Hello friends. Trust you had a relaxing weekend.
We just couldn't stand the cold anymore and went looking for warmer climates! Decided to try something new this time, so we combined an in town lodge with a spot of game viewing in the world renowned Kruger National Park.
We saw an ad for a lodge in the town of Phalaborwa itself - African Lily Lodge - and made a rather short notice booking. What a pleasant surprise we got. It is a 3 star graded lodge and the wonderful couple who owns it will really make you feel at home! If you have yet to experience true, warm hospitality, coupled with a wonderful sense of humour, you need to meet Zena and her husband Daan.
It is a tranquil haven in town which offers lush gardens, the songs of hordes of birds to wake up to, and all within easy walking distance from various shops and restaurants and less than 2km from the gate of the Kruger Park. How good can it get!
The units are well equipped with a Dstv bouquet, telephone, internet access and offers breakfast on request. With us not being your typical self catering guests - after all, our idea of roughing it is slow room service - we settled to eat breakfast in the communal dining room. I'm not going to tell you how well we ate - instead I urge you to go and try it yourself!
While you're in Phalaborwa, treat yourself to a very rare and spectacular sight. No, not an honest traffic officer. I am referring to the largest man-made hole on the planet - it is actually visible from space! View one of the world's largest open cast mines from a special lookout point - it is awesome.
For the adventurous golfers, Phalaborwa offers yet another unique feature, other than the big hole and of course the Kruger Park, and that is the chance to mix your golf game with a couple of African animals. Yes, at the Hans Merensky golf course, the odds are real good that you will run into some sort of wildlife. If you play like I shoot claypigeon, the odds are even better! There is of course a fence between the golf course and the Kruger Park, but fences have never meant anything to the African Elephant. In fact, they trample fences so readily one won't be blamed for assuming they actually like the tingling feeling of 10 000 Volts tickling their mighty feet!
So, you HAVE to play a round at this beautiful course but be warned - don't try to fetch stray balls from the waterholes! If this course doesn't improve your game, start playing the fool instead.
We also did a 3 hour long sunset cruise on the Olifants River with Jumbo River Safaris. We saw hippos, crocs - one of which might well have been an honest to goodness lab experiment gone awry it was so big - lots of antelope and the crown jewel of sightings, a leopard drinking water in the river!
On Saturday afternoon we managed to make an appointment to take the 10km drive out to the Amarula Lapa, where we were introduced to the birthplace of the world famous Amarula Cream. Afterwards, we partook in a tasting session which turned out to be very tasty indeed. Less so the nasty hangover, but this IS Africa after all, and one needs to be strong to survive here!
What can one say about the Kruger Park that hasn't been said already? It's just such a wonderful place to be. No visit to this part of South Africa would be complete without at least one day trip into the park to drink in the ambience, the silence, the multitude of animals and the overall magic of one of the world's treasures. Even if "the bush" isn't your scene, you cannot help but be touched by this magical and mysterious place.
The bad part about my travels and excursions is always having to come home, and this was no exception. Go experience it for yourself, you will be pleasantly surprised and want to go back.
