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When my boss asked me whether I could cut my trip to Slovenia short so to jump on a FAM-Trip to South Africa with our Partner Drifters and my STA Travel colleagues, my definite answer was YES! Read more
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  • TravelerSouth Africa-Welcome to Safari
    Day 8

    Tearful Farewell and Goodbye SA

    September 28, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    For the last time, we jumped into the truck, to make our way to our flight back to Germany. 5hrs of just talking to my colleagues (now friends) and enjoying every bump of the road. Enjoying the changing landscapes of South Africa. Preparing our gifts and thank-yous for Takalani and Gary.
    Takalani has been the most patient, charismatic, funny and knowledgable guide I've ever met. Even when his eyes lids nearly fell down because of a very tiring, long day, he managed to answer my annoying questions with a warm sense of humour. He could fully immerse you into a story and make building-up a tent sound like your life goal.
    And Gary has been the best Marketing Guy I've ever met. He wasn't only able to provide us with enough "Bushy Bushy" stops, but also make a business trip feel like a holiday. I mean, he said it himself. And I never really felt as if this was an actual FAM-Trip. This was one of the best trips of my life so far. And I'll be forever grateful to get this opportunity to fall in love with the brand Drifters.
    As the truck stopped, I knew it was time. Takalani and Gary entered the truck and gave each a little speech. I couldn't hold it any more, and I was glad when I saw the others cry as well. We were so moved from the words and the whole experience, really. We gave them our gifts and thank-yous, which led them to get glassy eyes, too. Gosh, I'd miss the bush. I'd miss South Africa and Drifters. But watch out, I'll come back.
    Promise.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Africa-Welcome to Safari
    Day 8

    Greenfires' Hazyview Plantation

    September 28, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    The last morning in South Africa was yet another late morning at 7 o'clock. We enjoyed yet another great breakfast, before joining Henni, the lodges' manager, for a tour around their plantation. Not only do they have room for Nyalas and other wild animals, but they also have a huge plantation. They grow their own lemons, mangos and macadamia and make their own coffee. Henni showed us, how the plant looks like and explained what process it goes through, until they can use their coffee at the lodge and sell it to their customers. First, the plant grows green berries, which become red over time. When they are red, they get plucked and dried for 3 weeks, only using the sun and some yeast. When they are completely dry and have a crinkly black outside, they are ready to be peeled. When peeled, you get the grey shadows of a coffee bean. These have to be roasted and voilà, you've got yourself some coffee.
    There were other things growing as well. For example, a very weird looking tree called the Knob fig tree, which actually grows figs out of their knobs. As it was pretty wet outside, we could also see some amazing spider web works on the ground between the green.
    The plantation tour finished after everyone cracked themselves a Macadamia nut and could taste the pure nut without any salt or sugar added. I honestly like them better just as they are.
    Back at the Lodge, we packed our things and said Goodbye to Henni. Now it was time to get to the airport to catch our flight. We stopped at one of the stands at the streets to get some bananas and drove back to Johannesburg. When we stopped at Milly's, a rest stop, we were surprised to find we haven't left the bush too far behind. There were Gemsbok, and Ostriches and Rhinos as well. That was funny. I was glad when a German rest stop had a free and clean toilet to use.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Africa-Welcome to Safari
    Day 7

    Bourke's Luck Potholes

    September 27, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Our last stop on the Panorama route (as we wouldn't visit God's Window because of all the fog), was Bourke's Luck Potholes. Bourke has been a man searching for gold. He'd found some gold in this region and bought the land with all his money. He searched for more gold, but never ever found something again. That is why South Africans say "You've got Bourke's luck" when someone has bad luck.
    The Potholes were actually created by water erosion. The water used to flow as if in a pot and stirred around, digging out these strange holes.
    At the spot, the two rivers Treurrivier and Blyderivier join again. Translated, they are called Sorrow and Happiness. The story that gave them their names is the following: As the British people arrived in South Africa, the Vortrekkers (Dutch) were forced to flee into the country, away from the coast. At the Blyde River Canyon, the brave men left their women and children to look out for a good place to live. The women and children made their way to the Treurrivier and waited for their men to come back. As they didn't, they went on, full of sorrow. As they arrived at the banks of the Blyde River, their men arrived there as well, rejoining their families. So obviously, they were all very happy. Nice little story.
    As the Wednesday after the Bank Holiday of the Heritage Day (on Monday) seemed as if it was a school trip day (we've encountered lots of school classes today), there was one here as well. We talked to one of their teachers, who told us about the school system in SA. School is free and 99.9% of children actually go to school in South Africa. However, the classes usually have around 85 kids each. This teacher's class had 106 kids. They had three teachers in, though. However, they neither really have the room capacity for so many children, nor do they have enough resources. Most of the children don't have their own school books, but one class book they have to learn from. I'll try to think about that next time I'm upset about the German school system.
    When driving back to our Lodge, I took some pictures of the truck, as it would be my last chance. This truck was kind of my home for the last week, and I was surely going to miss it.
    Arriving back at the Greenfire Lodge, we had yet another fantastic dinner. Afterwards, we sat all together to play some Uno and sing Karaoke of our Safari Song. This was just the right way to spend our last night in South Africa.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Africa-Welcome to Safari
    Day 7

