Saturday, July 24th

10:32 pm (SA)
          This morning after breakfast, Brendan taught us how to use the radio tracking devices.  We all went out in the land rovers and attempted to find the male that we had darted and collared the other night.  Unfortunately, we didn't have much luck.  But while we were looking, we had to drive down this incredibly steep hill and Jonty didn't even have his foot on the pedals!  The land rover just went down on it's own with him steering!  And because Jonty is such a wonderful game driver, our vehicle got to drive down the the base of a cliff and listen to our own echos.  We shouted "M-I-Z.....Z-O-U" of course!
          It was time for Peter to leave to catch his flight back home, so after taking a group picture and saying goodbyes, we had a tracking contest to take our mind of the sad part of the trip.  They had taken a radio collar out and hidden it in the bush for us to find.  The tracking devices were trickier to operate than I had thought they would be and since we'd never done anything like it before, it was quite a challenge!  The other group had been bragging the previous night about how they knew that they would win which made it all the sweeter when my group found it first!!!  Yay!
          Then it was time for more goodbyes.  This time we had to leave Jonty and Robin which was really hard because we spent so much time with them everyday.  I absolutely hate this part of trips!  It's so sad!  After I gave Jonty a big hug, I told him to keep practicing his Chewbacca impression because the next time I come, I expect to see improvement!  :)  They were absolutely incredible guides and were always so fun to be around.  I wish they could join us for the rest of the trip!
          We stopped at the gift shop on the way out to spend some of the rands that had been burning a hole in our pockets!  I think I did pretty good by only spending the equivalent of around 50 US dollars.  We ate lunch at a very unique place called Nanaga Farm Stall.  They are know for their pot pies and had all different varieties!  Their bathrooms were also interesting in that you had to pay 2 rand to get into them!  We kind of cheated and just went in as other people were leaving!
          We arrived back at AEBS just in time to see the elephants being put to bed in their bomas.  They aren't allowed to wander around at night because they will just walk right through the fences on the property.  They each received a huge pile of hay and more than 100 oranges!  They really like them! 
          Tonight's dinner was the best so far, not necessarily in terms of the food, but the company and conversation.  There were so many guests at the restaurant that the tables were split up and our group was divided.  Colleen, Dr. Cott, and I got to sit with Brendan and his family.  His wife, Carrie, is so nice and easy to talk to!  This entire experience is just more than I could ever have hoped for!