river. This time, they decided that we could all squeeze in the boat. It was a miracle that no one fell in. Because there was so much extra weight in the boat, lots of water came in so we were all holding our feet up or putting them on the edge so we wouldn’t get wet.

When we got back to camp, we hiked up our hill and put on extra layers and charged our phones. We saw some warthogs by the river.

By the time we came back down, we found that we had missed snack time around the fire. We sat around the campfire and talked until it was time for dinner. It was Laird’s birthday and they put a candle in his dessert (chocolate mousse) and we sang to him. We sat around the campfire for a little while before hiking up the hill to get ready for bed and to read for awhile before going to sleep. It was really chilly!