Where to Next?: June 1 – Durban, South Africa – Thanda Safari Private Game Reserve

Chris riding shotgun

Weather – 24º, very similar to yesterday

giraffe

Steps – 11,007, looks like my Apple watch thinks I’m walking when the safari 4x4 going really, really slowly

Humidity – low

African sunrise

Floors climbed – 68, my Apple watch is at it again…thinking I’m climbing when it is the safari 4x4 going really, really slowly up hills

The lodge said it would give everyone a 530-wakeup call - we didn’t get one – no problem…we were up before 5. Still got 6hrs of sleep, going to bed early will do

zebra

that. We may not have gotten a wakeup call, but our escort to the lodge knocked about 550…we were ready, but I think somewhere the wires got crossed…another couple didn’t get an escort until they called for one – again, no problem.

Anyway…we had 2 game drives on the schedule. I’m not sure what will top yesterday, but we’re pumped!

The 8 of us convene in the lodge’s lounge for tea, coffee, juice, and biscuits. It was still dark, but we board the 4x4, wrap ourselves with the blankets and hot water

owl

bottles, and set off. At this point it was about 15 degrees, but when the open vehicle got moving it got mighty chilly. Derek and a couple of others are wearing toques – we brought warm gear, but not toques, if I had mine, I would have worn it, but honestly…it wasn’t that cold.

coffee stop

Today, Chris is next to Tasia in the front and I’m behind him. Our goal this morning is to find lions and rhinos; we aren’t 10 minutes into the drive before we came upon a feeding group of about 10 giraffes. At first, we thought there were only 2 or 3, but once we started looking, their tallness made them easy to spot
above the treetops.

In 2002, 2 Swedish entrepreneurs purchased the land in Zululand, South Africa that is now the Thanda Safari Game Reserve. By 2004 they had turned it into the reserve. The name Thanda (pronounced tanda) in Zulu.

Cape buffalo

The Thanda Safari Game Reserve is a huge place – 14,000 hectares. I didn’t have much of a concept of how huge this is until we started driving. We covered a huge amount of distance. At one point Tasia pointed to a mountain in the distance and said that was one edge of the
property. The reserve is a fenced property, so the animals aren’t technically free to come and go as they please, but it’s certainly not enclosed like a zoo – at all. The animals are cared for as far as
medical care goes and they are studied, but they aren’t fed – nature does that. Tasia and Derek also don’t know where any of the animals are. They have a clue, but we certainly spent a lot of time searching and tracking. Every so often, Derek would hop off the vehicle and look more closely at the tracks, sometimes going off on his own while we listened to more of Tasia’s endless information.

Cape buffalo at watering hole

We moved on from the giraffes, just as the sun was rising…it was a beautiful sight providing a backdrop to the African savannah. Next, we found a group of about 4 zebras having their breakfast. Each time we came upon an animal, Tasia
would stop the vehicle, turn it off and let us watch, take photos and just soak in the experience. She would turn the vehicle so we could get the best angle and lighting

for photos. Then she would give us information about what we were seeing, not just the animal we stopped for, but the plants, birds, and insects we could see.

monkey

watching us, watching him

Throughout the morning, we came across at least 3 enormous bark spider webs across the road. These were made at night by bark spiders (harmless to humans.) The spider started the web on one side of the road where the main part of the web was, then shot/launched a strand of bridging silk across road to

private outdoor space

another tree so that the web was suspended – incredible! In the morning the spider would eat everything that was caught, but also the entire
web as it is full of protein. The whole procedure happened again the next night. The silk of the bark spider is the strongest material ever studied and is 10x stronger than Kevlar!

We were lucky enough to see an owl flying across the road or we would have never seen it as once it landed it was camouflaged.

