Here's the mess tent at San Camp.  That's where all the meals are served and where we gathered for refreshments before our drives.

The view from the mess tent over the pan is endless.  There is a small hummock of trees way out there and the mirage caused by the heat makes it look like an island in a lake.

The manager, Gara, was a delight.  He loves his job and is perfect for it!  He made the four of us, along with Super, the guide, a family right away.  Just a little over a year ago, Gara took a series of email courses offered by the Wildlife Campus section of the website www.africam.com .  (This is the website that brought us together with all our South African friends.)  Gara was an investment banker in London.  After he took the practical part of the course in South Africa, he was hooked, and started looking for a position.  Another surprising thing was that he and I knew each other on the wlc site under our pseudonyms--small world!!!

Gara

This is Super, who is a really super ranger and guide, who took us everywhere and taught us everything.  Just after this picture was taken, while we were way out on the pan, he had the four of us go off about a hundred yards in opposite directions and lie on our backs on the pan to watch the night come on.  There was no sound, no light, no nothing for miles and miles--it makes a big impression on you concerning the universe.

This is the sun setting over the curve of the earth.

I hate to break the mood, but I want to show you the vehicle that we took our drives in.  During one drive in the nearby national park, Super had us all sitting on the roof so we could see for miles.  We went way off road, beyond San Camp's concession, to see if we could find cheetah and a Park vehicle spotted us from quite a distance.  We quickly climbed back into the vehicle and Super drove like the wind all in low places behind small hills so we couldn't be seen accurately getting us back to a road.  It was a very exciting morning to be nearly caught breaking three very serious rules.  We'd never had a ride like that in the bush!  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee !