28 April 2015

For some reason Earl did not want to fish any of the dams in and around Kokstad but was itchy to do something. I suggested a day trip to Tala Private Game Reserve – “Too tame,” said he.  “Well then what about Imfolozi/Hluhluwe?”  “Yes -that sounds good.  Will we get in?”  “I can only try,” I replied.

After some lengthy waiting until Emzevulu Central Bookings got round to answering my repeated attempts to call them we managed to get two nights at Hilltop, Hluhluwe.   With the coms being so poor at Lauren’s we’d done all the organising at a coffee shop in town – while having a hearty breakfast of course.  We returned to the farm and told the kids of our plans.  Oh dear – we were meant to go to one of the nieces for dinner on Thursday!   We will have to re-schedule!

29 April 2015

We were up at a very rude and freezing hour, dressed in layers as we knew we would be stripping later in the day and set off Northwards in the dark.   We stopped at Gateway for breakfast and then arrived at the bottom gate and made our way through the park to Hilltop.   It was only 11 o’clock so we took a slow game drive before checking in.  The park looked lush and we found out later that there had been recent rains after a worrying drought.

There was not much game about but this is what we saw.

A Female Village Weaver

White-crested helmetshrike

One of the many zebra

Female Nyala trying to hide from us

A distant rhino

And a heap of buffalo with a warthog in the background

We checked in at 4 pm and sat outdoors and enjoyed the beautiful, shady surroundings.  The monkeys paid a visit and we heard the birds but they kept hidden in the foliage.

Earl relaxing outside our very luxurious cottage

We were in non-self-catering accommodation – very comfortable with tea and coffee facilities and a bar fridge but no kitchen or braai. Breakfast was included but other meals were extra.  Dinner on our first night was a buffet and the food was stunning.  The starters included vegetable soup, marinated calamari, tuna salad and a variety of salads.   I opted for the calamari and salads.  The mains were roast impala, chicken curry and something else that I don’t recall plus a variety of cooked vegetables. I tucked into impala, chicken curry and the veggoes – no carbs at all!  Earl is not Banting properly although he tells everyone that he is!

Dinner at the restaurant was excellent