    Blyde River Canyon & the Three Rondavels

    September 27, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    The next stop on the Panorama Route was the Blyde River Canyon. It is the third-largest canyon on Earth and the largest green canyon. Blyde in Afrikaans means "glad". And we really were glad to be here. It was beautiful, especially when our luck remembered its job and blew the fog away, so that we could actually see the Blyde River Canyon with the Three Rondavels.Read more

  • TravelerSouth Africa-Welcome to Safari
    Day 7

    Graskop Gorge - Jungle and Adrenalin

    September 27, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    The next morning, we could sleep in until 7am, which was really weird after all these early wake-ups before. No wonder that most of the others (not me), were already awake at around 5.30am.
    As it was pretty fresh outside (it finally rained, after it hadn't since May), Takalani had put on his Masai cloak to keep him warm. I was pretty glad to have brought my raincoat and Sebs' fleece jacket with me. After a great breakfast, we jumped, yet again, onto our beloved truck and started the Panorama Route. Our first stop was the Gorge at Graskop. It was weird, suddenly seeing South Africa not in a very dry, bushland setting but in a wet, jungle-like one. However, that was a pleasant change. I love green!
    The fog and trickling water created a very mysterious vibe around the place, and when a thunderstorm approached us, our group finally hid inside the café to drink something hot. I chose a hot Chai Latte, which was absolutely fantastic. Gary tried to persuade us in trying either the Zip lining or the Gorge Swing. On the one hand, I'd love to try the swing, especially when it is only 35€. On the other hand, would I hate to jump down into 70m of nothing until a safety harness would catch me and swing me to the other side. So I decided to join my folks at the zip line. We caught a window without any rain or thunder to get right into the experience. We looked like idiots but felt on top of the world afterwards.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Africa-Welcome to Safari
    Day 6

    Ticking off our Safari Bucket List Pt. 3

    September 26, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    So the only things that were still missing on our Bucket List were a lion with a mane and a drinking giraffe. We would see three lions with manes in total. One was chilling on a river bank with his girlfriend, the other two were outcasts. When a pride of lions have an alpha male, it usually scares other males away to secure its spot in the pride. Often times, two brothers would then make a coalition to survive without a pride.
    Oh and yes, in English, there are a lot of funny words for a group of animals. There is a Dazzle of Zebras (because they are so dazzling, standing together?), a Journey of Giraffes, a Pack of Hyenas, a School of Wales and a Pride of Lions.
    What we also saw - what we didn't expect to need on our Bucketlist - were especially cute Hyena Cups. They were hidden on the one side whilst their pack chilled out on the other side of the road. It seemed as if they were posing for the tourists, so that their cups could sleep in peace. And luckily, we were the only ones to sight them!
    We arrived at the end of the park, watching the sun set, and haven't seen a Drinking Giraffe. However, I reckon it was another brilliant Safari drive.
    Our Lodge for the next two days was the Greenfire Lodge in Hazyview which was situated in yet another Private Reserve with Nyalas in it. It also has an honesty bar, where you can choose a drink, put your name on it and pay when checking out. But to everyone's liking, it also had a Wi-Fi router, which was used gratefully of my colleagues. To be quite honest, I didn't like to be on the phone again. I really enjoyed the time offline. No worries, no problems, no communication. I didn't feel the need to talk to anyone. I just send a quick "I'm alive" message to Seb, so he wouldn't worry. That was it. I put my phone away and much rather talked to Takalani about him, his country and experiences.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Africa-Welcome to Safari
    Day 6

