Africa, has long been on my bucket list. Despite this, Africa has always fallen into the "maybe later" bucket. I've heard mixed reviews, with one person previously recounting "It's a lot of sitting around waiting for animals to show up". I figured it be something I could always do at a later stage in life. However, when a close friend announced that he would be celebrating his birthday in Africa this would be the excuse or opportunity to go over to the continent I've explored the least. It would also be first time for me to meet a lot of the kids and for the group to meet the significant other.
The birthday boy was super generous and sponsored the Safari leg of the trip, and to be honest, I would not in my wildest dreams been able to afford this experience or two, more importantly imagine it to be such a magical a trip. There's a couple of components that made the trip so amazing. One the setup, close knit group of friends, with respective young families all experiencing Africa as a collective. Secondly, the camp was such a luxurious setup. Thirdly, the animals and safari game drives were awesome.
We started off meeting at the airport in Johannesburg to catch a charter plane to Kruger, on the 2nd of December. That in itself was such a unforgettable experience. Imagine a private plane with all of your close friends and their kids. After what felt like a 2 hour flight of dried fruit and biltong we arrived at a small airport in Kruger. Another 45 minute car ride and we had arrived in Tunda Tula, Timbavati a private camp in Kruger National Park.
Each day was structured as follows. 4:00 am wake up, quick tea and coffee before setting off in the Toyota Landcruisers at 4:30. Drive around, trying to spot animals. Wrap up around 7:30 am to be ready for breakfast at 8:00 am by the river. The breakfasts were the highlight. Kudo meatballs, beans, stews, fresh fruit, eggs, sausages, bacon, juices, dried fruit, the works. Salivating thinking about it. We would then return to camp for the hottest period of the day, which would be relaxing, catching up on sleep and socialising. Lunch was served from 12:00-1:00 pm with massages on site. During the day it was free-time, most people by the pool, or catching up on missed sleep. The group would then reconvene at 4:00 pm for afternoon tea (first day they served pavlova!), following by an evening game drive from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm to finish with sunset drinks before retiring to the lodge for dinner. One day we were for a safari walk, which was nice just to stretch the legs. Weather was a lot cooler than I expected, we were told we had come during off season and it was a little cooler and the lush greenery made for a different type of animal spotting.
Managed to see the big five of Africa: Lions, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and the buffalo. Even spotted the super rare, wild dogs, honey badger and the ugly five: Warthog, vulture, hyena, wildebeest and stork. My favourite were the giraffes and zebras. We also spotted hippos, crocodiles and dung beetles. One lucky group even managed to see a cheetah.
Two favourite moments. Watching a termite explosion and watching all the birds prey on the termites. And watching a leopard eat a antelope in a tree while a hyena waited patiently below. The animals were really the icing on the cake, I really enjoyed just hanging out with friends, getting to know their kids and relaxing in the wilderness.
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