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| SOUTH AFRICA TRAVEL |
HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME
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Submitted by: Julia Black - 12
November, 2007
London, UK |
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Our Holiday of a
Lifetime: On a cold London winters’ day in January 2006 my (now) husband
went down on one knee and popped the question. After responding with a delighted
‘yes’ and several tears, we were on the phone to our respective parents breaking
the exciting news.
In the week that ensued we discussed possible venues and after much deliberation decided
on the dream wedding location of South
Africa. Given that I was born in Zimbabwe and my husband is Scottish, raised in Hong
Kong and we have family and friends worldwide through our expatriate upbringing, it
wasn’t easy to choose between our current home of London or somewhere overseas. I had
always wanted that dream African wedding and for obvious reasons decided against Zimbabwe
and so went with the next best thing! We realised that for most, it was asking a lot to
expect our friends and family to join us in South Africa, but when the time came we were
pleasantly surprised with a turnout of more than sixty guests. |
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| Click on images
above to view the large gallery photos |
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Those familiar with South Africa, will know
that it is a huge and wonderfully diverse place, so coming up with the right location when
having the whole country to choose from wasn’t easy. We briefly looked at Cape Town but in the
end decided on the Mpumalanga
region in the North East. Following hours of online research, we narrowed it down to the White
River area and shortlisted three venues. Then followed a short visit by me and my
parents to meet suppliers and hotel management and we finally decided on Jatinga
Country Lodge. We felt White River would be the appropriate setting as it lies
conveniently between Johannesburg and Kruger
National Game Park and Mpumalanga International Airport in Nelspruit
is situated only a ten minute drive away. Having family in the Limpopo region and guests
flying in from Johannesburg, Cape Town and various international locations, White River
proved the perfect and most easily accessible location to all.
After almost a year’s planning the date finally arrived and on Sunday 7th January
2007, with my parents, one flower girl, one bridesmaid (the other was following later
along with my husband’s family and the best man and usher), one wedding gown, two
hired suits, several suit cases and one child car seat in tow, we boarded Swiss Air bound
for Johannesburg! Upon arrival at Tambo International Airport we collected our hire cars,
hit the N4 - direction Nelspruit, and from here our three week holiday of a lifetime
began!
For the next five nights our home was a self catering villa known as Ikusasa Lodge on the
White River Country Estate. We found it by chance on the internet and it was such a
perfect place to be based, providing the serenity and calmness needed for the final pre
wedding plans that were now at full speed ahead. We were delighted to be able to do our
own thing when we wanted and not be waited on by helpful hotel staff - that would come
later in the trip. The days were spent zipping around White River and Nelspruit visiting
various suppliers, Jatinga Lodge and meeting and greeting the influx of excited guests.
There were a few moments of leisure between the madness which was spent in the villa pool
and on the onsite golf course. We spent the evenings on the verandah with the familiar
sound and smells of Africa around us, enjoying our first taste of excellent steak and
borewors (South African sausage) fresh off the braai (BBQ). Of course it goes without
saying that we also had to try many a Cape produced red and white wine to accompany the
good food.
Before we knew it, Friday 12th January had arrived, all the cars were packed and we headed
en mass to Jatinga Country Lodge to check in for our ‘wedding weekend’. From the
moment we arrived at Jatinga THE perfect weekend commenced and everything the hotel
offered was just what we had wished for. The service, the food, the attention to detail
and the quality of the rooms were outstanding. We had reserved all twenty rooms at the
hotel and so had the added bonus of complete exclusivity for the entire weekend for our
wedding party. Having the place to ourselves made it feel so much more special and
intimate.
The Friday evening was spent around the hotel pool where all our guests were gathered for
a pre wedding braai hosted by my parents. It was a good opportunity for family and friends
to mingle and get to know each other a bit better before the wedding.
Saturday 13th January 2007 dawned and the big day had finally arrived. Not sure where the
day went but suddenly it was 4pm and I was holding onto my Dad’s arm nervously
walking through the beautiful grounds and down the bridal path strewn with frangipani
petals, to the chapel. My husband and I were married before our sixty guests in what has
to be described as one of the most romantic settings for a wedding. The pictures viewed on
the internet did not do it justice. The open sided chapel is set in the hotel grounds on
the banks of the White River amongst the beautifully lush vegetation. Following the
ceremony, our guests drank Pimms and ice cold beers (it was after all the height of Summer
in the Lowfeld) on a wooden deck overlooking the river, with the sweet-sounding background
music of a local Marimba band, while my husband and I enjoyed or perhaps endured the next
two hours of photos. From there the usual wedding reception festivities began and we all
celebrated into the wee hours.
