Today was our first full day of safari'ing! Our guide called both our tents (I keep writing "tents," but it was a concrete and canvas structure that was basically a small glamping palace, so "tent" doesn't seem right. Maybe canvas castle is the right term?) at 6 a.m. to make sure we were awake.
We put on our warmest clothes (I wore fleece lined leggings I originally bought for Iceland, sports bra (roads are bumpy!), tank, my favorite cashmere wool sweater from Vince, a scarf, and my puffer jacket and I could have used a hat and gloves) and walked over to the main building where the staff had put out some light breakfast snacks and drinks to get our day started. All the groups and guides were there, it was maybe 20 people? They always had gluten-free muffins for me and they were SO good. As James said every day, South Africa has the best breads and baked goods!
We got in our jeep with Njabulo, snuggled under the hot water bottles and blankets he had waiting, and headed out with the sun rising over the bush before us! Some of us paid more attention than others in the cold early hours. (There's a Landon under there. Yes, Mr. "no one ever needs to wear pants" both wore pants AND admitted he was cold. It really was chilly!)
One of the things we ran into first was a lioness and THREE cubs!! It was such a lucky find - our guide, who somewhow drove the stick-shift jeep, looked out for the paths, pointed out very hidden animals, AND tracked paw prints in the dirt beside the car as we drove past, said he hadn't seen cubs in weeks.
They were adorable - like big giant kittens and they played and romped while mama lounged and watched. Our guide said they were close to a year old and at that age, with a living, healthy mother, they should survive to adulthood.
We saw more zebras, which I love- their coloring is just so gorgeous to me.
Including this guy, who was a pretty fast little runner!
And this one whose smile reminded me of Donkey from Shrek.
Giraffes were plentiful- we came across a large herd with babies, including two with the umbilical cord still attached!
We watched some toddler giraffes playing tag and it was crazy to see their long spindly legs gallopping around while their moms watched.
Seeing giraffe heads pop up between trees became one of my favorite things to spot as we drove around- they're such cool, awkward yet graceful gentle giants.
I love them.
The animal I was most excited to see in Africa was an elephant and I was so delighted that we came across MANY on this day.
Including a mother and baby who was ADORABLE.
Mama got irritated at our jeep being too close, but we'd been parked for some time to observe and she basically walked in front of us. Our guide wasn't concerned, just said she's being protective, waved his hands and yelled and then reversed, and she quite literally flipped her ears over her shoulders like she was doing a hair toss and huffed off, nudging her clumsy squishy baby along.
At the end of our morning drive we got to board Miss Mara, the lodge's boat that sails along part of the river in the reserve. They had food waiting for us (of course!) with two plates of gluten-free options for me.
We got to see a whole bloat of hippos, just chilling in the water and then we even saw two fully out of the water, which was pretty rare to see during the day!
The boat was a cool way to see the land and animals from a different perspective and I'm glad we got to experience it!
After that we headed back to the lodge where we could order a full breakfast (it was now nearly 11 a.m.) and then James and I got massages on the back deck of our room, which was lovely.
Lunch was served from 12:30-2:30, which I skipped, but everyone else ate. Now that we're home we all miss the constant availability of incredibly delicious food!
High tea was with lots of treats was served at 3 (I cannot emphasize enough how much you are fed; Landon was in heaven) and then we met our guide back at our jeep at 3:30, now with an overnight bag for James and me. As an anniversary treat, we planned to spend a night in the Marataba treehouse!
Our guide drove there first so we could drop our bag and the kids could see it.
It was so cool.
Downstairs bathroom:
The staff would be delivering our dinner to the treehouse so James and I could have a romantic dinner date after the game drive, and then the guide would drive the kids the rest of the way back to the lodge to have their dinner and go to bed.
The kids weren't at all concerned about being alone in their separate canvas castle, but Claire was VERY worried that we would be eaten by a lion in the dark in our treehouse. Our guide assured her that would not happen, but Claire was unconvinced.
We drove off for the rest of our sunset drive.
Kudu! Love their crazy horns.
