Blogs from South Africa, Africa - page 20

We said a sad goodbye to our friends at Ebony Lodge at noon and took off on the 12-seater plane to head east to our final lodge, Lebombo. This lodge is located within its own private concession which lies within the Kruger National Park. This lodge has a very modern design and our suite is beautiful but that’s no surprise since it’s a Singita property. We did have several stops on the flight here and we enjoyed listening to the pilots perform their duties as we sat right behind them. Upon arrival at Lebombo, we were greeted by our new guide, Gary, and his tracker, Sully. We were also teamed up with a young couple from Brooklyn. We unpacked, freshened up and headed out on our first game drive. The terrain here is more rocky that ... read more

We started our morning game drive at 5:30am but not before having some coffee and a few healthy snacks. Jonty, who is strong and stands 6’7” tall, immediately headed us to the Sands River which our suite overlooks. Due to rains that had fallen the previous day, Jonty and Lewis consulted another guide and determined the river was safe for us to cross so the Land Rover headed into the water and we crossed at a quick pace. Another group was not as brave as Kevin and me and refused to let their guide do the crossing. Within 5 minutes of crossing, we came upon a beautiful leopard lounging on a tree branch. It completely ignored us as we sat and watched it for at least a half hour. Jonty was then informed via radio that ... read more

The roots of the South African wine industry can be traced back to the exploration of the Dutch East India Company when a supply station was established in Cape Town. Cape Town was then only a stop for ships and crew to pick up fresh produce during their journey along the spice route to India. Jan van Riebeek was given the task to manage the station and plant grapes to produce wine; falsely believing the eating of grapes and the wine created from them would prevent scurvy and other diseases between sailors during their long voyages. In 1659 the first South African wine made from French Muscadel grapes were successfully made. Thank you Wikipedia. So today, after touring downtown Cape Town and the beautiful gardens around the government buildings, Jenny drove us to the Winelands. It’s ... read more

We arrived in Cape Town yesterday and had a busy day so I’m just now getting the chance to blog about our adventures here. Our hotel, the Cape Grace Hotel, is absolutely beautiful and is one of the nicest hotels I’ve stayed in. The decor is stunning, as is our room, the pool, the restaurant and all of the common areas. And I must not forget that this is also the home of a whiskey bar that houses 450 single malt scotch whiskeys, the largest collection in the southern hemisphere. We enjoyed a tasting of South African wines at the hotel bar and dined at a fish restaurant on the Victoria & Albert waterfront, just a quick walk from our hotel. Next I’ll be blogging about our first full day with our tour guide, Jenny.... read more

Even though we left the Thornybush Game Reserve today, there was still a 5am wake up call, bags out at 6!! And then there was the excitement of the morning - a frog in the shower! Lucky it was when Trina was in there and not me! We have had a great three days, in our lovely room (except for the frog), and seeing the Nyala {yet another sort of antelope) all around as we walk to and from our room. One of the males seemed to be always at our front door or on the footpath between us and where we wanted to go! We were transported by the same mini buses back to Hoedspruit (they were bumpier than the jeeps, speeding down the corrugated dirt "roads"). Three giraffe were near the roadside to say ... read more