African Adventure Part I - Marataba Game Reserve

As travel agents, we often get asked “Where is your favorite place you’ve been to?”  For me, it was a difficult question to answer, because honestly, Esther and I have enjoyed every trip we have taken together, and we have been fortunate to be able to go so many interesting and different places. After our recent trip to Africa, however, I think I may be answering the question more easily.   We had a spectacular, one-of-a-kind trip that left us wanting to go back sooner rather than later.

Getting to Africa is no picnic – we had a red-eye out of Washington Dulles to Johannesburg that took about 19 hours total with a ground stop in Ghana for an hour.  The main portion of our trip was a 10-day tour with AmaWaterways beginning in Cape Town.  Since we were invested in the long journey, we decided to go a few days early so we could spend two nights at a private game reserve.

The entrance to the Marataba Safari Lodge - first class all the way.

We worked with Clint Saint of Live Life African Safari Getaways to arrange the game reserve portion of the trip, including transfers from Joberg (what everyone calls Johannesburg) to the Marataba Safari Lodge.  After a night at a small bed and breakfast, we were picked up for the 3-1/2 hour drive to the lodge and arrived just in time to have lunch before the afternoon game drive.  

The game drive jeeps carry 6 to 9 people, and you always have the same guide during your stay.

We were no more than a few hundred yards down the road from the lodge before we came upon our first elephant of the trip.  In preparation for this trip, the Boss decided we needed a better camera, so we purchased a Nikon Coolpix B500.  It was perfect for a complete amateur like me, pretty much point and shoot, but with a 40X zoom that was fantastic for wildlife closeups. One of the difficulties in putting this blog together was trying to decide which of my thousands of pictures to use.  I figured I had to use the first elephant photo, though!

Five minutes into our first game drive, we passed within 25 feet of this big guy.

We were blown away on that first game drive, as we saw more elephants, impala, baboons, wart hogs, a wildebeest, kudu, and even a leopard on our way back to the lodge as it got dark.  A quick note about the impala – they are beautiful animals, but they are EVERYWHERE.  They are like deer in the US, but incredibly more plentiful.  We saw so many impala that we stopped even pointing them out and taking pictures of them.  At Marataba, they told us they were planning to thin the herd on the reserve by as many as 800 impala. 

Impala at the watering hole.

Impala jumping the stream - my old camera couldn't have captured this shot.

Zebras weren't as plentiful as the impala, but such a cool-looking animal!

Our first giraffe - never got tired of watching these elegant animals.

Later in the afternoon, we transferred from the jeep to a small boat and did a sunset cruise, complete with appetizers and drinks.   

The boat for our sunset cruise.

Appetizers and drinks on the boat - a nice way to cruise.

The scenery was spectacular - the Waterberg Mountain range formed the backdrop to the game reserve.

These guys strolled down to the water for a drink only 100 feet away from our boat.

Our guide, a young South African named Hein, was incredible at spotting animals and a wealth of knowledge. We would never have seen this python in a tree on the bank of the river on our own.

It took me a while to see this python even when our guide pointed him out.

Sunsets in Africa were incredibly beautiful.

On the way back to the lodge in our jeep, Hein held up a spotlight in one hand to sweep the bush for wildlife, and he spotted a leopard, one of the most rare of the “Big Five” to spot.   It was the only time we saw one during our African trip.

Back at the lodge, we sat down to a gourmet dinner.  Make no mistake, although we were staying in a “tent,” this was not camping!  Dinner and wine were included in the daily charge, and the service was excellent. 

Dinner at the lodge, with wine

After dinner, we were escorted to our tent, which is lodge policy.  Because of the presence of various forms of wildlife, guests are not allowed to walk outside by themselves after dark.  We were taken to our tent, which turned out to be rather luxurious accommodations, with air conditioning but no TV or wi-fi.   July is winter in South Africa, and temperatures can drop into the 50’s and even low 40’s (°F) after the sun goes down.  As we climbed into our king size bed the first night, we were pleasantly surprised to find hot water bottles under the sheets to keep our feet warm.

