Tag: south-africa

You pass Shawn’s Gate in the south of the Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve and you delve into your past and very origin. It is awakening something that deeply buried in our DNA – at least for me it feels like this. This is how Earth is supposed to be. It is beautiful, breathtaking and deadly. The architectural purity of the equilibrium designed by nature is beyond any beauty we could create.

That is of course not something you will realize when passing Shawn’s Gate. It will take some time there but with open eyes and all other senses you will see and feel it.

My first stay is at Umkumbe Lodge. It is the most simple and basic, but actually my most favorite. As you can see on the map it is right between Mala Mala and Sabi Sabi to of the probably most expensive locations in South Africa. Oh and yes, there are no heated toilet seats, but: It’s cool and you will get this wonderful ‘Hatari’ feeling. Jason and Oliver are also doing a great job as rangers there!

  

See all pictures from around the lodge on Flickr – click here!

Life and daily routine on Safari

• 5:00: The ranger must die! You are tired, it is dark and actually there is no real reason to wake up so early.
• 5:30: Throw in some rooibos tea
• 6:00: Of to the early morning game drive
• 9:00-10:00: Back for breakfast
• 10:30-15:30 Roll to the pool and do a little bit of nothing (Bush TV)
• 16:00: Of to the late afternoon game drive
• 18:00: Sundowner
• 20:00: Dinner in a boma
• 21:00 – open end: Fun with other guests fighting the bar resources

Next post: Wildlife @ Umkumbe

Before I am going to arrive I first have to rant a little bit. I promise this will not happen afterwards.

<Rant>
Lufthansa sucks! A secure and timely departure is just not enough, especially when you burn years of accumulated miles. It was an 11 hours flight on the fabulous new A380. With its decks it definitely has something of the good old Titanic days. However, Lufthansa decided to bring the lower deck flavor to the upper deck. The food is what you get on any non-Lufthansa international economy flight. I could live with that, but! You get an awkward mix between a recliner seat and a not flat angled lie-flat seat. Note to myself: check seat guru next time. It is this smack in the face with the message: We at Lufthansa do not want you filthy scum of passengers who mostly just upgraded to be able to sleep on an overnight flight…
</Rant>

Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA)

Ah… 🙂 I feel the warmth of the sun and foreign new territories. I am a travel junky after all.

Fist lucky strike: I can already switch off my brain and follow the transfer service to the lodge and just look around while driving. After realizing the steering wheel is on the wrong side I decided to switch on the brain for again. No game so far but we are still not in the game reserve.

Tanamera Lodge

Jenice & Russel have created a paradise spot on earth. I can only recommend to get lost at Tanamera Lodge. My plan for this place: Take a helicopter to get an overview and do a little bit of just nothing before I dive into serious game.

The Lodge

See all the rest on the Tanamera Lodge Flickr album.

Helicopter

Blyde River Canyon

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-k6khn0oYo

Do not miss the clip on Youtube and see all the photos on the Helicopter flight over Mpumalanga Lowvled Flickr album.

Nothing

Besides cutting the takes from the helicopter flight reading “Richard Despard Estes: The Behavioral Guide to African Mammals” is a very good idea. Seriously it is the perfect preparation for the upcoming game madness and everybody interested in more than just point&shot photos will benefit from it. Actually it is on my shelf since Namibia 2007.

Running down the hill is a very bad idea! The bridge to Tinamoon Lodge is a great spot, but you have to run up after all…

At Tanamera I was also very lucky to meet some cool folks (Greetings to Berlin and you will get your fine new airport – sometime! 😉