Skukuza has been repaired since we were here two years ago, and all the flood damage is gone.  There are new luxury accommodations along the river, and the restaurant has been rebuilt.  Meals for the most part are taken in the restaurant or cooked by braai (barbecue grill) at your own room / hut / tentsite.  Some meals are still available at the train station.

We had dinner in the dining room Sunday night, after a shower and a nap and some phone calls.  Monday morning the tractors of the camp staff woke me up.  They use tractors and wagons to take the clean laundry and other supplies around to all the housing units so the people who work there can prepare the facilities for the next guests.  And they pick up trash, etc.  I woke up just in time for a quick shower and to make it into the dining room before breakfast closed at 9:00.  Then I went to the camp store for some bottled water, postcards, a road map, etc.  After breakfast, Tom and I were discussing how we should go through Swaziland and looking at the road map.  Then we saw the elephants (see photos.)  Then we decided to try to find a place to run intervals, and maybe see where the half marathon course runs.

We found the staff village by taking one of the roads marked do not enter.  We found a neat little park area, almost a circle, with a swimming pool, tennis courts, store, etc. in the infield.  It measured 0.6 km circumference, and Tom wanted to run a 3000 time trial, so 5 laps was it.  Then we drove around a little more and saw signs for the golf course, which we followed.  There were only two cars in the parking lot, and we decided to go inside and inquire about playing golf.

After our round of golf, Tom ran his time trial and we went back to the rest camp.  We had supper that night in the train station, and I remember getting cold during supper.  I think I had a few sniffles, notable only because of the impending race.

I remember this phenomenon about sleeping the first few nights.  It seems like you're exhausted, and you go right to sleep, but only for a few hours.  Then you wake up and lie there awake tossing and turning and feel like you're not sleepy.  Then the next thing you know it's morning, 5 hours have gone by, and you don't know if you tossed and turned the whole time, or if you were asleep and only dreaming that you were lying awake.  This happened the first few nights this year, and I seem to remember it happening like this in years gone by.

On Tuesday morning at Skukuza we took our time, ate breakfast, hung around, and went to the golf course for lunch and took a few more photos.  Then we got under way for Lower Sabie.

Here is the dining room at Skukuza, inside and out.  This was rebuilt since the floods in 2000, when all meals were offered at the Selati Train station.

In front of the restaurant, walks and benches for viewing the Sabie River and the animals that visit it to drink.  The train trestle is from the original train service that brought people here in days gone by.

Digital Photos:

After breakfast on Monday we were treated to a show by the elephants, who came down for a mid-morning drink.

35mm Photos:

Digital Photos: