I have just returned from one of the most exciting experiences of my life - a wheelchair safari to Kruger Park in South Africa. After an overnight flight to Johannesburg and 24 hours in a comfortable accessible hotel, we began the journey to Kruger Park in a specially adapted vehicle capable of taking several wheelchairs with normal seating for the less handicapped and carers. Seven hours later after a couple of stops and travelling through some wonderful scenery, we arrived at a private game reserve for three nights.
Highlights of the stay were stroking a wild cheetah and hearing her purr, walking with a young lioness, feeding a hippopotamus and going to a rehabilitation centre where animals are cared for before being reintroduced to the wild.
The next four days were spent in Kruger Park itself. Tarmacadam roads made travelling a lot more comfortable. Morning (early rising) and late afternoon game drives, Buffalo, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Lion, Giraffe, Zebra, Impala, Ostrich, Baboon and a myriad of colourful birds in their natural habitat, were a wonderful and memorable sight.
Back to Johannesburg airport and a two hour flight to Cape Town for eight nights, ostensibly to recover from early mornings and a general lack of sleep. However, Table Mountain, Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, the Waterfront, wine tasting at the vineyards and seeing the penguins, interspersed with the odd quiet day, meant that time passed quickly and we were soon back at the airport for the 13 hour flight home.
Down sides - the long flight, bumpy roads, early mornings and the occasional rough ground for the wheelchair. Upside - the animals, the scenery, the cleanliness of the country and the satisfaction of successfully taking up the challenge of doing it.
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