June 2 – Durban, South Africa – Thanda Safari Private Game Reserve to Port Elizabeth, South Africa

rhino blocking our way - they win

Weather – 24º

Steps – 11,256

eagle

Humidity – little

Floors climbed – 101!

Today, sadly, is the last day at the safari. When we first booked this off-the-ship/overland tour, I thought a safari should longer, I was wrong. We love it here and could definitely stay for a few more days, but we saw all we wanted to see in the short time we were here. A few more days would have given us more time to enjoy the lodge.

morning zebras

Once again, we were up at 5 and were on the road by 6:15. Our pick-up to go
back to Durban for our flight was for 10AM, so we were on the clock. We searched and searched for lions, but none were to be found. We covered A LOT of area. Although we were disappointed to not see the lions again, we were happy to see every other animal (no leopards) we had already seen again. Even an elephant who we literally bumped into as we rounded a corner.

animals love the road

We actually found an eagle that was a pretty sure sign a fresh lion kill was nearby, but we found nothing

We had no time for a coffee break and were back at the lodge by 9. Chris and I were still full from last night’s dinner, so we just ate some of the continental offerings and didn’t order anything hot.
That gave us time to go back to the room to pack up.

checking us out

The transfer back to the airport was exactly as it was 2 days ago, but in reverse. The highway is very modern, with toll booths. On either side of the highway are farms of sugar cane and eucalyptus forests.

Derek

The King Shaka airport in Durban was built for the 2010 World Cup, and despite being small is new and modern. We were checked in and through security in less than 10 minutes. Although I had to take my laptop out of my carryon as usual, we didn’t have to worry about liquids, or shoes, or much anything else.

WOAH!

Our plan was to do a bit of shopping (we both bought t-shirts) and go to the lounge we saw for a
couple of local beers. We sat at the bar and said all we were interested in were beers, as we approached the bar we saw that they had beer taps…nope, no beer – waiting on a renewal of their liquor licence. There were 4 business lounges, the only
one Chris’ credit card could get us into was closed…we took the hint and just found a random seat.

interesting bathroom ad

Soon we were on the very small (a row of 1 and a row of 2), but still jet airplane. The very efficient flight attendants had a chicken wrap in front of me and a beef one in front of Chris with an accompanying glass of South African white for me and a beer for Chris within 20 minutes of taking off -
the flight was only 90 min, but they were amazing.

why not?

By 630 we were back at the ship, unpacked,
filled a laundry bag, chilled in the room for a bit and were back to our usual evening routine.

Unfortunately, we saw virtually none of Port Elizabeth (now actually called Gqeberha, after the city’s river), but that's what happens on cruises with overlands...you have to make choices.

I had blesbok for dinner, similar to pork loin – very tasty.

Bed was EARLY – no casino, no show, no guess that tune, no star gazing, no blogging…BED!

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.

romantic!

It was an incredible ending to an even more mind-blowing day!

admiring the brai

We returned to our room to a fire set in the double-sided fireplace, a bottle of wine on ice, and rose petals scattered on the bed – WOW!

wow!

the 8 of us

May 31 – Durban, South Africa – Thanda Safari Private Game Reserve

Weather – 24º high, 14º low

Steps – ??? watch is going bonkers with the safari truck going very slowly - looks like I have a lot, but in reality...not many

what we're hoping to see!

Humidity – little

The day started with an uneventful 4-hour drive to the Thanda Safari Lodge.

Not far off the highway, we were met by Taisa, our driver/ guide and Derek, our tracker and transferred to 4x4s on the Thanda Private Game Reserve property. We weren’t 5 minutes down the road to the lodge, before we encountered an ELEPHANT! That was the start of a fantastic afternoon and evening.

impala or inyala

Once at the lodge, a welcoming committee greeted us with cool scented cloths, and a strawberry/cranberry juice – very refreshing. We then went straight to lunch. My instinct is usually to go to the room first, freshen up and then get a drink or food, but everyone else wanted to eat straight away – that was the right decision. Once we were fed and watered, we were free for about the next hour before our afternoon/evening game drive.

giraffe

I need to back up to talk about the lunch. The 8 of us were seated at a group table, served wine and then the chef arrived. She described the 3 menu options – there was no written menu. Chris and I both had chicken curry, there was also a pasta option and a steak option. Cheesecake was for dessert. It was terrific – better than Regent IMO.

There are 9 rooms in total, our group is using 4, and there is a family of 3 in one other – that’s it, this place is peaceful and quiet only the sounds of the African bush to be heard.

Cape buffalo

It was then on to the rooms – WOW. I had researched online, so we knew sort of what to expect. The photos and videos I saw were exactly as advertised. Our private outdoor area is enormous with a plunge pool and fireplace. The decor is decidedly African.

