Today started with breakfast at our accommodation in the shared kitchen. Using a shared kitchen is a little more challenging than having a kitchen to ourselves, mostly because you have to work out where everything is kept. It is made even more challenging when you also have a one-year-old who thinks opening every cupboard is a very important job, and who can happily spend ages opening and closing the fridge and freezer.
While we were eating breakfast we had a couple of visitors wandering around outside. We think they were kudu, with their huge curly horns. One of them jumped over the fence and another came a little closer to investigate what we were having for breakfast, but thankfully they didn’t cause us any trouble. It was pretty magical sitting there eating breakfast while wild animals wandered around us. It is definitely not something we are used to at home!
After breakfast we headed over to see the rest of the family, who are staying at an Airbnb elsewhere in Marloth Park. Their place is really nice, with a big outdoor area and a couple of steps down to an open area where all the wildlife can wander through. We ended up spending most of the day there, with the three older children spending lots of time playing together and Isaac doing his best to keep up.
Isaac also spent much of the day trying to crawl off the deck, trying to crawl into things, trying to climb the concrete staircase and generally finding every possible dangerous thing within reach. The staircase has no handrail and there is also a swimming pool without any fencing or rails around it, so there were lots and lots and lots of different ways for Isaac to try and kill himself. Needless to say, keeping an eye on him kept everyone fairly busy!
There was plenty of wildlife coming and going throughout the day as well. We saw lots of warthogs wandering around, which the kids seemed to think were just very big friendly pigs. The adults were a little more aware of the fairly impressive tusks sticking out of their faces, so we kept the kids well back and also kept a couple of big sticks nearby just in case one decided to wander up onto the deck. Thankfully they were quite happy doing their own thing.
At one point somebody rode past on a bicycle with what seemed like an entire herd of zebras chasing along behind them. We’re not entirely sure what was happening there, but it was very funny to watch!
Later in the day some zebras came back and wandered right up near us. They were very cute and the kids absolutely loved having them so close. It also turns out that zebras quite like Marmite sandwiches, after the kids threw a little bit of theirs out for them. We still kept a pretty close eye on everyone as, despite how cute and friendly they look, zebras are still wild animals and can bite and kick. It was still a pretty special experience having them wandering around so close to us, and the kids thought they were adorable.
At another point some baboons arrived. We had already been told fairly clearly that you do not mess around with the baboons, so everything got packed up pretty quickly and we all moved inside for a while. The baboons then proceeded to chase away the monkeys that we had been happily watching beforehand. Apparently the baboons are in charge!
Chris disappeared for a little while during the day as well, as he had a massage booked at Grand Kruger Lodge as his birthday present. He had a really good massage and, while he was waiting, got to sit beside the pool watching the animals wandering around, which wasn’t a bad way to spend part of the afternoon.
Chris also made a trip to the local supermarket. The supermarket is really small, but somehow seems to have pretty much everything you could possibly need. He finished his shopping, paid, walked out to the car and had just put everything away when a text message arrived from Danielle with a list of more things to buy. So back into the supermarket he went. We think the staff probably thought he was a little bit crazy when he appeared again only a minute or two after leaving.
To finish off the day we had another big family braai with sausages, meat and garlic bread, including some garlic bread flavoured with sweet chilli and some kind of spicy cheese. Dan discovered fairly quickly that the garlic bread was much too spicy for her!
After dinner we headed back to our accommodation reasonably early, as Dan had an early start planned for the following morning. It had been a really nice day just spending time together, with animals wandering around us for most of it. Marloth Park is certainly a very different place to stay!