The next morning after a delicious champagne brunch, everyone said their goodbyes, paid
their bills and left Jatinga with some wonderful memories. This will definitely be a hotel
to revisit in the future.
And so began part two of our three week dream holiday.
Twenty two of our closest family and friends set off in convoy and headed to Hazyview,
which lies north of White River. From the Sunday to the following Friday our base was to
be Sabi River Sun and Kruger Park Lodge timeshare resorts. Through my parents and a family
friends’ generosity we had managed to book four timeshare chalets in the two
locations. After settling in, unpacking and stocking the fridges with all sorts of
goodies, we were able to start relaxing after the highly exciting and emotional past
couple of days.
The next five days were spent at leisure. We took our first time to South Africa visitors
to the world renowned Kruger National Game Park for the day. They thoroughly enjoyed the
unique experience including breakfast in the bush, and although they didn’t see all
of the Big Five (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo & Rhino), still managed to see quite
a lot of wildlife in just one day. One of the added benefits of being based in Hazyview is
that Kruger is only a twenty minute drive away, therefore making accessibility very
simple.
Another day worth mentioning that we organised for the group was a breakfast bush walk
followed by a drive through the beautifully picturesque Panorama
Route (which is part of the Blyde
River Canyon region of the Drakensburg Mountains). Our day started before the sun
surfaced as we made our way to Tshukudu Game Lodge for our bush walk experience. Tshukudu
is situated near Hoedspruit and is a small family run game farm specialising in the
breeding of lions and rehabilitation and re-release of orphaned animals. We had a two hour
guided bush walk learning about the flora and fauna of the African bush. A thrilling
highlight was being accompanied by Chobe the lion cub, Prince the Labrador
(Chobe’s stand in nanny) and a very shy black backed Jackal cub. Following this
amazing and very educational experience we gathered at the main house for a superb
breakfast on the veranda and managed to stroke Savannah, the resident cheetah,
who hasn’t quite grasped the understanding of full independence back in the wild. She
happened to be on one of her visits ‘home’ from the bush for a free breakfast.
The day out continued with a drive through the Panorama Route and we stopped to admire the
magnificent mountain view-point of The Three Rondavels. Unfortunately the curtains were
closed at God’s Window (another well known viewing point) and the visibility was so
poor, there was very little to be seen, so we headed on to the town of Graskop
for some of their famous pancakes and spent quite some time browsing around the many curio
shops! We were so distracted by the curios to be bought that we ran out of time to visit
the mining town of Pilgrims Rest and had to head home to Hazyview before our afternoon ran
out. For anyone considering visiting this area on their holiday, they should definitely
make a point of including this region on their itinerary.
So after these five days of site seeing, golfing, playing beach volleyball and tennis,
lying by the pool consuming many a Savannah (very moreish South African cider) and
watching the hippos at sunset from the golf course at Sabi River Sun, our time had come to
say our goodbyes to everyone and get on with our much anticipated honeymoon.
My husband and I took to the road in our hired four wheel drive and headed North to Kapama
Private Game Reserve near Hoedspruit. We spent the next two nights at Kapama River
Lodge, which is one of three lodges on the reserve. This was our first taste of a private
reserve, as opposed to doing our own thing in Kruger which we had several times in the
past. Kapama is one of the largest privately owned reserves in South Africa and the size
of it certainly was impressive. We arrived in our charmingly ‘African’ room to
find a welcoming bottle of champagne on ice and fruit basket - just what we needed after
the long and dusty drive!
The next two days and nights consisted of evening and morning game drives in an open
topped Land Rover accompanied by our experienced driver and guide, lots of eating and
drinking and generally relaxing and being waited on hand and foot, as one should do when
on a honeymoon. Kapama has a variety of extra activities on offer ranging from hot air
ballooning to bush walks to elephant back safaris and more. In the end we opted for the
elephant back safari at dawn. This has to be one of the most awesome once-in-a-lifetime
opportunities that we have ever experienced. Words cannot describe how emotional it was to
be so close to these wonderfully majestic creatures. We even came away with a personal
video of our experience to cherish always!
