Unfortunately, our work holiday had come to an end. It was time to leave…
This was our exploratory holiday to see if this new land and new life could be a fit for us. From the moment we stepped onto Boston (the portion of the Greater Kruger where Tomo is located) we fell in love. My husband and I had been searching for our little piece of Africa for about 8 years. And we finally found it. After a wonderful week exploring the land, getting to know the sellers and the current staff the deal was done. This beautiful place was going to become our piece of Africa.
Back then the lodge was called Kwenga, meaning lead buffalo. The buffalo is also the symbol of the Balule Nature Reserve where Boston is situated. Buffaloes seemed to be the theme of the holiday because every time we set off on game drive, we would run into a massive breeding herd that was taking their lovely time crossing the plains and munching up as much of the grass on their way.
… We said goodbye, our lovely staff sang as a song to send us on our happy way. We were bubbling with excitement but also sad to be leaving and taking in every last sight that we could see. Exiting on Main Road, about halfway down, there is an enormous and old dead Leadwood. I noticed that on the top of this stunning tree was perched a vulture, enjoying the sun and scanning the horizon. I told Francesco to slow down so that I could get in the last picture of this iconic African photo moment. Our windows were rolled down, we slowly started to approach the tree, out of nowhere we heard an all-mighty snort and a hoof scratching on the sandy ground… less than 2 seconds later… BAMMM!! Something had decided to collide into the boot of our beautiful green Rav 4 rental! Francesco floored the 4×4 and I was desperately looking out the back window to try and understand what had just happened… as the dust behind us started to settle there he was… a big grumpy dagga boy who apparently had decided to welcome the new custodians of his land the way he knew best.