Tony is a gem of a person!
My wife and I planned to meet Jessica on the last day of our vacation in Hoedspruit before heading to the airport.
We reached quite late for the scheduled 9:30 meet with Jessica.

The gates were closed and the guard said that the place was shut as there was an emergency and all the guests were asked to leave because of that.
We were heavily disappointed and didn't wanna leave without meeting Jessica and regretted scheduling this on the last day.

We requested the guard to help us out and let us just see Jessica once before we leave but he refused due to security reasons.
As we were about to back up our car from in front of the gate, a truck approached from behind and asked the guard to open the gate and let us in.

It was Tony.

He was very happy to see that he had guests over when he was back.
When we met him, we learnt that he had to rush for a medical emergency. HE WAS BIT BY SOUTH AFRICA'S MOST VENOMOUS SCORPION. As he was showing the earlier guests around the place and introducing each one to Jessica and Siyan, he had been stung by a really dangerous scorpion and had to be rushed to the nearest Hospital.

As he was back, he showed us his bandaged leg as well the dead scorpion in a box. One can see the attached images to this review.
The doctor said to him that he was lucky to be surviving the sting as many don't survive it and that he should be taking rest once treated.

Despite that, he was really happy and kind to introduce us to Jessica and Siyan.
We didn't want him to stress himself out and asked him if we could just see them up close, but he was very nice to make us meet both of the lovely hippos.

The experience is unforgettable and it was one of the best moments to be able to meet and greet with Jessica and Siyan. Both of them were so cute and nice. My wife and I absolutely loved them and would recommend whoever would be going to Hoedspruit to meet Jessica before they take leave.

Thank you so much Tony, you have been very hospitable and kind to us despite the situation you were in.
I hope you are doing well and recovering from the horrible scorpion sting.

I would say all of us were lucky that day.
Tony was lucky that the scorpion sting wasn't fatal and we were lucky that we DID NOT reach early and got to meet Jessica and Siyan just in time when Tony was returning from the Hospital.

Thank you again.
Hope to meet Jessica and Siyan again.

Love from India,
Tejal and Varun.

This was an amazing, unique, and surreal experience. Being able to feed Jessica & Sein sweet potatoes and tea and interact with them up close was the experience of a lifetime! The owners Tonie & Shirley were very friendly and informative. If you are an animal lover and visiting Hoedspruit, this is a do-not-miss event! I hope to return in the future and look forward to following Jessica’s story.