Viva Safari

Having sorted out my internet connection I can now start on my South African holiday. And I am going to start half way through, ie with the safari I booked on the back of the trip for a wedding I was attending. The safari started from Johannesburg, to which I flew from Cape Town. My aim was to stay at an airport hotel overnight to get picked up next morning for the start of the safari. And the "Protea Hotel by Marriott O.R Tambo Airport" sounded like an airport hotel. After all it had the airport in the title. However, it turned out to be several kilometres from the airport. But the rooms were airport themed! They had airport pictures on the walls.

In any event, there was a shuttle bus from the airport so I never actually had to venture out onto the mean streets of Johannesburg. And the hotel was nice enough. Just really not an airport hotel.

Next morning I (and a few folk from other hotels in the city), were duly picked up and we  whisked away for the long drive to our lodge. We were only going to get to the lodge late afternoon so we needed some stops for lunch and coffee (and comfort). The most extraordinary of those stops was at a little shopping and restaurant complex, behind which was what looked like open country and a collection of wildlife. Clearly a breeding project. But it offered some remarkable wildlife spotting without need for an expensive safari. Probably got some of my best photos of the holiday simply because there were so many animals not moving but just grazing or taking water from troughs, and in numbers you wouldn't see in the wild, like the plethora of rhinos

The lunch stop was marked by wonderful jacarandra trees in bloom (actually not a tree native to South Africa, but to Australia, although many have been planted here)

Eventually we got to the Tremisana Lodge. Great choice this. Not luxury accommodation, but nice enough little chalet to myself, with decent size bathroom and bed with mosquito net. Totally met my needs.

Slightly macabre display at the entrance to the lodge

Not a sign you see every day

This is the fearsome danger. Frankly if one falls from over your head not sure what you are supposed to do.

But lovely pool which I did make use of for sitting by but not entering. It wasn't heated.

Now to be fair I did a little bit of research on various safari companies and the different trips they offered. I went for this six day safari with Viva Safaris as it seemed best to fit the time I had available before I needed to be back in London and the amount of time actually out on game drives. And was a reasonable price. But of course what you actually get and what it says in the brochure can be different things. However, I have to say I was almost totally satisfied with absolutely everything on this trip. And I am not that easily pleased!

I mean usually things are fine and you shrug your shoulders at a few minor things that are disappointing. But this was brilliant in almost every way and I certainly fancy using the same company, Viva Safaris, again. Booking was easy - I got lots of helpful whats app messages leading up to the trip. Organisation was spot on in every respect. The main guides were great and head guide Luke just superb - balance of knowledge and personable without overdoing it. The itinerary was cleverly put together. I finished up being a very happy customer. And it was the right length for me. I felt ready to go home at the end but enjoyed everything in between.

So having arrived late afternoon we were taken on a sundown drive around the area where the lodge was. It offered an opportunity to spot a bit of wildlife before it got dark, and also after dark, but night drives never give much chance of a decent photo. It also allowed us to have a barbecue at a camp for our first dinner.

Now what is ubiquitous around the Kruger is impala. The guides say they won't stop for them because they are so commonplace. But that is slightly unfortunate as it meant I never got any really nice shots of large herds that we saw. And they are truly beautiful animals, however common.

Hornbills are very common around here, and are large enough that one can take a photo. Smaller songbirds were seen (I have binoculars) but hard to capture.

Sunsets were lovely. Expect more photos of them!

And finally a barbecue

Three hyenas were attracted by our cooking. The guides were rather more relaxed about their presence than us, but they didn't actually molest us or steal our roast chicken!