The next part of our honeymoon was to be four nights self drive and self catering in
Kruger Game Park itself. We left Kapama in high spirits and headed North to the Phalaborwa
gate. After making an essential provisions stop at the supermarket in Phalaborwa town, we
entered the park and made our way to Shimuwini Bushveld camp. Here we spent two nights in
pretty much complete solitude, other than venturing out beyond the camp fence to find
game. The bush camps in Kruger are smaller than the larger rest camps and although they
don’t have the large shops or a restaurant on site, they still offer the same
self-catering chalet accommodation with a small shop selling the basic requirements. We
were thankful for the simplicity of the camp as it provided the intimacy and tranquillity
we were after.
Early on the third morning we packed up and headed South towards Satara Restcamp, which
would be our base for the final two nights in Kruger. Although we enjoyed Satara, we felt
perhaps we should have opted for another smaller camp, away from the large travelling
parties and families. Whilst this camp had a large restaurant, we were much happier
cooking for ourselves on the braai outside our chalet. Again between the eating, drinking
and relaxing, these two days in Satara were spent driving endlessly around the ring roads
and along the rivers in pursuit of animals. Our searching proved fruitful and throughout
our time in Kruger we pretty much saw everything other than leopard, cheetah and wild dog.
We even had the frightening experience of being charged by a very angry rogue bull
elephant. This male was not having anyone drive down ‘his’ road and our retreat
turned into a two hour detour back to camp!
On the fifth day in Kruger our time had come to exit the park and we made our way to the
Orpen gate. Our safari honeymoon was still not quite over and for our final two
nights’ holiday, we were booked into Chitwa Chitwa Private Game Lodge, situated in
the Sabi
Sands Private Game Reserve. After tackling what seemed like an endless bumpy dirt
road, we eventually arrived at our final destination. We were personally met by the
managers of the lodge at our car and from that moment we knew that we had made the right
choice to finish our dream holiday there.
Chitwa Chitwa is a luxury lodge overlooking the largest lake in Sabi Sands. Having only
six chalets, meant that the exclusivity was noticeably personal. Again, like Jatinga, the
attention to detail, the food, the service and the standard of rooms were exceptional.
After a sumptuous lunch and lazy afternoon by the pool, we headed out in the open topped
Land Rover with our guides for the first of our game drives. Within about five minutes we
found what we had been looking for on our whole safari trip – leopard! Seeing this
beautiful and elusive cat in the wild for the first time is probably one of the most
breath-taking and emotional experiences we have ever encountered. Thankfully we saw his
Mum the next day too! At sunset we got out of the vehicle (in the middle of the bush!) and
enjoyed the obligatory gin and tonic and cold beer with snacks. We did keep a vigilant eye
out for any large cats that may be lurking near by though! Dinner back at the lodge was
enjoyed in the open-air boma around a blazing fire.
Other than the game drives and once again eating and drinking far too much, our final day
was spent by the pool overlooking the lake. From here we had the most magnificent view
point and just leaned over the infinity pool wall watching the thirty strong herd of
elephants (with lots of babies!) playing in and around the water for a good five hours!
What an awesome experience to be part of and a fantastic way to end our dream holiday.
Sadly the next morning we packed up early, said our goodbyes to the Chitwa Chitwa family,
left Sabi Sands Reserve and headed back to Johannesburg to catch our evening flight home.
Overall we had the most amazing time in South Africa and throughout our trip received
fantastic service and the people were all so friendly and hospitable. Understandably there
were a few apprehensive wedding guests, who were concerned about the much publicised crime
level, but not one person felt unsafe or insecure during their time in South Africa. Like
us, every person we have spoken to since our trip, have vowed that they will definitely be
returning to that part of the world again. We would highly recommend that potential
visitors to South Africa do what we did and discover this amazing country first hand! |
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Tours | South Africa Game
Reserves | South Africa
Attractions » |
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With 20 National Parks
(including two of the world's most famous wildlife reserves, the Kruger Park & Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park) &
numerous private game reserves, your trip to South Africa would be incomplete without
experiencing a South African wildlife safari .... |
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| Incoming visitors to South
Africa must ensure that their passports meet the following 2 requirements: |
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requirements are not met, you will not be let out of the airport building, and will be
sent back to your country of origin. |
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