After a week in Mauritius a group of 24 intrepid travellers continued on to South Africa for another week. We stayed one night in Johannesburg and then boarded light aircraft to be flown into Madikwe Game Reserve for a three night stay at Tau Game Lodge and a series of Safari drives. WHAT AN AMAZING PLACE!!! All 24 of us agreed that this was the most amazing part of our trip. We also spent two nights at the Palace of the Lost City at the Sun City resort in Pilansberg but all agree that if we ever did this again, we would rather spend the extra time on Safari.
Tau gave us two drives a day and they were amazing. We saw lion and elephant just driving back from the air strip.We hadn't even been there for half an hour! The two young male lions were just lazing under a tree on the side of the track! We were stunned!
During the total of 6 drives, we saw elephants - and were even charged at by a herd which was a bit scary, black hyena, white rhino, Lion, the two mentioned above plus a big male who had been in a fight, wart hog, african wild dog, spotted cats, impala, buffalo, monkeys, eland, wilderbeast, giraffe, and many others that I can't remember. The rangers taking us on Safari were wonderful and couldn't do enough for us. We had morning tea with giraffe on one day and sundowner drinks near buffalo and zebra on another evening.
This picture with the elephant in the background was taken from the deck of our room!! That elephant was only metres away from me and the group of elephants were on the other side of the water hole that our room overlooked! It was just fantastic! The elephants came every morning and evening to drink!While there I ate things I never thought I would! I have now eaten buffalo, crocodile (curried and it was yummy!) impala, eland and goat! But hey- when it is all cooked and served for you - why not!!!
After Tau and Madikwe we said goodbye and headed an hour and a half down the road to Sun City. This is a man made oasis in the middle of the veldt. It has four hotels, several casinos, two golf coursed and a huge water park. It was the ultimate experience of indulgence. The Palace hotel where we stayed was opulent. There were huge sculptures of animals everywhere and big chandelier and gilt furniture covered in zebra hide. It was truly amazing. We had a great day at the water park and spent a lot of time just wandering around. I had a wonderful massage at the Gary Player Health and Beauty Spa!
This picture is in the court of the hotel - this is the back folks! You are looking at the Crystal Dining Room whichis where we ate breakfast. The little orange dot is Jeff! Don't you just love that Jacaranda tree!
These two chairs were just two of many dotted around the hotel Yes - they are REAL zebra skin. Just awful! But I had to take pictures - they were amazing and HUGE!
Two days there and it was back on the bus and back to Joburg to catch a flight back to Mauritius where we spent one final night before coming home. We arrived home tired and weary on the 17th October. Just in time to put Matt and Kerry on a plane to New Zealand on October 18 which as also Matt's 21st birthday. The trip to NZ was our birthday gift to him.
