FLAMINGO LODGE, UMHLANGA, DURBAN

We spent two nights here to get over the flight, but more importantly to catch up with our adopted South African mum, Merle, and her troublesome son, who just happens to have been our Best Man seven years ago when we got married at Thula Thula.

Flamingo Lodge is a great place in a really convenient location.  Unfortunately for us we got the room closest to the main road which runs at the back of the lodge and next to the property with two very loud dogs!  In our experience it is only this room that is noisy and if you are used to road traffic noise then you probably would not notice!

We spent the afternoon wandering around Gateway, a huge shopping mall with some great entertainment including a surf pool and rock climbing facility right in the middle of the centre.  Our biggest source of entertainment however was watching a few people trying to get a photo with Percy Montgomery as he played with his daughter and watched his sons surfing!  As you may know we are not ones to miss a photo op with a rugby star, but when someone is with their family away from the rugby environment sometimes you know that it probably isn't appropriate to bother them, especially if they are with their kids.  As a few more people realised who it was they did not, unfortunately, have the same boundaries and as we suspected were asked not to take photos as he was with his daughter!

Our first night surprisingly involved several beers, a few Spiced Golds and a huge lazy aged steak from Spurs.  The second evening we took Merle and Dean to one of our favourite restaurants, Razzmatazz, in the Cabana Beach hotel, well technically we met them there!  Yet again it lived up to its reputation and served amazing food with friendly, attentive service.

THULA THULA GAME RESERVE

This is where we got married and my 10th anniversary for visiting Thula Thula.  It has changed dramatically over the years, but one thing has remained consistent and that is the attitude of the people who live and work there.  Some of the guys have come and gone (thanks for that Chris!), but have always been replaced by equally personable and knowledgeable staff and this year was no different.

I have to say that your timing is shocking Françoise!  You told us off on the phone last year for not coming to see you and although we booked this trip in August you cleared off to France!  Luckily for us Mabona, Lawrence and Jabu were still there to look after us!  Promise, David and Yvette are excellent additions to the Thula Thula family and we really hope to see them there again in the future.

The food was just what we expected, loads of it and of outstanding quality.  The refurbished Boma is lovely and having the young Zulus there to sing and dance was a real treat.  It was also nice to meet some of the team working with Lawrence on the Earth Organisation project, particularly Leslie, who fell in love with the place so much she deliberately missed her flight back to the States and onto Los Angeles so she could stay another week!

The game viewing was the best it has been in the 10 years we have been coming to Thula Thula.  We both said the reserve felt much more settled and the game was far more plentiful.  Seeing the Elephant Whisperer in action never fails to amaze us and the fun and games with Mabula, one of the Bull Elephants, made the stay an "awesome" experience!

Never in my life have I seen an Elephant crouch down on all fours behind a bush trying to hide before standing up on its back legs and then charging the vehicle, judging by the reaction of David and Promise neither had they!  The Ellie in question is called Mabula which in Zulu means "Mad One" and boy does he lives up to his name!  He then proceeded to dismantle a tree in front of us to further impose his dominance over us so we turned round and went back the other way!

HLUHLUWE GAME RESERVE

Where have all the animals gone?  Whilst in previous years we have often felt like Mr and Mrs National Geographic this time we struggled to find even the Impalas!  There is a huge amount of road reconstruction going on in the park at the minute and our guess is a lot of the animals have been driven either into the iMfolozi side or deep into the bush where you stand little chance of seeing them.

We only had one full day in the reserve and we decided to hire a driver for the day.  A lady called Monika from Isinkwe Tours arrived promptly at 06:30 to take us around the reserve for the day.  She was a great guide who not only drive us around, but made us breakfast and cooked us lunch whilst also imparting her knowledge of the animals we saw.

The highlight actually came right at the end of the day when we saw a Tower of Giraffes all drinking from a waterhole who promptly scarpered when a huge breeding herd of Elephants walked towards them.  We had followed the Giraffes activities and the Elephants for around an hour before positioning ourselves at this waterhole looking forward to the Ellies drinking and playing.  As I mentioned the Giraffes legged it, but the Elephants just kept on walking and moved straight past it and over the hill, much to our amusement as several other vehicles had arrived to see what we were looking at!

