Day 13 - Mabula Game Park

Plenty of swagger/limping from the boys as they boarded the coach for the three-hour drive to Mabula early this morning. Many were in muscular pain from yesterday’s very physical match and so, on went the “cans” (headphones), back went the seats and the team slept throughout most of the journey.

Upon arrival at the Mabula Game Lodge we were met by a fleet of khaki-cloaked safari rangers. By incredible coincidence one of them turned out to be Peter Walker-Munro, a former Shiplake boy who warmly welcomed the boys and called for a raise of hands for his fellow Everett guys.

After checking in to luxurious rooms everyone enjoyed a buffet lunch before watching the 1pm reptile show or sunbathing by the pool. It was then time to adorn more layers of clothing and head to the trucks for our afternoon game drive.

In short, we had magnificent close-up viewing of a herd of elephants, zebra, giraffes, warthogs, a mother rhino and her baby, impalas, an armadillo, buffalo, crocodiles, wildebeest, hippos, waterbuck, baboons and a variety of antelope. We even saw the carcass of a warthog in a tree that had been dragged up there by a leopard a few days prior.

This evening the team wore their no 1s for dinner which included a traditional African show displaying local singers and dancers. Various Shiplake members, such as Mr Beckett, Mr Cane-Hardy, Max, Nick P, Teddy and Luke were invited to join the dance troop. Which they did with vigour (video evidence available upon request).

An awards ceremony rounded up our final night and the winners were as follows:

Young player of the tour: Nick Arbuckle

Players’ player of the tour: Jimmy Wright

Coaches’ player of the tour: Teddy Hewins

Best tourist: David Plato