Shortly after dawn, we made our way from Lower Sabie rest camp to the Crocodile Bridge gate. Before departing, I took a picture of our accommodation, and we snapped one last family photo on the deck above the Sabie river. (There was yet another leopard sighting ongoing!) After about an hour of driving, we put Kruger Park in the mirror. Then, a five-hour drive to Johannesburg, which took about six and a half due to stops and refueling. We waited more-or-less patiently at the airport to depart.
On the Mango Airlines flight to Cape Town, Catherine made an eight-year-old friend from Pretoria, and they enjoyed sitting together for the last hour and a half of the trip. Tracy’s flight was scheduled to depart Joburg two hours later than ours, but she had an hour delay. So, Catherine, Mark, and I waited in CTN for much longer than we wanted, arriving in Stellenbosch at 1:30 AM tomorrow! After a long day of travel, we were happy to be home!
A few days ago, I wondered if all the planning would be worthwhile. It was!
—Matt