That evening we met up with an old friend, Brendan, who is now working on the Wild Dog Monitoring Project in the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Game Reserve.  We had a few beers and made a plan to meet at 06:00 the following morning to go and track the dogs!  We found one of the packs and saw seven of the eight dogs, Brendan believing that one had stayed at the Den as they had pups in the pack.  After a good catch-up on his travels with Lawrence to rescue the animals at Baghdad Zoo (Iraq), his educational trip to America, his time at war-torn Kabul Zoo (Afghanistan) rescuing the animals there as well and some good times in Dubai we made our way slowly back to Hilltop Camp for breakfast.  Luckily we had just finished eating when Brendan got a call to say that two Dogs were outside of the reserve killing a local farmers goats!  The reason I say luckily is because it took him until 20:00 that night to establish that it wasn't in fact Wild Dogs , but just some local domestic dogs and therefore nothing to do with him, so he would not have had anything to eat all day if he hadn't have had breakfast!  Thanks mate for the Dog viewing and for not rubbing it in about the Sharks losing to WP!

MKUZE FALLS GAME RESERVE

Yet again it was exactly what we expected.  Let's start with the  not-so-good side, as there are so many positives about Mkuze Falls.  Due to past visits here, since the departure of the Pretorius clan, we were expecting them not to give a monkeys about returning guests and when we arrived we were asked if we had been to South Africa before!  Dean had emailed them several times that we were returning for the fifth time so even if their records were not up-to-date they should have known from the emails!  My only other "complaint" is that in addition to paying your bill electronically they also take a paper, carbonised copy of your credit card and to make matters even worse they write down the security number from the back of the card on there as well!  One person said our manager needs it, the other said the bank need it!  Either way it is leaving Mkuze Falls wide open to potentially fraudulent practice, particularly as they leave the carbon in the paper copy thus creating 3 copies, not just one more!  It may be that this is common to have practices that are so wide open to abuse in South Africa, but it is certainly not in the rest of the world!

So after a bit of a gripe about them, what do we love about Mkuze Falls and why have we been back five times?  There are three main reasons; the rooms, the food and the game drives.

The rooms are lovely and they overlook the river and waterfall, although in Winter it isn't flowing, but still has a good amount of water at the bottom to attract some game to it.  A few additions have been made since the last visit, which include Air-con (great for their Summer months) and room service snacks, which is ideal if you want to skip huge lunch and give your waistline a much needed rest.

The food was, as with all previous visits, amazing!  I actually tried to change my cultural background to become a Zulu so I could marry the chef, Nellie!  Not only was the food always cooked to perfection, but still they also served Venison without having to be asked!  Frequently you get Chefs who can prepare one or two of the courses really well and then have a fairly average other course, but Nellie's starters, main courses and puddings were all fantastic.  They have individually prepared menus for each couple/family and their attentive and friendly service makes each meal an absolute pleasure.

The game drives are also great here with a great variety of terrain,  plenty of game to see and excellent rangers and trackers.  You have the change of mountains, open plains, reed beds around dams and heavily wooded areas.  It really makes each drive different and very interesting as whilst you are never guaranteed to see any particular animal there is always so much more to see and learn about in the bush.

UMHLOTI LODGE, JANE GOODALL PRIMATE HAVEN

We were really looking forward to getting to Umhloti Lodge, basically because I told them the last time we were there that they cooked me probably the best Venison steak I have ever eaten.  This time they didn't put us in room one, which I think is their Honeymoon Room, but they put us in room five, which also has a great view of the Primate Haven.  The room was lovely apart from the bat poo all over the balcony which hadn't been cleaned up for a few days and the overflow pipe that ran down the side of the balcony which had created a huge algae stream which was covered in bugs and flies!

We were relaxing in the room when there was a knock at the door and a gentleman announced that he was going to be our waiter that evening and wanted us to decide what we wanted to eat, he actually insisted on waiting for us to make up our minds.  What I immediately noticed was that there was no venison option on the menu!

We then sat there wondering about how much our perception of this place had changed since our first visit last year!  When we went downstairs to sit at the bar that also presented a few challenges and conversation was far from easy and relaxed.  However, when we finally went through to the restaurant our waiter actually turned out to be excellent and the food was again delicious and extremely well cooked and presented, as was breakfast.

