We get a knock on the door to wake us at 5:30. They have tea, coffee, juices, muffins, croissants, and toast ready for us when we get to the main lodge area. And we take off at 6:00 for a three-hour driving safari through the grounds. Back by nine, then breakfast, which is served buffet style, with fresh local fruits, cereals, cheeses, yogurt, sparkling wine, preserved meats, jams, breads, baked goods, toast, and so on. Then there is the cooked and warm stuff: bacon, sausage, eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, etc.
After that, if we can still walk, there is unstructured time. There is a spa here, so Darlene has taken some advantage of that. But we have often gone back to our cabin for a rest after the tough morning.
Lunch is at 1:30, with an appetizer, followed by soup, and a choice of mains (meat, fish, and vegetarian), then dessert.
Then more time off, until four, when there is tea, with little cakes, some tiny pastries, as well as a finger sandwich or two. And of course, tea, coffee, and juices. This is followed by the afternoon safari, starting at 4:30, again for three hours. Home by 7:30, dinner at eight, with the appetizer, soup, main and dessert options as per lunch.
And just in case you get peckish, the safari has a break where they provide something to drink (alcoholic in the afternoon), as well as some light food.
After this you tumble, bloated, into bed. I am afraid to weigh myself, my self-control being what it is with regards to food.
So back to the actual safaris. The company that owns the lodges (there are four like this one), owns the land, all of 65,000 hectares adjacent to the large Kruger National Park (itself no slouch at 65 km wide by 350 km long—about the size of Wales). While boundaries are marked and not crossed by humans, there are no fences for the animals. So they roam freely over a huge expanse. And there are lots of animals here, almost all kinds found on the continent.
The country is what is called bushveld, rolling land, with some drainage rivers which vary in size and amount of water; many are dry now, at the end of the wet season. Vegetation is grassy in most areas, with low and high bushes and trees. And the sky is wonderful, the vistas open and expansive, the sunsets and sunrises terrific.
The safari is by Land Rover, equipped to carry up to ten passengers, a driver/ranger, and a spotter (who sits on a seat outside the vehicle at the left front of the car). Interestingly, the animals have learned that these vehicles pose little or not threat to them, so we can get very close to them. But we stay in the vehicle: a human outside the confines of the vehicle might be considered to be "supper". (A note here: there are safaris on foot, but these are under a while different set of rules, since the animals see them as other animals, not as some strange vehicle.)
We are keeping a list of the animals we have seen, and it is pretty long right now. Mammals mostly, but there are many birds that I wouldn't recognize, as well as insects. And then trees and shrubs, grasses, and so on. It is all so different. So I will attach several photos of animals we have seen. They are far from exhaustive.
Location:Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge
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