    Ticking off our Safari Bucket List Pt. 2

    September 26, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    After lunch, we jumped back on the truck and drove to a lookout point. There, we couldn't only see the vastness of the Kruger NP, the endlessness of bushland, but also a very weird but fascinating looking gecko. I just know that the more colourful and noticeable an animal is, the more dangerous it usually is. When everyone was ready taking photos, we drove on to finally see some crocs. I wasn't disappointed, as there were a lot. Fresh water crocs, but at least Takalani kept his word. It was 5 min to 3pm. That's timing! Next to the crocs was a huge herd of hippos in the water. We'd love to see a hippo outside the water as well, but as they are such dangerous animals, I was kinda glad we didn't. One of the hippos showed us its dangerousness and bit a croc in front of our eyes, because it came too near to the hippo. So, be careful around these creatures!
    The next interesting thing crossing our way, was yet another leopard. It caused an extreme traffic jam, as it was walking across the street. So we saw Street Crossings of Elephants, Zebras, a Baboon, Giraffes, a Lion, Buffaloes, Wildebeests, Impalas and now a Leopard. Very nice!
    Not long after that, we did get to tick off another box, though. A Leopard sleeping in a tree! Nobody said, you can't get what you wish for!    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Africa-Welcome to Safari
    Day 6

    Ticking off our Safari Bucket List Pt. 1

    September 26, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We all survived in our tents and therefore woke up at 5 o'clock the next morning because of the rattling noises of Takalani who prepared breakfast. After he showed us how to put the tents down, we all tried to do it as well. Gary said for first tries it wasn't that bad. When our camp was neatly put away, we could quickly enjoy morning tea before it was time to go. We hopped back on the truck and set off for a day of Safari in Kruger NP.
    We would drive from Maroela Camp over Satara and Skukuza to the city of Hazyview outside the Park. And as it was our last day of Safari, we had lots of things on our Bucket List to tick off. Not that we haven't seen a lot yet, rather the opposite. But when you're used to such luck in animal sightings, you get cocky.
    So our Bucket List looked like the following:
    - Cheetah
    - Male Lion with a real mane
    - Leopard in a tree
    - Crocodiles (my dear wish)
    - Drinking Giraffe

    Because I was such a pain in the ass about the crocs, Takalani promised me to see them before 3pm. As it was still morning, I had to be patient and wait a bit longer. Until then, we saw some Waterboks that have a white shape on their behinds that look as if they sat down a freshly painted toilet.
    Not long after, there was a sudden turmoil and lots of jeeps were around. We heard a little boy call, "Cheetah, Cheetah!", excitedly. We therefore got excited as well, although we thought to ourselves that we must run out of luck at some point. However, it seemed as if we had put all our luck for a whole year together, as there really was a Cheetah and we stood in the first row to see it. First, it was casually strolling around. But then - everything was so quick - it started running, hunting some Impalas. Nobody could film this event, as it was over before we could actually process it. The Cheetah didn't catch anything, but to watch the attempt was lucky enough for us. After that, we were pumped and chatted happily about ticking off boxes. We drove on and saw some huge Baboons cross our way. Not long afterward, we saw yet another big herd of Elephants who were taking a rest at a waterhole. They had little ones with them as well. They laid down, and the bigger ones surrounded them to give them shade. "The babies can't keep up with the adults, so they give them a rest," Takalani explained to us. Afterward, we didn't see a drinking Giraffe but a lying one, which was good enough for now. They can't put their heads down, as this would cause way too much blood flowing into their brains, and therefore killing them. Giraffes also have built-in thrombosis stockings to pump up all the blood from their legs up to the head.
    Suddenly, there were lots of cars around again, and we looked at each other, knowing something great was coming. That's the difference between Private Reserves and the Kruger itself. At a Private Reserve, there are no other jeeps around. If there are, only from other Lodges in that Reserve, so not many in total. And the guides always communicate with the others to tell the others if they found great animal sightings. In the Kruger, there are a lot of other people around, as there are not only other Tours but also Self-Drivers. On the one hand, you can always see where cool animals are, as there would always be a traffic jam around them. On the other hand, there would be a traffic jam. So you can't just sit there and watch the animal as long as you want. You have to queue and hope that the animal won't move too much until it is your turn. And when it is your turn, you can't enjoy it for very long, and you have to be quick with taking pics.
    So, the great thing was another check on our Bucket List. A leopard in a tree. It was sitting, not lying, though. So, we adjusted the point "Leopard in a tree" into "Sleeping Leopard in a tree", because that was more of our postcard-like image.
    We'd have to wait for that, though, as we first stopped for lunch. At lunch, we saw lots of Cape Glossy Starlings, waiting for our food to fall down to snitch it away. And a very cute Vervet monkey and its mother were playing around at a table, hoping for some food as well.
    We weren't allowed to feed the wildlife, so we couldn't give them some of our delicious wraps.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Africa-Welcome to Safari
    Day 5

