Tuna
Thursday 17 August 2023
Ok, another driving day today. We had to high tail it from Kimberley to Pilanesberg National Park. We found out a few days ago that they wanted us to get there to check in at 1.30pm after which we’d be driven to out accommodation, Tshukudu Bush Lodge. We let them know that we probably couldn’t there by 1.30pm and they were cool with that. However, by leaving at 7.30am, driving like the locals and only stopping to change drivers we rocked up at around 1.20pm, much to the surprise of the bloke checking us in. We then had to transfer all our crap, oops luggage, to their vehicle and leave our mighty Proton behind. Our lodge is not accessible to private vehicles and we really don’t need the car as we get two safaris a day, morning and late afternoon/evening. On our way in we saw a few giraffe and lots of zebras and wildebeest. We have a stunning cabin that is attached to the hillside and spectacular views over the grasslands below.
The lodge is built around the side of a rocky hill and has about 20 individual cabins, all located near the top of said hill. Unfortunately, we park at the bottom of said hill and have to walk up an amazing large number of stairs. Thankfully someone else carried our bags up so we just had to haul our own fat arses up the stairs. However, I do feel sorry for the man who carried our bags up as it would have been awkward.
We were met at the top and given a very warm welcome and a rundown of when everything happens. For the rest of today, afternoon/high tea would be served at 3.00pm followed by the afternoon safari at 3.30pm. The safari is to be around 3.5 hours. So a brief chill in our room and we were back ready for afternoon tea, ribs, small frittas and a couple of glasses of white wine.
There is only one other couple here at the moment, they are on their honeymoon. So off we headed see what animals we could find. We drove around for about 45km and 3.5hrs. Saw lots of animals: zebra, wildebeest, impala, kudu, jackal, cheetah and lots of birds.. After about 2.5 hrs we have a ‘comfort’ stop somewhere in the park, which is an opportunity to go to the toilet, if needed, but also to have a afternoon g&t.
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Dinner was at 8pm and was a 5 course meal, unfortunately I only got through 4 courses.
Tired, full and looking forward to a nice nap.