I’m calling what we were driving on roads, they were, but they certainly weren’t

inyala right outside our room

paved…much of what we drove on were obviously roads, but many were simply paths in the grass. A lot of what we drove over was also very rocky, so much so that we had to hold on. While holding on, we were also dodging thorn studded
branches hanging over and into our path. BTW…these branches aren’t your typical Alberta wild rose thorns…these are serious African thorns – about 2-3cm long, some hooked and some straight.

afternoon tipple

For the 3 hours that we were on the drive this morning, in search of lions, we also saw Cape buffalo, impala, inyala. Just like last night when we were searching for elephant, we encountered all the other animals by chance.

Cape buffalo at the lodge watering hole

We stopped for coffee/Amarula (an African cream liqueur made from the marula fruit) and some cookies. These stops are lovely. They also give the men a chance to relieve themselves. I have no issue relieving myself behind a bush…I’ve peed behind many a bush, but for women it’s a bit more of a production…I save my going in the bush for later tonight, why hold it when there is a perfectly good African bush to use?? The coffee isn’t brought; it’s MADE on the spot. Tasia and Derek brough a thermos of hot water so we could have tea, coffee (French press, no instant), or hot chocolate. Also, obviously…the cookies and muffins aren’t store bought…oh, no…made back at the lodge.

Chris checking out the brai

Back at the lodge by about 9:30, we had breakfast and then free time. We u

sed our free time to finally use the outdoor shower and then chill by our plunge pool – we didn’t get in, it wasn’t heated, and it wasn’t that hot out.

Chris, the impala, and me

Good thing we had already showered, because the monkey troop returned. We watched them for a while from inside, but eventually most of them dispersed and we went outside. A few of them returned but only partied with each other around us.

We shared a beer and had a glass of wine from our mini bar...all included.Normally, this would be prime nap time, but I could not NOT soak in even more of AFRICA.

Around 2, we headed back to the lodge for lunch. Good grief…I think we are

zebra

more fed here than on the cruise. We were the first to arrive for lunch, so we grabbed a glass of wine and wandered, stopping for a bit to watch the Cape buffalo at the watering hole right next to the lodge.

Lunch this time, was served family style…thank God…we were able to take only a very small amount as it felt like we had just eaten breakfast!

rhino!!

Our goal for the evening was rhino, lions, and leopards. We found the rhino (in addition to all the other incidental animals) and were heading back to the lodge. Once darkness fell (and the stars came out just as brightly as last night), Derek (like last night) started scanning the forest with his spotlight. All of a sudden there he was…a leopard! IN THE DARK! He was about 50 meters away. We watched him for about 5 minutes before he disappeared into the bush.

more rhino

We returned to the lodge, where Tasia suggested we try to find him again – we were all in agreement. It didn’t take long this time to find him, just sauntering down the road stopping every so often to mark, so close to the lodge – I guess this is why we need an escort to go between
buildings in the dark. A couple of times a rabbit darted in front of him, but he didn’t seem to care…more interested in marking or maybe had just fed.

This time we got a lot closer to him, as close as 10/15 meters. My shots aren’t great – my camera isn’t great in the dark, but I was happy to just soak in the moment. It was thrilling – part of the thrill was a bit of fear. How am I this close to a wild cat and don’t have to be scared? It’s very weird.

leopard!!

Chris at his own watering hole

Back at the lodge for dinner. We had just gotten glasses of South African rosé when we were ushered outside for dinner. WHAT? We tried to go outside last night and were told if we really wanted to, they would go with us. That seemed like so much trouble, so we were fine staying inside, but tonight they wanted us to go out – something was up.

Something sure was up…we were ushered out of the lodge to what is called a boma. A boma is an outdoor enclosure for animals or people to gather.

entertainment

leopard

In the boma was a huge fire, brai (South African BBQ), and beautiful table set just for us. Just as we sat already surprised as possible, a group of 10 women and 2 girls entered the area around the fire to entertain us with songs and dances – it was magical.

Dinner was buffet style – chicken, lamb, beef, and warthog sausage! I wasn’t remotely hungry after being overly stuffed from the earlier feedings, that I only tried the items new to me…warthog, a grits type of African porridge, and a few salads. Dessert was malva (marshmallow in Afrikaans) pudding.