African elephant

The indoor space is also huge. There is a living area, a double-sided fireplace, a bedroom with a enormous, netted bed (very charming), and an equally gigantic bathroom area – with both an indoor and outdoor shower of course. All of this overlooking the African bush.

I had every intention of taking an outdoor shower – I had my towel, and robe out there…then the monkeys came to our outdoor space. I put off the shower to watch them. We

the one and only warthog sighting

were on the other side of the screen door from them, but they were definitely watching us, watch them. I returned to the outdoor shower but saw a monkey in the tree right above the shower. I got scared off. I wasn’t worried about them watching me, I was worried about them joining me.

zebra

At about 3pm, the 8 of us (well bug sprayed mostly for bush ticks) convened at the lodge for our afternoon/ evening game drive. Late afternoon is a prime time to see wildlife, it’s

cooler and the animals are more active. It was a very busy 3 hours – we saw so, so much! Elephants, Cape Buffalo, giraffes, lions, warthogs, the backside of a rhinoceros, numerous birds, impalas, inyalas (type of antelope), zebra, and I’m likely missing some. It was mind blowing! On the first drive we saw 4 of the big five – tomorrow we need to find a leopard.

Cape bufalo

We drove along Thanda’s bumpy, bush lined, dirt, roads - Tasia at the wheel and me riding shotgun (I never want to pounce on what

seem to be primo spots (remember me riding on the back of the dog sled in Alaska???), but no one wanted it, and in the end it’s not exactly promo – Derek the tracker blocks some of the view and that seat is the lowest. All along the way, Tasia gave expert descriptions of what we were seeing and communicated with Derek sitting in his tracker seat looking for signs of wildlife. Tasia was also on the walkie-talkie with the other guides and staff, all looking for the best sightings.

African elephants

We thought we were pretty lucky to come across a herd of Cape Buffalo, then some zebra, then some wildebeest. We had no idea what luck we were about to have.

Taisa heard on the walkie-talkie that there was a herd of about 25 agitated elephants (Thanda has about 55 in total.) They were worked up by a pair of mating lions close by – I can’t believe I said that…MATING LIONS…

very close to the vehicle

CLOSE BY!!!!!

BIG

We just kind of hung out with the elephants for about 20 minutes. There was a 6-week-old baby that the herd was protecting. It was fascinating to watch them basically circle around the baby that was under its mother. At a few points we heard some of the elephants trumpeting their displeasure. Some of them also made grunting sounds. We were

sunset and elephants

incredibly close to them, in fact, one elephant came up to our vehicle and tried touching it. We were close enough to see directly up its trunk. Taisa and Derek both gently and then a bit more firmly, but still quietly said ‘No’ – then the elephant backed off…fascinating - they train the elephants this way to not touch the truck. Our luck continued – the sun was setting just beyond the elephants which made for some good shots.

lion ready to mate

We backed up, partly to see the lions, but also partly because our road was blocked by the HERD OF ELEPHANTS!

My pulse still racing from having just looked into the trunk of a 4x4 sniffing elephant, I had to focus on LIONS! The pair of mating lions that was pissing the elephants off was hunkered down in the tall African grass. We didn’t stay long as they were mostly hidden by the grass, but I got some fairly good shots.

still looking around

Thanda is huge – 15,000 hectares. I really have no frame of reference, but from driving around it is BIG.

Derek the tracker in the dark

Just as the sun was about to disappear, Tasia found a clearing at the edge of a cliff for ‘sundowners’. In less than 5 minutes, Tasia and Derek had a small bar set up on the front of the jeep. Most of us had gin and tonics. I’m not usually a gin and tonic fan, but here it seemed like the appropriate cocktail – it was. There were also snacks, including an

especially tasty biltong – a South African jerky that can be made from a range of meats, including beef or ostrich.

On the way back to the lodge, we were looking for more nocturnal animals like porcupines and leopards. We didn’t see any but caught the rear end of a rhino.

surprised us!

Lastly, we saw our first giraffes. We turned a corner and there they were, just on the side of the road.

beautiful room

At this point it was dark and clear…the prefect recipe for star gazing. Taisa, never ceasing with her explanations, took out the most amazing laser pointer that seemed to reach all the way to the constellations she was describing…the Southern Cross,

Sagittarius, Canis Major, The Milky Way, and the occasional satellite were some of the highlights.

outdoor shower

By now it was about 7:30 and we were back at the lodge for dinner. We stared with a glass of wine and snacks.

Then dinner – I had SPRINGBOK!!! It was delicious, lean and tender – they compared it to venison.

Didn't feel like showering with him

We were back at the room by about 9, sleeping by 10:30 for our 5:30 WAKEUP call.

BTW…although this is not a malaria zone, we are taking malaria pills. We went to our docs who took a safe than sorry approach. Especially because we haven’t had any adverse reactions to malaria pills in the past thought we’d take them.

soooo many!