This is our tent in the daytime.  Looks pretty rustic.

But inside was pretty nice - hot water bottles in the bed.

Luxurious bathroom with stone tub.  The tent also had an outdoor shower.

Our guide called us at 6:00 AM the next morning to make sure we were up and ready for the 6:30 AM game drive.  Early mornings and late afternoons are when the animals are most active.  With the sun just beginning to rise, it wasn’t chilly – it was cold!  We climbed into the jeep to find thick blankets and hot water bottles for our laps to keep us warm.

The morning drive was another awesome experience.  We saw animals we hadn’t seen the night before, including our first lions. 

Jackals crossed the road in front of our jeep.

A wildebeest - surprisingly, the only one we saw on our trip.

Baboons hanging out in the tree.  

 At one point, Hein stopped the jeep and said “Listen, do you hear that?”   We didn’t, but he said it sounded like a lion feeding, and sure enough he drove around a few bushes and there it was – a lion munching away on something it had killed.  We couldn’t have been more than 30 feet away.

We couldn't identify what she was eating but it was an incredible sight!

In addition to spotting all the wildlife, our guide Hein educated us about feeding habits, animal behaviors, conservation practices and problems with poachers.  The game drives were exciting and fascinating.

Hippos with just their eyes and ears out of the water.

We followed this lion around for a while - not sure if it was the same one we saw eating earlier.

Hein points out tracks in the sand to a young boy from our jeep - a leopard had dragged its kill along the road for a bit.

After the morning drive, we returned to the lodge for brunch on the lodge lawn, and because the afternoon drive was not until 3:30 PM, Esther and I both scheduled massages from the lodge massage therapist, Nicollette.  We had the massages outside on the deck of our tent.  Highly recommend!!

Brunch outdoors at the lodge after the morning drive - note blankets on the chairs, although it was very pleasant by then.

Caught this bird in the act of eating a bug - how about that new camera?

Meanwhile, back at the tent, the massage table is ready.

The view from our deck.

We climbed back into the jeep for our last game drive later that afternoon.  We found out during our stay here and again on the next portion of our trip that every game drive and cruise is different – you will see some of the same things, but always something that you hadn’t seen before.  On our afternoon drive, we had a cocktail break with wine, beer, mixed drinks and snacks – how civilized!

More baboons, one with a baby on its back - I took this with maximum zoom.

A large male kudu - very regal beasts.

Lion King fans will recognize Pumbaa, the wart hog.  These poor guys are the ugliest animals in Africa.

This is a giant kingfisher - Hein said he doesn't see them very often.

Just because you are out in the bush doesn't mean you can't enjoy Happy Hour!

We arrived back at the lodge after sunset, and had another excellent dinner with wine.  The lodge was supposed to have wi-fi in the lounge area, and we tried it out, but it was unbearably slow.  So back to the tent we went, where going to bed seemed like a good idea after an early wake-up and full day of safaris.  It was only mildly unsettling to hear noises on the roof of the tent in the middle of the night and early the next morning.  On our walk back to the lodge for breakfast, it became apparent what the noises were.  

These little guys like to crawl around on the top of the tents.

We passed this vervet monkey in the trees next to the walkway on our way to breakfast both mornings.

Our two nights at the Marataba Safari Lodge were a fantastic start to our African adventure.  The lodge was first-class in every way, with exceptional service, food and accommodations.  We were sad to leave after our short visit, but were excited about the next part of our journey.  We had a private car for the three and half hour drive back to Joberg, where we flew from Lanseria Airport to Cape Town. 

Cape Town is where the AmaWaterways trip started.  Read all about it in my next blog: African Adventure Part II, coming soon!  

All comments, questions and constructive criticism are welcome and encouraged!