I never took many pictures on the evening drive because my iPhone struggled with the lighting and we all spent long intervals just enjoying watching the animals and chatting with our guide. I know we saw many things, including more elephants and giraffes and hippos out of the water!
We stopped for our "Sundowners" snacks and drinks. Such a fun tradition.
I'm going to be at work today wondering where my gin and tonic and gluten-free snacks are right about 5 pm.
After we saw more sunset animals, our guide dropped us at our treehouse. I don't think I've mentioned it yet, but the guides all have a loaded rifle with them as we drive and they carry it any time they step out of the car. So that's how we were escorted up to our temporary home. Our guide said in 7 years he'd never had to shoot his rifle, though they train on it every month and are tested with moving targets every 3 months. In his words, "if you know what you're doing and don't push the animals, you should never need it." But of course, they're ready just in case.
James and I had a great dinner sitting out on our treehouse. We checked off a previously unknown bucket list item of mine to play parcheesi in a treehouse under a sky full of stars. We snuggled. We decided we missed our canvas castle and radio'd our guide to come get us at 8 pm.
Honestly it was a pretty perfect night. Especially because we were given an incredible gift on our short drive back to the lodge area -- a leopard!!!
She was so gorgeous.
We sat for a while to watch her, just feeling so lucky.
And then we were back in our canvas castle, after popping by the kids' to tell them we were back, and got ready for another day in safari paradise tomorrow!
After 3 great nights in Cape Town, we were up early to fly to Johannesburg to start our safaris!
We really loved Cape Town- I'm so glad Kaleigh encouraged us to spend a few days there. I actually think we could have spent another to explore more of the cool little towns all along the peninsula and hike Table Mountain, but our itinerary didn't have room and I have zero regrets that we moved on to safaris when we did. It's just a note that I could absolutely see going back one day, maybe post-retirement, with just James and me.
Taking a domestic flights within South Africa was pretty easy- you can even carry on water or bottles of wine! Check-in and security were quick and then we waited to board a bus that went to the plane we'd take. The flight was 2 hours and we were met by a new guide and driver as soon as we landed to drive to our new home for 3 nights: Marataba Safari Lodge.
The drive took about 90 minutes (?) and we saw so many animals along the way! Baboons! Giraffes! An ostrich! Plus springboks, impalas, and even a rhino! We were clearly in a new part of South Africa.
Once we arrived at beautiful Marataba, we had a quick check-in, met our safari guide Njabulo (he'd be with us for the entirety of our stay, which was awesome), and then walked to our "tent".
It was SO much larger and more luxe than I ever imagined.
The kids' had one right next to ours- Landon took the big bed and the girls shared the bunks in the adjoining room.
The big copper tub was glorious and I took at least one bath a day while we were there.
I also used the outdoor shower. I am pro-hot water covering me in any format.
The lodges are surrounded by an electrified fence, but monkeys, warthogs, and tons of impalas come in and mingle with each other along the paths. We felt very safe, but there was always someone to walk you to your room any time you wanted accompaniment and someone always walked with us from the main room to our tents at night after dinner when it was dark.
This mama warthog and baby are in the photo above. I loved the warthogs - they ran with their tails high in the air, which cracked me up, and their faces and waddle-runs always reminded me of Maggie.
Pumba!
We got a little distracted with our incredible rooms, but Njabulo was waiting for us to go on our first sunset safari drive as soon as we were ready! The weather was beautiful and almost-warm, so kind of underestimated how much temperatures would drop as the sun went down.
Because soon, it was *freezing*. There were blankets in the jeep and we each brought our puffer jackets, but we bundeled up a lot more on future drives.
But the chill was largely forgotten as we immediately came across animals. Like hippos!
One showed off his big big mouth for us.
And giraffes and zebras too!
After the sunset our guide drove us to a bush dinner! (Another reason we should have bundled up, but we sort of missed the "dinner would be outside" detail in our welcome, probably because I was distracted by the giant bathtub.)
We came across a giant rhino next to the path as we drove with our red spotlight (red because it doesn't hurt the eyes of prey who see well at night). It was crazy! He almost looked fake until he ran off through the bush.