TSHUKUDU GAME RESERVE

This place is so special, we absolutely love Tshukudu.  It is very hard for us to be objective when it comes to Tshukudu as we are so bias in our opinion of the place!  The accommodation is clean and comfortable, although more basic than some of the other lodges we go to.  The food is not fancy food, it is good, traditional, home-cooked, South African grub which is very tasty and plentiful.

It is difficult to know where to start with the reasons to go to Tshukudu!  Tshukudu is a Big 5 game reserve with a difference.  The biggest difference being that you may well be lucky enough to have a close encounter with some of the rehabilitated and released animals that live freely in the game reserve.  Tshukudu's objective is to rehabilitate any orphaned animals, so what this means is you are virtually guaranteed excellent viewing opportunities of the wild animals in their natural habitat as they are so well habituated to the vehicles

Angela talked about one thing before we got to South Africa, Savannah's cubs!  Savannah is a fairly, if not entirely, unique Cheetah.  She lives in the wild, hunts for herself, but was hand-raised and therefore loves human interaction.  Over the years Angela has become very attached to Savannah, we sometimes literally have to drag her off!  Whether it is just petting her or letting her drink water out of your hands, each moment that you spend with her makes you realise how privileged you are.  Well, she had cubs a few months ago and after seeing the photos Angela has just been counting down the time to get back to Tshukudu. 

So how well do you think the guys at Tshukudu know us?  David, son of Ian, grand-son of Lolly and Ala, met us as we parked the car.  He walked us straight past reception and our welcome drinks, past all the rest of the staff and straight to Savannah and her cubs!  It may sound selfish, but over the years I have seen how much special encounters/sightings mean to Angela and I get such an amazing buzz seeing the look she has on her face at those times.  I cannot put a price on how I felt watching Angela interacting with Savannah and how relaxed she was with her cubs right next to her!  David and Jaco made sure that Angela got several visits to interact with Savannah over the four nights we were there, although it did cost me a fortune in Ice Creams, not for the lads, but for Savannah!  She loves nothing more than to drink water from your hand after she has eaten a Magnum Classic!

When we did get back to reception there was the usual warm welcome from Ala and the rest of the team that really makes you feel like they are thrilled to have you staying there, whereas it really is the other way round! 

In addition to the usual "Big 5" game drive activities and early morning bush walks with the orphaned lions, we got to see the Bush Pig and a whole prickle of Porcupines feeding from the kitchen leftovers, baby Caracals, a chocolate loving Bushbaby, Savannah and her cubs and the Lion Breeding project.

Then there is Chobe.  Chobe is a Lioness that we sponsor in the name of our three nieces and one nephew.  She was abandoned by her mother, we believe, due to her "imperfections" one being she has additional dew claws on her back legs and the other being a kink in her tail.  She now lives in one of the large areas within the breeding project, but as soon as a vehicle arrives she is there pushing against the fence wanting to be "petted."  As she had grown even more since last year we listened very carefully to what to do and what not to do and managed to get some great interaction with her, like any cat she loved being stroked under her chin and down her back, but you have to watch out for the 8,000 volts running through the electric wires when you stand up!!!!! (Note to self - don't ever touch the wire again - particularly with your head!  Doh!)

Ala and Lolly organised a real sun-downer treat for us, Mike, Marie, Melvin and Claudette.  At the highest point in Tshukudu we had Champagne and Canapés whilst watching the sun set behind the Klein Drakensberg.

A final mention has to go to the Dunbars!  Ross, Sandy and new arrival, Cameron.  Thanks for a great night round at yours, sorry you had to invite Chris!

ARATHUSA GAME LODGE, SABI SANDS

Another place that is fast becoming one of our favourites!  Run by Brendan and Michelle with a little help from Zack and Zena.  Our Ranger and Tracker where again, by request, Jason and Roy.

I only have one complaint about Arathusa, put more "Game" meats on the menu!  The food is lovely here and it is always cooked to perfection so I can't call it a complaint really, it is just that when I am in the "bush" I would prefer to have a venison on the menu alongside beef or lamb, etc.

