On Safari and a 90th birthday party

[Flying mermaid]

Just a few photos to finish off Camp Jabulani

a Hippo with a ver wide mouth

A Bush Baby

Dominant Male with is Wildebeest

I suppose the question might be which did we prefer - Mala Mala or Camp Jabulani? I think very hard to choose one over the other.

Mala Mala was an incredible hard core game safari with almost a cowboy feel of crashing through the bush in wild pursuit of sightings

Camp Jabulani was more concerned for the environment and only went off road when needed to see a particularly interesting thing (such as a Lion or a kill). The Elephants and HESC is a big drawcard.

Food at Camp Jabulani is fabulous and it probably has a heavier accent on the holiday part.

Both our Rangers were dedicated and determined to see us have a wonderful experience. Werner, our ranger at Camp Jabulani organiseda private dinner in the wine cellar on our final night which was so enjoyable.

So I would advise doing both!

 

[Flying mermaid]

From Camp Jabulani we were back on a large plane from Hoedspruit to Johannesburg and then to Durban with BA/Comair. We must have been looking very bedraggled after our Safari as I walked up to the Club desk to checkin and was told that it was too early and we could only check our bags in in an hours time. However he did kindly offer to print our boarding passes to make it easier to just bag drop. He pulled up our details and in quite a shocked voice said "oh - you are all in Club - in that case I can take your bags now...."

The SLOW lounge was a lot less crowded than I remembered ( we were there at 5pm on a Friday previously), but the food was just as nice.

In Durban we got the car and then had to wait an hour for Dr FM who was coming in from Australia. Having gathered all together we went to our B&B - Essenwood House in the Berea. It is a very comfortable B&B - very safe but with the illusion that there is no electric fencing because it is all hidden behind greenery. Durban is incredibly cheap - meals at nice places with wine was around $25 a head. We went to the Curry House where I had a yummy Dahl and rice for $2.50.

Mum is living in Golden Grove retirement home - she has a 1 bedroom apartment but there is a nursing home on the premises and meals available. On the Saturday we went out to The Oyster Box hotel at Umhlanga Rocks where there was lunch for 24. Oyster Box is another of these ex colonial hotels but is looking fabulous still. Mr FM was assigned the duty of looking after Mum's only surviving sibling ( who is close to 95). She is 5 foot nothing and very frail looking, but Mr FM was almost worn out fetching food for her - she probably ate twice what Mr FM and I did together and put away 3 helpings of dessert!

On Monday 8th it was back to Johannesburg, with Miss FM and her boyfriend returning to Australia while DR FM, Mr FM and I stayed at the Intercontinental at the airport again.

Photos of vervet monkeys who visit the B&B regularly and raid fruit and sugar from the rooms

 

[Flying mermaid]

Now it is time to confess to a great act of stupidity by Mr FM and I! Our flight to Nairobi was at 10:10 and we needed to checkin 2.5 hours before, so we were there bright and early and checked our luggage in and then returned to the Intercontinental to take Dr FM to the Federal air kiosk for her flight to Mala Mala. Then back to the International, quickly through security and Immigration to be sitting in the SAA J lounge by 8:45 feeling very pleased that we were in plenty of time. When entering the lounge we were told the flight wouldn't be called and to check the board. Our boarding passes said boarding at 9:25 but when I checked the board it had 9:40 against it, so I assumed a slightly delayed flight. At 9:40 we were at the gate - there were heaps of people sitting there and we assumed boarding hadn't started. After 15 minutes I noticed the Nairobi sign had vanished from the display so walked over to check the flight board and saw the flight was closed. In a total panic we spoke to some SAA personnel and we were told the gate was closed at 9:50.

So we stood there for 10 minutes and let the flight close without us........In mitigation of our total stupidity our names were never called and SAA does call names as I heard names being called for other flights while we were standing there. We came across two other people at the transit desk who were going to Zambia who had also not had their names called so this seems a bit of a random thing with SAA.

SAA were quite happy to put us on the 8:40PM flight but there was also a possibility of a Kenyan Air flight at 1:15 pm. However for that we needed to go to the ticketing desk outside. So back through Immigration feeling increasingly frazzled. A porter took us in tow and took us to SAA. Because our J tickets were sale ones they couldn't put us on the Kenyan Air flight, but booked us onto the 8:40pm flight while we went off to check the price of the Kenyan Air one with them. Still with porter in attendance we went off to Kenyan air at the other end of the airport. As you can imagine Kenyan Air was not cheap (one way, last minute fares....). However we decided we really didn't want to get into our hotel at 3 in the morning. The Kenyan Air lady kindly phoned our meet and greet people in Nairobi so we could reschedule - I think she felt quite sorry for us.

Back to SAA to cancel the flight and then through Immigration - this time to relax in the Air France lounge. Our flight was delayed until 3 pm, but we were still sitting in the bar at the Norfolk Hotel enjoying drinks and samosas by 9ish, whereas we would only have just taken off if we had stuck with SAA.

Some positives for this debacle

1. We enjoyed a lovely chat with our porter, who told us that you couldn't let yourself get upset when disaster struck. he had had his house broken into a few weeks earlier, with a gun to his head and his few possessions stolen, but at least he and his wife had escaped with their lives.

