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Durban
We spent a couple of nights at Flamingo Lodge, just
north of Durban in Umhlanga Rocks, a really nice B&B where we have stayed a
couple of times before.
Other than just chilling out we also did the following:
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Spent a fortune in the Shark Tank Rugby Store at Kings Park - home of the
Natal Sharks
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Went to The Gateway Shopping Mall which has a great indoor rock climbing
tower and surfing wave machine!
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Had a braai round at Dean's house.
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Dinner at Razzmatazz in the Cabana Beach Hotel, Umhlanga Rocks - A must
for all food lovers, especially seafood!
Thula Thula
GAME RESERVE
Yet again, Thula Thula excelled themselves, the game has
significantly increased from last year and we had some great game drives. It
will be even better when Lion can be introduced to the reserve. The attitude,
enthusiasm and knowledge of the rangers is fantastic. The only word I can use to
describe Ephram is "legend!" The guy is great fun to be around and his knowledge
of the bush is amazing, he is without doubt the best bushman in Africa.
All the staff are friendly, enthusiastic and work so
hard for you. The lodge is very luxurious, especially The Suite Royale, even
more so now it has air-con and electric blankets that you could fry eggs on. The
food is also a great asset to the place, the chefs do an awesome job. Eating in
The Boma around the open fire with all the staff singing and dancing is also a
great experience.
The Elephant Tracking, Leopard Tracking and Hyena
Callout were all good fun.
The only slight down side to Thula Thula is that it
isn't a Big 5 Reserve, but that is only one reason to visit Africa - and Thula
Thula offers everything else in abundance.
Hluhluwe/IMFOLOZI
GAME RESERVE
This was the first time I have driven round a game
reserve and let me tell you it's not like West Midlands Safari Park! We had some
amazing moments, but one truly terrifying one, although we were probably not in
as much danger as we thought we were at the time! I really thought my heart was
going to burst out my body it was pounding that hard!
The most successful times we were out were from 6:30am
to 8:00am then 4:00pm to 6:00pm. In that time highlights include, "The Big 5",
Hyenas' with an Impala kill, Lions' with a Wildebeest kill, 5 Lionesses in a
tree, Wild Dog running down the track towards us, getting trapped between 2 Bull
Elephants on a single track road and driving 636 Kilometres within the reserve!
Mpila Camp we had problems with the Fridge/Freezer
constantly blowing out so therefore could not freeze our cooler bag blocks, but
other than that the Tented Camp is great. Hilltop is also very nice with the
added bonus of a bar and restaurant if you get bored with cooking for
yourselves.
Leopard
Mountain
Our overall impression of Leopard
Mountain is that it's like Thula Thula was three years ago. The chalets are
lovely, lying in the hammock admiring the view was great, but lying in bed and
being able to watch a South African sunrise was fantastic. The food and service
provided by the staff was brilliant.
With it being more of what I would call a nature reserve
than a game reserve it probably needs to be visited more in summer when the bush
is in full bloom. If, regrettably for you, the only thing you are interested in
is The Big 5, then don't bother going! If you want to get a great understanding
of the bush and little things in the bush then it is well worth a visit.
Mkuze
Falls GAME RESERVE
Wow Wow Wow! The Tented Camp was
brilliant last year, the lodge is twice as good! The staff were all great fun
and very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. The room was great with a fantastic
view - the food was out of this world - most memorably the beef and Impala
fillets dissolved in your mouth and their Crème Brulee was the best we have ever
had! To top it all the game viewing was absolutely amazing! Siebert & Jennie and
Brett & Michelle all make you feel right at home.
Some of the highlights at Mkuze were:
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Watching the Lions mating (every 15/20 minutes non-stop for 3 to
4 days!) Although we didn't watch them for that long!
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Learning that Zebras recognise each other by their stripes! They
all look the same to me!
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Seeing a baby elephant so tiny that it didn't even come up to
it's mum's kneecap!
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In absolute pitch darkness watching the Milky Way, seeing Mars, Mercury and thousands of stars!
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Standing in the bush having a brew and suddenly realising that a
baby Cheetah was watching us very closely!
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Following a cheetah and her three cubs once we managed to get
back in the vehicle!
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Siebert's mouse impression to get a Lesser Spotted Jenat to come
close to the vehicle to investigate the noise.
Mkhaya
The Stone Camp accommodation was
fantastic, although the bed was in need of repair and the food was ok. Watching
and hearing the bucks feeding around you in the middle of the night was a great
experience.