The guys here really do look after you well.  Michelle and some of the team met us as we arrived and we got a hug and a welcome back which does make a difference to how quickly you feel settled in.  We had asked if it was possible to have chalet number one and they had sorted it for us as it is the furthest from the lodge tucked in the corner of the dam.  Then when we went over for lunch we had the same warm "welcome back" from Brendan.  There was a lovely welcome back card in the room from the guys and on our final night the ladies had sprinkled petals around and put candles in the room leading through to a bubble bath for Angela.  They had even spelt our names out on the bed in petals around a huge love heart.  Yes, it does more for the girls than the blokes I know, but the blokes do benefit from it later on!

The game viewing was exactly what we expected and as previously Jason's passion and knowledge of the bush really captivated you.  It was great to see him get frustrated because he was so keen for us to see something and was worried that we were going to miss out, but then ultimately to also see how much it means to him to get you to a special sighting.

There were two particularly great sightings for us, the first being a pride of lions going down to a waterhole for a drink.  The second one was where Jason was getting frustrated by another Ranger who couldn't quite pinpoint where he was!  He was watching Safari, the Arathusa, one-eyed, territorial female and she had killed an Impala, but a pack of Hyenas where trying to steal the kill from her.  We got there just as the Hyenas had stolen the kill and were startling to demolish it, which they did in less than 5 minutes!  Meanwhile Safari was up a tree watching and praying that they left at least something for her!  As the majority of the Hyenas moved off she came down the tree and grabbed a piece of the Impala and legged it up another tree where she then proceeded to pick as much from the bones as she could.  Whilst she was doing this a Hyena returned and patrolled the bottom of the tree just waiting for her to drop it.

In summary, Arathusa is a fantastic place to stay with lovely food, fantastic people, great rooms with amazing views and the game drives are always great fun and very informative.  We will be going back on our next trip, we will stay for even longer, will ask to stay in room one again and we will request that Jason and Roy are our ranger and tracker team again.

RATTRAY'S ON MALA MALA

What a difference a Ranger makes!  If you have read our feedback on this place last year then you will know that we loved everything apart from the Ranger.  Thankfully he has now left Mala Mala, but what we began to realise as we settled back into Rattray's on Mala Mala was that our whole experience of this place had been "over-shadowed" by  last year's appalling ranger.

If you asked us what could they do better, I would honestly have to say nothing!  We tried and tried to think of something that all the other reserves and lodges we go to do that Rattray' on Mala Mala doesn't do and we came up with nothing.  Food 10/10, Staff 10/10, Accommodation 10/10, Game Viewing 10/10, Vehicle and Personal Comfort 10/10.

The chef at Rattray's on Mala Mala, Grant, is exceptional.  I can honestly say I have never looked forward, in particular, to lunch and our evening meal as much anywhere in the world as I have this time at Mala Mala.  The variety and quality of the food was second to none and to speak with a highly engaging Chef who takes such pride in people enjoying his food was an absolute privilege.  One evening Grant arranged for us to have dinner in our room and from the setting to the food again everything was just perfect, no attention to detail was missed.

I must also mention Alan, the Bar Manager, and the rest of the restaurant staff who were also always attentive and friendly, apart from whoever nicked my pickled Jalapeno!  At least there was another full dish of them for me to attack!

The accommodation consists of eight individual "homes" with his and hers bathrooms, a huge, air-conditioned lounge with access, if you want it, to an HD television and a laptop with wireless internet.  Outside you have a heated, large plunge pool and plenty of loungers to lie and soak up the sun whilst the wildlife wanders by in the Sand River.  If I could I would swap our house for one of these Khayas!

The game drives are exceptional, firstly you only ever have four people to a vehicle so there is plenty of space.  Due to the size of the farm and the fact that is has the Sand River running all the way through it the concentration of game is fantastic.  What Angela particularly loves about the drives is that the blankets are contoured so they wrap around you perfectly, but even more so is the fact they give you hot water bottles to put under the blankets if you want them.  When you stop for your sundowners they even have little burners to serve warm canapés with whatever your choice of drink is.

Finally I must mention Nils and Ryan.  Nils was the boss and was an extremely gregarious gentleman whose dry sense of humour and love of the bush where a perfect combination to entertain us during our time here.  Ryan was our ranger and could not have been more different from our last experience.  Ryan loved the bush, he was knowledgeable, engaging and extremely good fun to share time with.  We are very pleased to say that this time could say a very definite "yes" to the question, On your next visit to Rattray Reserves would you consider requesting the same ranger?"