Mziki Safari Lodge, October 2016

After 2 years, I am finally in South Africa again!

My new trip started on Sunday 16 October. I flew from Zurich just before 11 PM. I was lucky enough to sit next to a nice South African woman from Johannesburg. We got on very well and chatted until 3 in the morning. ;-P

The flight was shakier than usual and made it impossible for me to sleep much. Finally, we landed in Johannesburg at 9:15 on the Monday morning. The plane parked so far from the terminal that it took us more than 10 minutes by bus to reach the gate. It was great to get off the plane after 10.5 hours! It was a sunny Spring day. Together with several hundreds of passengers arriving from Europe, I stood in the queue at the immigration control. It took me a whole hour to get through. Our luggage had even been removed from the carousel because in the meantime new planes had arrived. Luckily enough I found my suitcase and hurried towards the arrival hall where my cab driver, Wusi alias Lucky, had been waiting patiently to bring me to Mziki, my first stop in South Africa. After getting myself a few thousands rand and a SIM card for my South African phone, we finally started our 2 hours’ journey. Wusi, a Zulu guy, was nice to talk to and we chatted all the way to Mziki. 

Well after 1 PM, we reached Mziki Safari Lodge about 50 km from Brits in the North West Province. 

By then we had 35 degrees and I felt as if I was melting altogether. I was the only guest and after getting a small lunch, I went to my lodging, the beautiful "Blesbok" rondavel and took a rest! 

Because I was so tired, I decided to skip the afternoon drive. In such a heat, it would not have been much fun anyway. In the evening, I had dinner with my guide, a very friendly Afrikaans girl. I went to bed early and got up on Tuesday just before 6 since we were to start our first game drive after 6:30. What I love the most about game drives is that you never know what to expect. Will you see a lot of animals? Which ones will cross your path? You just don't know.

We were lucky enough and got to see quite a few animals. We took a break on some height overlooking the river. Unfortunately, due to the drought, there was very little water.

 

Then we headed back to the lodge and had breakfast. The food at Mziki is excellent. Kego, the cook is a wonderful woman with a very hearty laughter. At 2 we had lunch and went on the afternoon drive after 3.30 PM. You must remember that in South Africa at that time of the year (Spring), the sun is already setting at 6. We saw more giraffes. A herd of elephants we saw did not let us pass by so we had to drive away since they were building a wall! 
 

In the evening, two French families joined the lodge and brought more life! Tuesday evening, there was a big thunderstorm and it rained an awful lot so the drive was cancelled on Wednesday morning. So, we could all just chill out and look at the animals on the other side of the electrical fence which surrounds the lodge. We could see some guinea fowls, impalas and a few vervet monkeys. 

The afternoon drive was fun with 4 kids on board! Many laughters and giggles from the teenage girls! Somehow the animals seemed to be hiding but we got to see a few antelopes. Thursday morning, I had my last game drive at Mziki. We started just after 6.30. We “bumped” again into the elephant herd and they did not let us pass through again so we had to drive away. We got to see zebra, impalas, wildebeests, giraffes…

The landscape in the North West Province is very different from anything I had seen so far in South Africa. It has an awesome bush scenery. You feel very far away from civilization there. 

After the game drive, we went back to the lodge, had breakfast and Wusi picked me up after 10.30 to drive me back to Johannesburg.

There I stayed at the Protea Hotel OR Tambo Airport hotel. 

I had lunch and dinner there and went to bed early since I had to get up at 4 to go the airport. At 4.45 I took the airport shuttle. I was there just after 5. And you will not believe it, but the airport was full of early travellers like me who had to queue to go through security. Just before 7, we took off to George airport. The plane was a CANADAIR REGIONAL JET 700. I sat at the very last row and even though it was loud there, the flight was fine. As usual I took many pictures of the South African landscape which still fascinates me!!!