part XII SAFARI - day 2 - oh yeah there IS no day 2 :(

Ok I am going to give you the Reader's Digest version of Day 2, because (a) it is a long and sordid story that gains nothing in the telling, and (b) it still makes my blood boil if I think about it. We showed up outside the hotel nice and early for Safari #2, and vehicle after vehicle went by. Another couple from our hotel even got picked up, but not us. By an hour past pick up we figured there was a problem so we drove to the gates of the park.

It was there that we were made aware of how completely customer-service-free this country is. Altho there was time, there were cantors with space, and we knew we were listed and pre-paid, we were not allowed on the safari. After much gesturing, bargaining, explaining, then some shouting, a little swearing and even some poking-in-the-chest (Randy, not me!), with extremely elevated blood pressure we were forced to walk away. We really did walk, since the driver had gone back to the hotel with the kids so they could swim. We were SOOOOO mad. I cannot adequately express it. We drove all that way, endured the highway robbers, stood in the heat by the side of the road, paid good money for a safari, and got totally ripped off. And the part that made us the maddest is the smug looks and snickering as they told us it was impossible. And no refund, either. Grr. Even typing this I am livid all over again. And this is the short version! Imagine the long :)

So we spent the day at the hotel, which was pretty cool. We had two cabins, at the poolside! Awesome. The main pathways from the lodge were covered.

This is the view from the road. And in case you are wondering, like I did in the beginning, where does the driver go while you are staying at a swanky place, well, there is always driver housing next door. Our driver told us there is beds and a rec room with big screen TV and sound system, and they basically lay around and watch cricket while the tourists bounce around thru the parks and get all sweaty.

We mostly had the pool to ourselves.

Here is a clip of me feeding the wild animals.

The saddest thing about this incident is that even though we did lots of fun things on this trip, we can only look back at it and have bad feelings. The next morning, I got up early to check and see if we were on the safari list for that day (after the chest-poking incident, I thought it would be safer to leave Randy at the hotel!) and lo and behold, our names were not there. So, that was the end of that, and we ended up headed out a bit early.