2. We had a number of chats with one of the Zambians - he came off worse than us as he couldn't get on a flight until the next day and so had to find accommodation for the night and I think money was possibly an issue for him.

3. We experienced Kenyan Air - planes definitely more run down than SAA, but the service was excellent (and a very nice meal service as well) while we had found SAA from Nairobi to Joburg pretty disinterested.

 

[parsonstrish]

Sorry to hear, but with your positive outlook, sounds as though you kept the frazzle down to a manageable state. Your pics have been outstanding.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Sorry to hear, but with your positive outlook, sounds as though you kept the frazzle down to a manageable state. Your pics have been outstanding.

Thanks Trish - mega stressed to start with, but calmed down once we realised the disaster was retrievable

 

[Flying mermaid]

After a relaxing morning at The Norfolk we were taken to Wilson airport to travel by light plane with SafariLink to Kilimanjaro - a 12 seater Caravan but with us as the only passengers plenty of room. We cleared immigration there and travelled on Tanganika Flying Company to Arusha and then lake Manyara which is the airport for Ngorongoro. We were staying at the &Beyond Crater Lodge. What incredible staff - I fell in love with our butler Deo - nothing was too much trouble for him. Our Ranger Peter was great fun and even the security guards were chatty. You have to be escorted to your room in the dark, although we never saw anything more than Zebra. The Crater itself is fascinating - a small area but a fairly different eco system. Large herds of WildBeeste and a salt area with Flamingos. Our first views of Olive Baboons. We were in early but by 10am its was starting to get busy. Because it is a public game reserve (our first experience of one) you can't go off road and sightings can get very crowded. When a Rhino appeared there were over 40 vehicles jostling for a position - quite unpleasant for both humans and animals!

Flamingos
Our bedroom
Dining area at Ngorongoro Crater Lodge
Two hyena terrorising a Golden Jackal
African sunset

 

[TomVexille]

That looks awesome.

 

[kazhere]

Fantastic report and photos. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Flying mermaid]

Most of the staff at Ngorongorong Crater Lodge are Masai. They are very confident and friendly and very proud of the lodge. Even the security guards were asking us to tell our friends to come and visit. Our Guide suggested we visit the local Masai village which we did - the currency they earn from tourists is a useful supplement. The village is totally authentic and the people are genuinely living there the way their ancestors did - the only difference is the little village school. We were shown a welcome dance, jumping competition and fire starting and then a visit to a home and to the school. The home consisted of a typical hut with nothing modern and beds made of hide with a central fire.

Masai women
Jumping competition
fire starting

 

[Flying mermaid]

I would definitely recommend a visit to Ngorongoro Crater, but 2 nights is probably enough - the public game reserve is a bit annoying and the vehicles are the ones with enclosed sides and a pop up roof, so you have to stand to see anything which is quite tiring. Mala Mala has totally open vehicles and the others open with a high roof for sun and rain protection - much better and easier viewing.

There was an early morning start to get to Lake Manyara in time for our flight to Singita. The terrain was quite different flying over very deserted areas of savannah. Singita is part of Serengeti, but a large private enclave. It is the most upmarket of the places we have stayed in so far. There are 3 main camps and we decided to do them in order of comfort, starting with the most basic first and ending with the most luxurious. All 3 have very different ambience. Our first was Sabora, which is the tents. Set on the savannah with wide expanses to the mountains it sounded heaps of fun. We were told our guide Jimmy would stay with us for the entire 9 days and move from camp to camp with us.

The tents were just great - furnished in "out of Africa" style it felt authentic safari! All the facilities - kitchen, spa, dining room, etc are in tents as well. At night as you lie in bed you can feel the wind blowing through the tent in spite of many hanging flaps. There is a lovely bath, but an outdoor shower - we were rather hesitant at first, but quickly adapted to showering while looking a zebra and buffalo.

The food and wines are just wonderful - wish I could eat more! They mix up eating areas - out under a tree, or in the lounge area, or in the pool area. Often you are totally private. Singita is quite empty at the moment, so we are often alone in our vehicle. Normally 6 to a vehicle.

We just loved Jackie our waitress - she looked after us so beautifully, apart from encouraging us to drink far too much wine. She is the only female waitresses we have had and the camp manager commented she was unusual.

View from our tent

Lounge Room

Dining Deck

After we came back from dinner on our last night at Sabora this is what the bath looked like. Ngorongoro did the same sort of thing with rose petals

 

[infinity]

Amazing TR. Keep it coming

 

[Flying mermaid]

Now while Singita is very much about beautiful accommodation, food and wine, it is also about the animals. We have seen large herds of Wildebeeste, Buffalo, Zebra etc. However we really wanted to see more of the predators and our guide obliged.

Photos

If you are going to continue staring at me, I will take my Wildebeeste elsewhere...

