And We’re Off!

On Sunday morning, we all got up and headed out at about 8 o’clock for our four-hour drive to our first game reserve lodge. From Johannesburg we traveled mostly north and a little bit west to a region called Limpopo. Jos & Gerrit have a very nice, brand-new Toyota Land Cruiser, which made the drive very comfortable.


As we got closer, we had our first sightings of animals, including a few warthogs on the side of the road and some monkeys.

Our first stop was in the Madikwe Game Reserve. It is the fifth-largest game reserve in South Africa at 185,000 acres. There are 12 lodges, and we stayed in the Tau Lodge.



At this lodge, our room, meals, and two game drives per day were included. We arrived just before 1 o’clock, in time for lunch. The lodge and restaurant overlook a large watering hole. All four of us were quite surprised at how beautiful it was and how many animals were gathered around. We had a nice, leisurely lunch, eating some fantastic food and enjoying the animals and scenery.




The lodge has individual cabins located around the watering hole, so all of us have a patio that looks out over the activity and scenery. The accommodations are quite plush—first class. The shower is located just outside the bathroom; an open-top rock wall keeps it private. I just had to take a shower outside under the moon.


Our first game drive began at about 3:30 in the afternoon. The four of us and two other guests loaded up with our guide, Hardy, who told us there had been a recent kill by two cheetahs and that we were headed in that direction as quickly as possible.

We made our way fairly quickly through the bush to the southern side of the game reserve, and even though we were moving quite fast, we saw quite a few animals, including a very large bull elephant standing right by the edge of the road.

The two cheetahs, which are tagged for research purposes, are brothers, and they brought down an Oryx earlier in the day. They were both lying next to the mostly devoured carcass, happy as can be. Their bellies were stuffed and they looked as content as could be. Hardy told us that they will often eat most of the kill and then rest for a few hours, digest a little bit, and then clean up the rest at a second meal. We were able to get very close, and they didn’t seem to mind at all.


Just after we left that location, Hardy got a call on the radio from another guide that a pride of lions had been spotted nearby, so we again quickly moved in that direction. After just a few minutes, we came upon six lions, mostly young males.


It’s probably going to be impossible for me to list every animal we saw, or even post a picture of every one. Before, between, and after the cheetahs and lions, we had an amazing introduction to the South African bush and the variety of animals in this game reserve.

We headed back and arrived at the lodge again at about 7 PM, just in time for dinner. The food at this lodge is absolutely gourmet. Tonight, one of the main dish choices was kudu steak. Kudu is an elk-like animal, which we saw today. Beautiful and delicious—the meat was fairly lean and not gamey at all.




After dinner, we all headed to bed because we need to be up at 5:30 in the morning for our next game drive.

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