Kruger National Park and journey to Arathusa Game Reserve

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We woke at 0445 to get ready for the longest driving day in the whole trip. We are off to Kruger National Park, then Arathusa Game reserve. We left Petoria to early to try and get breakfast there so we took our chances on the freeway. By 0730 everyone was thinking about food, so Maria navigated us to the nearest town, Middleburgh. Turns out it was not that close and little did we know at the time it was the start of a trend for taking excursions off the beaten track. We enjoyed another inexpensive Wimpy meal.

The journey was long, we took what we thought would be a scenic route, but ended up a very long way to Malelane Gate into Kruger. The road works were prolific, but seemingly slow in progress. Workers lined the roads with no signage or cons to delineate their work area as opposed to our driving space. We were stopped at lookout posts for up to 15 min at a time. This delay meant we reached Kruger mid afternoon and were not confident we would see many animals on the driver through. We had also been told that the weather may preclude sightings.

Despite the naysayers we were privileged to see a giraffe in the long grass eating its way through treetops, followed by a herd of elephants crossing the road. Zebras were next to show their faces as they grazed on the lush bushland. Monkeys were playing cheekily along the side of the road as we were trying to find the 'Jock of the Bush veld' monument.

We took a road to the left that we believed would provide us with the view only to find a Rhinoceros grazing. We kept traveling till we found the Jock Safari Lodge, we were stopped by a gate so nearly turned round, but I braved getting out of the car and pressing a button hoping to speak to someone but the gate opened, so we went in. We were met by a very friendly african gentleman and after explaining that we were from Australia, had traveled a long way to see a monument in memory of the book our father had read to us several times, he let us through and we got pictures of their monument. It was not like what I believe my parents had seen on their trip, but it was a memory for us.

We then made our way through the rest of the park, saw plenty of springbok and one small tortoise crossing the road, and finally reached the exit. We were now running behind and knew there would be night ravel. David decided we were best to take a shortcut through a village while it was light, so we did. My sisters seemed quite fearful seeing blacks approach the car, and were very glad when we reached the other side intact over treacherous dirt roads.

At this point we still seemed to have a long two hour drive ahead. We were met with storms as night fell and the visibility was poor, we missed the turn off to Sabi-Sands/Arathusa and pulled over to check the maps. A combi bus stopped and a young African driver approached David to help, he provided us the directions we needed. However, I realised after we turned around that my sisters were panicking at the thought of being in the dark and having an African come to the window.

Thankfully after another very bumpy road we reached the lodge with 10 min to spare for dinner. We were greeted by friendly staff again and escorted to the dinner table where other guests were waiting. Dinner was served on a large open deck overlooking their dam, we were surrounded by the sounds of the bush, cicadas drowning out the sweet sounds of the birds. It was dark and we quickly covered ourselves in mosquito repellent.

Entrée was raw minced springbok served on a bed of fresh herbs, quickly followed by a salmon dish and then an antelope meal presented with cooked vegetables. Desert was poached pear accompanied cream. We were well fed, keen to find our lodgings and sleep.

Our ranger, Brendan, escorted us to the rooms. We took a very long walk to the bungalows, when we reached Peigi's we were briefed about not going out at night without and escort and to watch the monkeys and use the phones to communicate. The rooms were simply divine, one large bungalow with one low wall to divide the centre third of the room which then separated the bathroom and bed areas. Flanked on the right was the large lounge kitchenette area overlooking a deck surrounded by bush with amazing privacy. On the left was a bath set close to the windows overlooking the bush and an outdoor spa set into the deck. Luxury. I ran a bath and enjoyed the serenity. It felt like I'd died and gone to heaven!

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