Dunedin’s Janine Mallon has ticked off a bucket-list destination with a tour of southern Africa.
Observing a young female leopard from only metres away, I could hardly believe my eyes.
It was just one of the amazing experiences which exceeded my expections during a
two-week World Journeys' tour throughout South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana late last year.
The drive into the first lodge was the best airport transfer I'd ever been on - a game drive which provided us with glimpses of the exciting wildlife we'd encounter over the course of our adventures.
Located within Ngala Private Game Reserve on the northeastern boundary of Greater Kruger National Park, andBeyond Ngala Safari Lodge provides the perfect combination of luxury and adventure.
Not normally a morning person while at home, I shocked myself by suggesting that instead of heading out at 5am on a game drive, we depart half an hour earlier. This was in aid of tracking the elusive leopard which tends to head up into the trees once the African sun heats up.
The next morning we'd been mesmerised by a herd of elephants until our tracker pointed across the riverbed.
Realising something was up, the adrenalin began to kick in as we hot-footed it in our jeep to the other side of the dry Timbivati riverbed.
Before I knew it, I was observing a young and majestic female leopard from only metres away. For what seemed like an eternity, we moved unobtrusively as she strode along the riverbed until vanishing into the treeline.
What an experience, one I thought I'd never come close to matching but this was only our third day and I was to be proven wrong.
There were many great things to come extending beyond our incredible morning Mocca-chocca-rula drinks, cocktails, and moonlit dinners.
Our journey carried us to Cape Town, a spectacular city where I could easily have spent a week.
A day-trip south to the Cape of Good Hope and viewing a colony of African penguins were among the many highlights.
Nearby Franschhoek is a gorgeous village and staying amid its vineyards surrounded me with my other two passions - fantastic wine and food.
We departed Cape Town aboard The Blue Train, a unique and relaxing way to travel to Pretoria. A real chance to kick back, enjoy great scenery and company while enjoying attentive service and again, fantastic food and wine.
We arrived on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls for an interesting and surprisingly seamless drive and processing through the border to Zimbabwe.
Despite visiting at the drier end of the season, Victoria Falls was still spectacular. Donning a poncho amid a downpour added to the atmosphere with mist rising off the falls.
Our next retreat was the andBeyond Matetsi River Lodge, with 15km of uninterrupted private frontage along the Zambezi River, and a great chance to get some washing done.
We were spoilt by the breathtaking location with the ability to view hippos from our plunge pool and deck.
The incredible wildlife interactions didn't end there - I was awoken one morning by baboons fighting each other, bounding back and forth across our villa roof and yelling as they did.
The final part of our adventure was what I had most been looking forward to: flying between lodges in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, by charter plane.
What can I say, the delta had it all.
Cheetah are rarely sighted, so viewing three up close on our ``airport transfer'' into the lodge from the airstrip was amazing.
Herds of wildebeest, elephants frolicking outside our lodge and drinking from waterholes, hippos growling, zebras and giraffes prancing, lions feeding with their cubs, and my personal favourite, leopards on the prowl or lounging in trees.
We experienced the delta every way possible: by plane, open-sided helicopter, makoro (dug-out canoe from which we saw all kinds of bird and water life), barge at sunset, and, of course, by Jeep, not only on safari but also to visit a local village the lodge supports and employs staff from.
Drifting in a makoro at sunset steered by our trusty guide up to a floating bar with bubbly and canapes was my definition of incredible.
Wow, what a way to end my very first African adventure.
Janine Mallon is owner-operator of The Travel Brokers - Janine Mallon and Tasty Tours.
Checklist
South African Visas:
• Prior to 16 January this year, most New Zealand passport holders did not need a visa to travel to or transit through South Africa. Unfortunately these rules changed, meaning that all New Zealand passport holders needed to travel in person to the North Island to apply for a visa to travel. We have been following these developments closely and are pleased to inform you that if travelling as part of a group of 8 or more on the same itinerary then we can assist you with obtaining your visa for South Africa without the need to fly yourself to Wellington or Auckland.
My personal travel tips for travel to Africa:
• Ensure you have excellent, comprehensive travel insurance. Ensure you have all necessary visas.
• If not staying in luxury lodges, take your own metal water bottle. Luxury lodges supply these.
• If travelling beyond South Africa as I did, take as much cash as is covered by your travel insurance as ATMs are few and far between. Lodges do accept major credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard.
• If heading on wildlife safaris, make sure you take a camera you are familiar with, which has the ability to take videos and with a minimum zoom of 55-200mm. On this point, take a spare camera battery as four hours out on Safari will drain one and you’ll be heading out again only a few hours later.
• Take probiotic TravelBug tablets, obtainable through your local pharmacy, to protect you from tummy bugs.
• Take light clothing and wear layers as once the sun goes down around 6pm, the heat of the day disappears quickly. If heading out on safari, take good, comfortable walking shoes and clothing of subdued colours as you don’t want to scare the wildlife off! Don’t wear camo or military-style clothing as this can cause trouble with local authorities.
• Pack lightly in a soft-sided bag but remember a hat, 40+ sunscreen and SPF lip-balm.
• Bring a universal adaptor as even South Africa itself has 2 different plug types.
• Contact your doctor for professional advice on any required vaccinations.