The chef was outside grilling tons of meat over an open flame and there were great salads and sides and bread to go with it. Our guide sat at our table with us and we got to hear all about his background and experience and the cool things he'd seen in Marakele. It was really lovely, and the stars were incredible, but man was it cold! I didn't take any pictures, even though it was so beautifully decorated and lit with candles and lanterns, but here's one of Cora staying warm.
We got back to our tents where I took the first of many baths in that magnificent tub and then we snuggled into beds -- beds we discovered the staff warmed with hot water bottles under the sheets! A delightful treat we discovered would continue in the jeeps for the morning ride. Our guide would be calling at 6 a.m. to wake us up and then we'd be off on our first sunrise drive!
On day 4 we were excited for another beautiful day in Cape Town, this time in the winelands!
We enjoyed the big buffet breakfast again- James declared that South Africa had the greatest breads he'd ever had anywhere. Our hotel made all their pastries in-house and I will say, the croissants looked spectacular. I haven't cheated on my gluten free diet once, but the croissants gave me a slight pause.
We met our lovely guide Anita in the lobby again at 9 am and drove north to Stellenbosch and the Winelands!
Our first stop was Spice Route, a huge winery with lush green hills, vines, and lot of things in addition to just wine!
Because I’m the only wine drinker in the family (and even I’m not that excited about wine at 10 am?), Anita arranged for tea and chocolate tastings for the family to start.
James was obsessed with the smells of all the teas, and, as he does every few years, he decided he was in fact a tea drinker and needed to purchase many varietals. I talked him down to two boxes. I don't like herbal tea (I'm a black only girl; no flavoring) unless I'm sick, but I did love the Rooibus so maybe one of us will actually drink these within the next five years. We tried four teas and each kid liked a different one best. (My fave was the black; no one else thought it should be ranked at all.)
Next up was a chocolate tasting at the same winery. Mine were curated to be gluten free and we all enjoyed our five pieces.
Then I actually sampled a few wines (so good) while Landon and Cora played on the playground and Claire hung out in front of the fire.
It was very cold, I was in heaven. There is nothing I love more than wine + cold + soft sweater + fire. Today's high in Dallas will be 103.
Stop 2 was the stunning Lanzerac Winery. Built in 1692, it's nestled in the rolling hills and mountains of the Western Cape. The woodwork, decor, and windows were all so beautiful throughout.
We had a great lunch in one of the dining rooms.
Then we had an archery lesson! I was certain I was a secret Katniss Everdeen, but while I did pop a target balloon, I could maybe use a few more lessons on hitting the actual target.
James and Landon won our boys v girls target contest, but it was really very almost close.
Next we hopped on e-bikes with a new guide (Anita laughed at me when I asked if she was going to bike with us) and pedaled our way to another stunning winery!
James and the kids had never done e-bikes before and they loved it. The views were just spectacular and it was so nice to move a little on our own (well, on our own with a little help).
Nestled (I know I already used that word, but it's perfect) in green hills and steep mountains, the winery I forgot the name of was SO beautiful. (Update! Per a blog reader, it's Stark Conde and it was my favorite of the trip.) I felt like I was in Switzerland or Germany. Cape Town contains multitudes.
The kids (and James!) sampled rooibus teas and chocolate while I had some seriously good wine.
I mean, Cape Town/this wintery was so, so pretty.
Everyone loved the e-bikes so we opted for a longer pedal over stopping at another winery. It was such a beautiful fun day.
Once back at our hotel we walked to the waterfront for dinner at a place with the Guinness world record for number of milkshakes on the menu (215), did a little shopping, and were in bed by 10.
It was such a great day! And in the morning we'd be heading to Johannesburg to start our first safari!
"Lag liv," imperfectly translated, means "law life" in Swedish. I'm half Swedish and I was in law school back when I wrote my first post in 2006, so Lag Liv I became and Lag Liv I still am!
Now I'm a full-time attorney and all-the-time wife and mom of three. We live a busy life in Dallas, Texas. You can read more about me and my cast of characters in the About Me and My Blog page. Happy reading and if you'd like to contact me, my email is lagliv [at] gmail [dot] com.