    Camping in Kruger NP

    September 25, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

    After packing our stuff and loading the luggage back in our beloved truck with Takalani, we made our way to the Orpen Gate into the Kruger National Park. On the way there we stopped for some souvenirs and I found an adorable little baby hippo postcard.
    Then we arrived at Orpen Gate and had to fill out the form with our passport details. A ticket into Kruger is valid for 24hrs, so that we'd have to be outside of the park tomorrow by 6pm again. Until then, we could enjoy the Kruger.
    We were welcomed by some Zebras and found our way to the Maroela Campsite easily. It's named after the Maroela tree which has some kind of nuts that you can use for making Amarula, a sweet Bayleys like liquor. The bark of the Maroela tree looks as if someone has played golf and hit the bark too many times (a metaphor of Given).
    Takalani parked the truck and showed us how to set up the tents for the night, using mine and Tatjanas tent as an example (much to our liking). But it was actually really easy so that we then helped the others build up their tents. After everyone was set, we prepared dinner. Better said, Takalani cooked and we lit up a campfire. When dinner was ready, I was yet again in disbelief how a man can cook such delicious food out of a truck kitchen. The system and the whole truck really are amazing.
    As we all sat around the fire, I suddenly heard a rustling noise behind me. I turned around and found a hyena right behind the fence of the camp site. The others saw her too and we all burst out in nervous laughter. Takalani said: "They are looking for scrubs. Usually we don't have a fence between us and the animals. We do wild camping."
    The camping we did tonight wasn't in the normal itinerary for the Kruger NP Tour from Drifters. They had booked the camping site so that we could experience a night of camping. However, usually Drifters would camp wild, i.e. there would be no fence, usually no other people around but the Trucks' people and obviously wild animals. When I thought about Hyenas or Lions coming as close to us as the Hyena right now but without a fence, my heartbeat exhilarated. I couldn't decide whether the feeling was more in the nervous or excitement site of the coin.
    "They don't get near the camp as long as we sit outside. Once we're in the tents, they'd search for food. So whilst wild camping without any fences, you won't be able to use the toilet in the night. If you do, use a bucket.", Takalani explained to us. Oh dear, I think on a wild camping trip with Drifters my best friend would easily become the bucket.
    After the campfire was out and our eyes were already closing sleepily, we put our scrubs and everything away and went to bed. The tent gave me a feeling of security and privacy, however I heard all three snorers of our group around the campsite. I fell asleep with the noise of light rain on the roof of our tent. But in the middle of the night, I needed to pee and I remembered Gary saying that there could be animals like Honeybadgers around. I was discussing with myself until I heard some Flip-flops making their way to the toilet. I listened hard, trying to hear any screams from a frightened person, but nothing. After a while, the same flip-flops came back. If they've survived, I'll survive too!    Read more

  • TravelerSouth Africa-Welcome to Safari
    Day 5

    Last Game Drive in Balule

    September 25, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The next morning we woke up at 5am again to drive quickly to last nights' finding of the lions' kill to see how far they've come. The lions were still eating and from the Buffalo body, only a carcass was still standing.
    Given told us that the lions would eat until there was nothing left (or e.g. Hyenas have chased them off). As they were so full, they had to regulate their body temperature and digestion by breathing. Poor lions looked as if they'd be sick.
    As vehicles from other Lodges in the Private Reserve came to see the lions themselves, we drove on and saw some actual Hyenas. They are one of the Ugly 5 but tbh I don't think they look that bad. But of course, they're again from the dog family, so I have to kinda like them.
    We've been shaken up by the dirt roads some more until Given has spotted something different. Wild dogs with their cups. As they were hiding in a mould, we had to get out of the car and tried to quietly get closer so we could see the Wild Dogs. However, obviously we weren't quiet enough and scared them up. They split up, one half running away from us, the other half running towards us up the hill. Given, usually very calm and a joker, got very hectic and you could feel the necessity in his voice when he told us to run back to the car. We did as fast as we could and he pushed the pedal to the metal. But the rush wasn't necessary. They've actually send the cups up to us to hide behind us in some bushes. We let them be, but the blood was still rushing through my ears. That was a great kick!
    To calm down, we visited the Drifters Bush Lodge that we could book for people who wanted to do a Self-Drive rather than do a group tour with Drifters. Included in a 300€ p.p./night package is full board and two game drives per day as well as a beautiful room for themselves and transfers from and to the airport. I must admit, that deal is great, especially when seeing how far away you are from any civilisation.
    After visiting the Bush Lodge, we made our way back to our Balule Lodge to pack our things and drive into Kruger NP for our Camping night.    Read more

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