We flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg, then were driven - through driving rain, thunder and lightning - to the Welgevonden Wildlife Reserve. It’s summer here in South Africa and that means the rainy season. It was three hours to the Reserve Gate, then another hour (or so) to the Ndlovu Safari Lodge, our accommodations for the next three days.
Ndlovu is Zulu for elephant.
Fun word! Took me a couple of days to get it right. Here you go: Say the ‘n’ like you’d say mmm for yummy, only make it an n and make it short: n-DLOW-voo (the dlow rhymes with glow). Ndlovu.
The Waterberg Reserve is right next door, as the crow flies, from Welgevonden. Another 45 minute drive from Reserve gate to Reserve gate. Marataba Mountain Lodge is another hour from the entry gate, where we will spend three more days.
We are in the province of Limpopo located just south of the Zimbabwe border where both Reserves are reclaimed farmland turned into a rewilding of Africa’s stunning wildlife.
These posts are going to be a little different from my usually chronological recounts, because there are some singular themes that span both reserve experiences.
I want to talk about the lodges first, though. Both exclusive (only five suites) and the same sort of layout as Mosaic, with each suite a separate building.
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| Ndlovu Safari Lodge is surrounded by electric fencing but the baboons climb trees and gain entry |
Our suites include a massive outdoor living space with shaded sitting and dining area, sunning area, outdoor bath and shower, and private splash pool that overlooks a part of the bush popular with baboons, zebras and elephants.
I watched baboons climbing around in the trees
just past the plunge pool. I did not have 'guests'
on my deck.
The main lodge offers both indoor and outdoor dining. It’s summer so it can be hot during the day, but nicely balmy at dinnertime.
The staff sing to the accompaniment of drums as a welcome on arrival, and sing to you as you depart. Hot towels are offered to clean your hands each time you return from the morning or afternoon drives.
The privacy in our suites is only impeded by the odd baboon here and there: they run freely throughout the Lodge grounds.
We are advised to keep our doors to the bedroom closed, otherwise the sassy simians might invade our space (there’s always fresh fruit on the counter).
My first morning out the door, I ran into (figuratively speaking) a lone baboon. It was as startled as I and walked briskly off (it did not run, nor did I).
Coming out of my massage a day later, I ran into a female and male who was trying to copulate with her. She would have none of it and ran off. He looked frustrated.
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| If you look really closely, you can see his tiny penis 😉 |
There were a couple of baboons scrambling across the Main Lodge terrace fighting with each other one afternoon. Our butler-cum-waiter-cum-barkeep, George, ran them off in a hurry. ‘Nothing to see here’.
The Welgevonden Reserve is home to about 60 different lodges, so we see many other safari vehicles during our morning and afternoon drives.
That’s okay, because all the guides talk to one another via radio to let the other guides know where the wildlife action is.
We are the only two guests during our stay at Ndlovu so we feel very pampered.
Menu is limited but well prepared - fish, meat or vegetarian choices.
Lavish breakfast - no buffet here - all brought to your table.
And then there’s the lunch with a remarkable show: the elephant coming for its mud bath:
This guy had a great time splashing mud
all over himself
Marataba Mountain Lodge
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| Marataba Mountain Lodge Manager, Floyd |
Again only five suites, each tucked into the hill above the main lodge, reached by a steep, rocky pathway.
The Lodge and its property are not fenced off from the Reserve, so theoretically, we could be visited by all manner of wild beast.
We are not. (Phew)
During our time here, it is either pissing down rain with high winds, thunder and lightning, or way too hot to enjoy the private deck. That’s okay: inside the air-conditioned suite, the view across the valley is through floor-to-ceiling windows. Because we are up the mountain, the view is spectacular. We are in some of the oldest mountains in the world. (The only others as old are in western South Africa and in Australia.)
Our Lodge Manager, Floyd, is always there to greet us with chilled towels in the heat after the morning drive, and hot towels in the cool after the afternoon drive.
Marataba does not offer private plunge pools. But it does offer a treehouse for a unique overnighter.
Biz and I both had the opportunity to stay overnight. I was rained out (dammit), but Biz was able to get through the whole night when she stayed. Hotel Manager Floyd arranged it so that I could at least have dinner with her at the tree house. What an amazing place! The top of the place is roofless - a platform, surrounded by a railing, and open to the air. The bed is covered in a linen-like netting, stronger than the usual mosquito netting.
Down below is a fully enclosed, opulent bathroom with one wall all glass, looking out to any and all wild critters. (Guests have been known to sleep down here when their courage leaves them, or rain chases them from upstairs.)
The platform is large enough to accommodate seating and dining along with a large bed. We were given several hampers of food & beverage, and we enjoyed watching the sun set.
We made the mistake of waiting until sundown to bring out the food. We were beset by all manner of flying insects. Even dousing the solar lamps didn’t keep us from being besieged. We finally put all the food back out of reach, and radioed for the guys to come pick me up, leaving Biz to fend for herself overnight.
Luckily she had no rain, just an enormous windstorm that blew glasses and furniture over, not to mention the netting around the bed! She toughed it out and spent the entire night, with the reward of a skyful of stars.
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