It's not often you take a detour through Swaziland. Due to the weather, our 90 minute chartered flight has turned into an 8 hour drive. Our travel agent suggested a new plan of a commercial flight but that was going to be six hours of driving and a hour flight. It seemed simpler to us just to drive the whole way so he arranged a driver for us. We left Thonga in a four wheel drive on dirt roads at 6am with Max and then switched at 7am at the Coastal Cashew Factory to a car on asphalt roads that are better than most in New Jersey. We went through some scenic country. I saw a vervet monkey, Chris saw a impala and we both saw some interesting birds, resisting the urge to stop.
The best part though is that the most direct route from Thonga to Kruger is through Swaziland. I'm impressed at the efforts our travel agent and driver made to adjust our plans. We never use travel agents but it was the only way to book Londolozi and we are glad to have him helping us. He found a driver who lives in Swaziland who was willing to pick us up at 7. We didn't know it at the time, but he had to leave Thursday night and stay in a hotel to pick us up. Another extra effort was made for Mike's reading glasses. He leaves them everywhere so he brought three pairs. He left one on the plane to Thonga and 3 days later they arrived in the mail at Thonga.
Along the way, our driver, Sfiso, told us about Swaziland, the sugar crop, the king, and the traditional homesteads. It took about 3 hours to get through Swaziland.
We've arrived safely at Londolozi in Kruger National Park and are looking forward to the game drives tomorrow. Chris spotted a warthog the second we entered Kruger and then we saw a rhino, a jackal, and a herd of buffalo. A bushbuck was outside our door as we arrived.
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