Our impression is that they have three
waterholes which they drive between like Michael Schumacher repeatedly showing
you elephants, rhinos and giraffes. More rare sightings of animals like Tsessebe, Ruan, Eland, Red
Deiker and Sable don't get much attention because they don't tend to pose for
photos like elephants, rhinos and giraffes.
I was very upset at the way the ranger
drove around the elephants, as he was clearly agitating them to try and impress
the guests. At one point he deliberately drove straight at a very, very young
baby causing it to trip and fall over, after getting us caught between two big elephants.
The elephants had gone to the waterhole at midday as they were clearly hot and
tired and he worked them up so much they left the waterhole.
Hearing a baby rhino crying to his mum
for milk was amazing as the tiny little noise they make sounds like it should
come from a little cat not a 50Kg baby rhino. One great moment was that we got
close to
a Black Rhino.
LOWER SABIE, KrugeR
NATIONAL PARK
At the time we were there they were
having major problems with Baboons raiding the
tents – also the tent zips were knackered! One of the funniest things we saw was
a huge Baboon running down the camp road with a box of Ouma Rusks under one arm
and eating one with the other hand! The view from the restaurant is great,
overlooking the river with frequent visits from Hippos, Elephants and we even
saw Lions wander by.
SATARA, KrugeR
NATIONAL PARK
No complaints – we loved it there. Again
the restaurant was good, but doing a braai back at your Rondaval and having
Hyenas eying you up from the other side of the camp fence was quite weird!
We had some amazing experiences in
Kruger:
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Seeing a herd of 200+ Elephants coming
to a waterhole.
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Having 2 really old Lions walk past us
early one morning on a drive.
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Tree Squirrels pinching our biscuits.
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Seeing some tiny Lion cubs and later
that day seeing some baby Hyenas.
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Watching a pride of 6 Lions stalking and
charging a herd of Buffalo late at night.
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Hearing an Elephant trumpet in the pitch
black so loud we thought it was right next to us.
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Driving up to the Tropic of Capricorn
and hardly seeing any animals all day!
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Driving 1008 Kilometres in the reserve.
Tshukudu GAME LODGE
Again we wished we had had another night here. Chris,
Ross, Ala, Precious, Lolly, Wicky (Vicky) and Hilda are all
lovely people who look after you so well. The morning walks with the animals
are fantastic and this is where I got the opportunity to get a photo of "The Big
5" in the same photo with the added bonus of a Cheetah!
They run a Lion Breeding Project that is
breeding Bovine Tuberculosis free Lion cubs. Sitting in the middle of the
project at sunset when they start roaring to each other actually made the
vehicle vibrate with the power in their roars, it was an awesome sound.
They have a wild, but hand-reared, Cheetah called
Savannah who is more than happy to let you stroke her, but watch out if she
decides to paw you - she is bigger than your average pussycat!
I would recommend anyone who is close to
the area to stay there and stay for at least 3 nights! We will definitely be
back!
Pezulu
TREE House
The Tree-houses are awesome! The food was
great, West and his team are all knowledgeable, enthusiastic and friendly and
are good entertainment in the bar after a day out in the local area.
The Microlight flight was well worth it and with so many places to visit in the
area it is well worth stopping a few nights. The giraffes nibbling at the trees
whilst you are in the tree-houses is interesting! Another great place to go and
stay.
Chitwa
Chitwa GAME RESERVE
Boulders is beautiful, as is the
lodge, but we didn't really feel it is worth the extra money over some of the
other places we have stopped. The staff are all enthusiastic, friendly and
knowledgeable. Breakfast and lunch were terrific and dinner was very nice.
One of the highlights was a bushwalk, throughout which myself
and Angela with
Isaac and Noel (who were our trackers) had a great laugh, lots
of conversation and funny stories about the bush and animals. They showed us a
plant that can be used as bush shampoo.
Seeing a Pangolin was an absolutely amazing moment of my
holiday - I have always hoped to see one and by sheer luck we managed to
see one - even the Rangers were snapping away wildly with their cameras! We also
managed to get right in on a Lion kill seconds after it happened, the smell is
disgusting, but the sound and seeing them dismantle the Nyala was a sight to be
remembered! We were laying on our veranda one lunchtime overlooking the
waterhole and were joined by a herd of Elephants who came to play in the water.
We also got very close to a female Leopard who was resting up before going off
on an evening hunt - she was totally un-phased by our vehicle and only moved
when a Hyena came sniffing round.
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