Ladies Only South Africa Surprise Tour Part 2
My third surprise was the fabulous sunsets at Blyde River Canyon on our first day of tour. These were followed by many other great sunsets and sunrises.
My fourth surprise was Kruger in a Bus! I have been fortunate to do many safaris with The African Safari Co but these were in the 4 wheel drives, Toyotas or Land Cruises, now I was in a bus! I have travelled to Kruger before and it has not been my favourite game park due to the bitumen roads, but what I didn’t realise was how much game was in the park. There are 147 species of mammals, 114 different reptiles let along fish and birds. Southern Kruger is arguably one of the most game viewing regions in Africa, particularly for the Big Five. (Elephant, Lion, Buffalo, Rhino and Leopard). On our tour, those 6 that travelled to Kruger before meeting up with the rest of the group saw the Big Five on their 2 day pre tour experince.
In my mind Kruger is an institution, that allows everyone to experience the true African wilderness. You never know what you are going to see! On any given day you are at best one of the almost 4,000 tourist taking to the roads around the park in search of something special! Be it the usual first site an impala or like us zebras. People can travel in the comfort of their own cars, choose their own routes and make their own pace over either the gravel or tarred road, so in a bus with the extra height it was great. Look what we saw. Lions who actually like walking along the bitumen roads, 2 cheetahs, elephants, impalas, kudus, giraffes, hyenas, steenboks, warthogs, wilderbeests, 2 large southern ground hornbills plus more...
Kruger stretches almost 400 kilometres along the North Eastern border of South Africa and covers 1,000,000 hectares. There are nine entry gates into the park with strict opening and closing times. Along with this there are strict rules Some roads are bitumen while others gravel. Due to the abundance of wildlife, I look forward to returning to Kuger and hopefully camping inside the park.
My fifth surprise was the vast, high mountains in in eSwatini. (Swaziland). It was at this point I realised our journey was over 4000 kilometers around South Africa. Here on the border we experienced the authentic cultural village of Matsamo, with its traditional dancers that showcased the culture and traditions of the area. We stayed at Mantenga Lodge with a deck overlooking the exposed 1110 meter granite peak of Execution rock, where in bygone times Swaziland's criminals were executed. This property was set in the mountains with orange coral trees and baboons. We also viewed some exceptional craft glass and visited a candle factory.
My sixth surprise was then came the Rhino charging! We were in Zululand and were offered an optional 3 hour evening game drive in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve. We set off in 3 open game drive safari vehicles. Our first siting was not an impala but a buffalo, followed by Rhino then another two Rhinos! Then a single Rhino became so pissed off he chased one of our Toyotas. My crew were very excited to be lucky enough to experiences this safe but unique experience. The night didn’t end there. After dinner we enjoyed the Zulu Dances with their high kick dancing performance at Anew Hotel.
To be continued part 3.