So recently I took my sister with me to Johannesburg. She very luckily was upgraded to Business Class for both her outbound and inbound flight, meaning she flew the near 11 hour flight in luxury, and slept on a fully flat bed throughout both night flights - scoreee!
Upon our arrival at the hotel, we had time to go up to the room, shower & change and order a quick bite to eat from Room Service before our first tour.
We were met by a chauffeur who would take us to Mongena Game Lodge, about an hour away from the hotel. Two other girls on the crew joined us that day for the safari also.
The game lodge was a gorgeous set up, and very popular for weddings we were told. Zebra’s wandered around the grounds as we had a coffee whilst waiting, and the the trees were covered with delicate fairylights which must have really set the mood for an evening reception after a wedding. The place was really, absolutely gorgeous.
We were then shown to the truck where we would have the safari, along with two other tourists. We had a driver and a navigator. The navigator sat on a seat on the very front of the truck, alongside the bonnet. When we came to a fork in the road, the navigator was the one who would nod which way to go, acting on his instinct and reading any clues left by animals.
About 30 minutes into the safari we saw huge White Rhino just casually crossing the road in front of us. We were so thrilled to have seen one of the Big 5 so soon, and so close to us. The rhino sauntered off into the bush, and the driver radioed the other cars to let them know where the Rhino was, so they could catch a glimpse too that afternoon.
We drove around for a couple more hours before stopping to have a cold and local South African Beer or Cider and some Biltong and Crisps in the bush, watching the sunset. We then wrapped up in blankets provided by the truck for the drive back to the camp, as as the sun set it took all the warmth with it too and the evening was bitterly cold.
On our way back to the Lodge, we saw the Rhino again, this time walking in front of the jeep and we slowly followed him for perhaps 15 minutes or so. The Rhino was the only one out of the big 5 we saw that day, however we had had such a close encounter with him, we were all feeling very lucky and grateful to have seen just one out of the big 5.
The following day, my sister and I and one other crew member were driven to the Askari Elephant Sanctuary. Our chauffeur that day was also our Tour Guide and gave us a real insight into the history of South Africa, Johannesburg and it’s people. He was a fascinating guy and taught us so much. As we arrived at Askari Game Lodge, we watched a video on the Elephants they had at the Sanctuary, what they were rescued from and their rehabilitation journey.
We were then driven to the Elephants ‘viewing area’ with two other tourists, and here we were able to interact with them! We were each told to grab three segments of Orange, and hold the first in our hand for the elephant to take from us using their trunk, the second we threw directly into their mouth (or on the floor if you have my sister’s throwing skills!) and with the third piece of orange we held it in our mouth and the elephant took it with their trunk to their mouth, and then placed their trunk on our heads and trumpeted to say ‘thank you’. The elephants then laid down and we were able to stroke and feel the elephants tough skin and tail. An absolutely incredible, unforgettable, life experience to be so close to such an endangered species and gentle giant.
We were then driven back to the hotel where we had lunch overlooking the hotel’s grounds and beautiful pool area. My sister and I popped to the nearest spa boutique to make the most of the fantastic exchange rate and had a few treatments before the flight home that evening - pampered & preened!
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