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My first Safari…

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shelley in South Africa,, Family Holidays,, Food & Wine,, On Safari,, Travel Tips,, Wildlife,,
November 01st, 2011 at 4:27pm
Tags: Activities,, Buffalo,, Cape Town,, chef,, Eastern Cape,, Garden Route,, Guide,, Kariega,, Knysna,, Kwandwe,, lion,, Lions,, Ostriches,, Oudtshoorn,, Plettenberg Bay,, Ranger,, Reserves,, Route 62,, Safari,, scenery,, tour,, view,, Views,, white lion,

I have recently been to the Eastern Cape for my first safari experience. If you haven’t had the opportunity to do a safari, then its hard to explain how awesome this experience actually is. From the sounds of the birds calling in the early hours of the morning to the sunsets over the African bush while spotting game, life just doesn’t get better than this.

My trip started when I departed Cape Town and travelled along the scenic Route 62 towards Oudtshoorn for a short overnight stop in the country of the ostrich - the Karoo. I was lucky enough to be able to attend an informative ostrich tour to see the breeding process of these amazing birds and ending it off by holding a baby ostrich that recently broke through its egg.

Baby ostriches at the show farm in Oudtshoorn

Baby ostriches at the show farm in Oudtshoorn

The trip continued through the popular Garden Route stopping off at many of the must-sees like George, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, St Francis Bay and Storms River. The places along this route all offer their own uniqueness when it comes to scenery and activities on offer. Knysna and Plettenberg Bay are on my top favourites being activity rich with beautiful views of lagoons and beaches.

The view from The Plettenberg Hotel

I was lucky enough to stay in some amazing places along the Garden Route such as Leisure Isle Lodge (Knysna), Cottage Pie Guest House (Plettenberg Bay) and The Dunes (St Francis Bay). All really amazing properties with excellent staff and top 5 star cuisine.

Then for the long awaited, best part of the whole trip came... the safari portion. At first I didn’t know what to expect but when I arrived at Hillsnek in the Amakhala Game Reserve I felt like I had reached heaven. The guide and manager of the lodge met us at the bottom half of their reserve where we parked our vehicle. The terrain to the lodge is not accessible by a normal car so you get transported in a game drive vehicle to the lodge. It felt like only 5 minutes had passed when we ran into our first herd of buffalo with these yellow flowers and mountains as a backdrop, which made for the most amazing pictures.

Herd of buffalo we ran into on our way to the lodge

Once at the lodge we were greeted by all the staff on the shift that night which immediately made you feel welcome. After a few minutes of relaxing and watching the sunset, we were then shown our amazing tented rooms which were to die for. The views from your wooden deck overlooking the African bush is just indescribable and the little added extras they offer make your stay unforgettable (not going into details, because I don’t want to spoil the surprise for whoever is planning on visiting Hillsnek!)

The next morning, a lovely wake up call to your room that consisted of a piping hot cup of coffee and a cheerful voice saying good morning, made an easy start to an early morning game drive. Our guide was really knowledgeable and took into account that one of our group members was a keen birder. He would stop to show us the birds, listen to the calls or zoom in with binoculars and show us in a book how to identify the different birds. Overall a really amazing experience and one that I will never forget.

My trip did not end there, we went on to see a few other properties like Pumba Game Reserve and Kariega Game Reserve. Both these reserves are completely different from each other, each with its own highlights. While staying at Pumba we were fortunate enough to see a pride of white lions on our afternoon game drive. The dad, mom and two playful cubs were definitely our highlight here.

One of the white lion cubs we saw at Pumba Game Reserve

The last but definitely not the least of my trip was our final stop at Kwandwe Game Reserve where we stayed at Melton Manor. This is one of andbeyond’s fabulous lodges in the Eastern Cape. Once we arrived at Heatherton Towers where all the check in/out’s happen we were met by our ranger and tracker who would be with us throughout our stay. We were transported in a game drive vehicle to our lodge where all the staff were waiting and waving, once again such a welcoming feeling. We were shown our lovely rooms with time to freshen up before dinner. The lodge has this vintage but modern feel to it, totally unique. Dinner was top quality with friendly staff that really were on the ball the entire night, even the chef came to greet and hear our thoughts on how dinner was!

The following morning, we enjoyed a game drive through the reserve with our very knowledgeable guide whose passion for his job shines through. He was also very clued up on his birds and his amazing imitations of bird calls got them to come even closer to us! A good end to my amazing trip and I will definitely be recommending this property.

This was one of the best trips I have ever been on and really recommend that should you be hesitant on doing a safari trip, that you re-think it as this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  

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