Luxurious Lodge

After three days of conference we leave to drive further north for a few days holiday. On the way we see a beautiful hyena, big herds of zebras and wildebeest and the landscape changes becoming more open and more how I imagined Africa with rolling grasslands and only occasional trees. We are lucky to see a group of rhinos basking in the sun and see some spectacular storks in the many waterholes along the way. Unfortunately we get a puncture and greatly fear getting eaten by a lion whilst changing the tyre. It can happen - I saw it in a documentary! Luckily we do not suffer this fate but nervously drive without a spare tyre until we can buy a new one. We stay in Letaba rest camp that night which is also alongside a river and see many almost tame deer in the park. We meet up with some friends Justine and Aleiks - friends from the workshop and find out all the gossip from the workshop with much wine.

The following day we drive in the most northerly section of the park where the vegetation changes to spectacular sandstone plateaus and amazing Baobab trees that sometimes look like the whomping willow tree in Harry Potter when they have red-billed buffalo weaver nests in their branches. We are staying for two nights in the luxurious Outpost Lodge which is spectacular. Our room is like a verandah open on three sides to the most beautiful view across the plains to the Luvuhu river, a tributary of the Limpopo. It is lovely lolling in the bath and watching the sun set and the stars come out. The milky way is superb up here with no light pollution and it is an amazing experience sleeping under a mosquito net watching the stars and then the sun rise. We have an amazing dinner around a fire and get to know our guide Sarah as we are the only people staying in the lodge. The impact of the global financial crisis I think.

We wake up at the crack of dawn and drive for an hour where I have never been so cold I think, but we arrive in a forest full of these wonderful fever trees and get a little too close perhaps to Africa's most poisonous snake, the black mamba. On our return we have the most amazing breakfast/brunch which forces me to sleep for the next few hours just digesting it before the next beautiful meal. After lunch we drive to a breathtaking gorge and climb to the top feeling like such adventurous explorers, at least I do. All too soon we have to leave paradise and head back south. Luckily on the way back we see a leopard sleeping in a tree thereby ensuring that we have seen the famous big five animals of the park. But really I prefer the wonderful zebras whose stripes are so vivid and strange to all these scary beasts. We also see a spectacular ground hornbill who obligingly poses for a picture by the side of the road. It is easier driving back with the sun behind us and we stay at another rest camp called Olifants for our last night in the park. It has indeed been a great African adventure.