Yum - it really is a good Wildebeeste

Reed Back Antelope in a tree

Dinner time

Lion with a Porcupine quill in it's chin

 

[Flying mermaid]

After 3 nights at Sabora we moved to the next Singita camp - Faru Faru. This is elevated and very bushy so quite a contrast to Sabora - same wonderful food and service though. One morning our ranger surprised us by taking us to a brunch that had been set up in the bush, complete with sparkling wine. The Askari were noticeably more nervous than at Sabora - usually a guy with a rifle around - much easier for more dangerous animals to hide in the bush.

We spent almost all our drives at Faru Faru following a female Cheetah and her single cub - known as Mama and one. She hadn't eaten for a few days when we came across her and she was looking skin and bone, although baby was looking pretty chubby- it was still nursing. She was a wonderful mother - making high pitched trilling noises to make sure it didn't stray too far and quite happy to nurse even though she must have been pretty low on energy. We saw her stalking a number of Thomson Gazelle's and one run which resulted in a miss so we felt very sorry for her.

Photos

Happy leopard in a tree

Don't you know Cheetah's can't climb trees

More baby photos

Mama and one looking for game

 

[Flying mermaid]

We did take some time for other animals

Photos

Swimming in the dam

Another cheetah we came across

Easy to get in the water for the little ones, not so easy to get out.

Mongoose keeping an eye on Mama and one

 

[Flying mermaid]

Before we get back to the animals some photos of our room at Faru Faru - each of the 3 Singita properties we visited had a different characteristic. Faru Faru was set on a hillside with nice views and quite bushy. Walls were solid and decor was interesting with standing lamps made of stones and very different hangings - the wall overlooking the savannah had big glass panes and could slide open (electrically controlled) - which we did from time to time, while keeping an eye open for vervet monkeys - it didn't seem to take long after opening the windows before a cheeky face appeared.

Mr FM was rather taken with the outdoor shower - incredible view from it and the only time I have needed to wear my sunnies in the shower.

They took their security duties more seriously here than at Sabora and with all the bushes I could see why - one night we had two Askari walking us back, one with a rifle - we gathered there was a predator around.

Mr FM and I don't drink very much but I had developed a taste for Amarula - there were lots of little bottles in the bar cabinet of whiskey, vodka etc but no Amarula, which we had had at Sabora, so I asked our waiter Wilson if he could procure some for me. When I went back in the evening there was a full size bottle in the room - apparently they didn't have any small bottles. I said I would take it to Sasakwa as well, but he said it had to stay behind - I managed to control myself and only drank a small amount over the 3 nights (and Mr FM did share as well!)

Wilson was really bad and encouraged Mr FM to have cognac and port after dinner, which I rather frowned on - Mr FM can be a bit fragile so I tend to be somewhat controlling......

 

[amaroo]

Phenomenal TR

 

[Flying mermaid]

Now back to the animals - particularly our beautiful cheetah and her cub - Mama and one. I just fell in love with her - she was such a good mother and really looked after her cub and it was incredible to spend hours watching the interaction between them. We were very concerned at her inability to catch any food and excited on the afternoon of the 3rd day when we went out for our drive to discover she had managed to kill a baby impala and at last was looking less hungry (as for the cub, he looked as fat as could be). We heard from another couple that she managed to catch a reed back the next day as well.

Photos

Fat Baby at last
Baby nursing
Mama and one with Baby Impala
Mama on one of her abortive hunts
Two happy cheetahs cleaning each other

 

[Flying mermaid]

Our last stop was the most up market of the Singita camps - Sasakwa. It is set really high with incredible views and imagine an English Country Manor, but with an African theme. It is the biggest of the properties with a max of 34 guests, while the other two have a max of 18. However because they had heaps of cancellations from people in USA (hello people Ebola is on the WEST coast - this is East Africa), there were only 6 guests including ourselves. We had people running around after us all the time, although it is such a high service place I suspect it is like that all the time. The rooms are individual houses with lounge, bedroom and bathroom and an infinity pool. There are 6 1 bedroom houses, 2 x 2 bedroom and 1 x 3 bedroom and 1 x 4. When we entered our house I found the dreadful Wilson had organised to have a bottle of Amarula, as well as decanters of cognac and port

By the time we reached Sasakwa we knew we were putting on weight, so asked our waiter if we could please have small portions. We were greatly enjoying 3 courses for lunch and dinner, but they really needed to be small! Everyone took that to heart and apart from our waiter anxiously asking if the size was right, at various times we also had the food manager, the chef and the pastry chef checking. The food was just glorious and on the last night they did a 7 course tasting menu with the most beautiful bite size courses.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Sabora had been Leopards, Faru Faru Cheetah, so we asked Jimmy our guide if we could please have lions now. Seeing Lions walk across the savannah in large prides is amazing. Cheetahs seem to me to be the artistes - graceful and delicate. Leopards are the sportspeople - powerful and skilled. Lions? - they are the bikie gangs - you can almost see them stepping off their bikes and striding across the savannah with helmets and leather jackets and daring anyone to get in their way!

 

[Flying mermaid]

Some odds and ends to finish off

Photos

How many giraffe can fit under a tree?

The Lion is really that close - deep breath and don't panic

A mother jackal with some food for her cub - it took off as soon as it saw us