South Africa-March 16-March 30, 2010-part three
Apr 1st, 2010, 10:20 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
South Africa-March 16-March 30, 2010-part three
On Wednesday, March 24, we left Cape Town for the wine country. First we stopped at Kirstenbosch Gardens, where we walked around in the rain. We were surprised to find out how many trees and plants had been imported into South Africa and were not native. The Gardens were preparing for an Elton John concert that night, and there was a lot of bustle. Despite the rain, and the noise, it was impossible not to appreciate this site. There were sculptures sited perfectly to give wonderful, photogenic views. There were many plants we had never seen before. My husband, a tree lover, was entranced.
As others have mentioned, the gift shop had beautiful merchandise.
From Kirstenbosch, we drove to Stellenbosch, where we admired the university buildings, then went to two wineries before lunch. We stopped at Rustenberg and Delaire. My husband tasted the wines, while I nibbled on the crackers. I can't comment on the wines, but Delaire did have a beautiful garden, and wonderful views.
We lunched at La Petite Ferme, where we had the most dissapointing meal of our entire trip. The babotie appetizer was too small to see. The smoked trout and the kudu entrees were unedible, in our opinion, though they were the day's specials. I'm not sure what the problem was that day, perhaps a substitute chef?
After lunch, we headed to Haute Cabriere, but our stomachs were both upset, so we elected to go directly to our hotel. We did see a bridal couple having their pictures taken there. We met them again on the main street in Franschhoek, and it turned out that they were from Grand Rapids, Michigan, not too far from our home of Ann Arbor,
Our hotel for the next two nights was Le Quartier Francais. We had requested a specific room, but were upgraded to a suite instead. It was very comfortable. The hotel also gave us two gifts, an apron and a book of South African wines., The breakfast there was absolutely superb. We didn't eat at the Tasting Room, or the Bistro.After our experience at La Petite Ferme, we were afraid to try overly gourmet food. Susan of Le Quartier obligingly offered to prepare us a simple meal, but instead we opted to try a new restaurant, which opened across the street, called the Grill House. It specialised in meat, and the steaks and vegetables were superb.
All in all, we found the food in South Africa to be wonderful, especially the fruits and vegetables. I think we have forgotten how real produce tastes, in the States.
Anyway, finally, on Friday, March 26th at 5am, we left for our safari. We drove to Cape Town for an 8:50am flight, arriving at the airport about two hours early. Our guide was afraid of early morning traffic, and the enormous amount of construction around Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. We flew to Joburg, then were transferred to Federal Air for a 1pm flight to Madikwe.
We flew in a single engine propeller plane that seated 12. Now I am afraid to fly and I had taken a pill early that morning, but nothing helped. I spent 65 minutes in a state of terror, and arrived at our lodge pretty wiped out.
The staff at the Makanyane Safari Lodge greeted us with drinks, and welcome. After signing the paperwork, we were shown to an enormous room with its own deck, glass enclosed on three sides, but with enough privacy for an outdoor shower. We took an abbreviated game drive, then the staff surprised us with a private dinner on our deck. As we ate, an elephant crossed the river right in front of us!
We spent four nights at Makanyane, and went on 8 game drives. Ernst was our ranger, and he was incredibly knowledgeable. We saw more elephants, lions, buffalo, rhinos, hippos, wild dogs, giraffes, zebras, impala, kudo. wildebeest, waterbuck, warthogs, brown hyenas, jackals, a puff adder, a leopard turtle and an enormous spider, whose web blocked the road we were driving on.
From our room, we saw bushbuck, zebra and a vervet monkey, running right in front of our window, which faced the river. We even saw a hippo swimming past.
Every game drive was different. The highlights included a hunting lioness, whose prey was warned by a screeching impala, a huge bull elephant on an island giving himself a mud bath, a pride of lions crossing the Marico River. There was one young male who didn't like getting his feet wet, and couldn't make it across. We saw him later on the other side of the river, trotting in the wrong direction from his mates.
We had two sightings of wild dog. On the first, they were just asleep. On the second, they were all asleep until they received some sort of signal, all rose at the same time, rubbed against each other, then trotted double file down the road.
We saw a white rhino mother and baby one day. The next day we saw six white rhinos, and a single lioness, who appeared to be hiding from the rhinos behind a bush.
We didn't see black rhinos or leopards. Ernst explained that the lion population of Madikwe had grown so big that the leopards were pushed out. There are plans to relocate some of the lions.
In addition to the animals we saw some beautiful birds, including comorant (from our room), African spoonbill, Egyptian ducks, barn owls, lilac breasted roller, Southern yellowbilled hornbill, pied babbler, African longtailed shrike. There were others, but those are the names I remember. My husband and I were never bird watchers, but after this experience we may start.
We also enjoyed the African sky which was constantly changing, and the different vegetation.,
Between game drives, my husband had massages on our deck while I used the gym. The staff of Makanyane couldn't do enough to please us. They actually cooked special hot lunches for us, since we didn't care to stay awake for the late dinners that are customarily served after the game drives. As we left, I told Garth, the manager, that Makanyane surely must be paradise on earth, and I really meant it.
We left on Tuesday, March 30th, and we did not fly Federal Air again. We ditched our reservations and hired a car to drive us to Joburg airport. Despite 45minutes of unpaved roads, the drive was very interesting. Our car was actually surrounded by cows at one point. It felt like a cattle drive from a western movie, It was also interesting to see how people lived along the road. They actually let their cows, goats and donkeys roam, so we were forced to stop many times to avoid animals. Still the drive only took 4 hours, and it was certainly worth it to us.
We flew home on Air France via Paris, where we had an 8 hour layover. The trip home took 36 hours, and it was worth every minute.
As others have mentioned, the gift shop had beautiful merchandise.
From Kirstenbosch, we drove to Stellenbosch, where we admired the university buildings, then went to two wineries before lunch. We stopped at Rustenberg and Delaire. My husband tasted the wines, while I nibbled on the crackers. I can't comment on the wines, but Delaire did have a beautiful garden, and wonderful views.
We lunched at La Petite Ferme, where we had the most dissapointing meal of our entire trip. The babotie appetizer was too small to see. The smoked trout and the kudu entrees were unedible, in our opinion, though they were the day's specials. I'm not sure what the problem was that day, perhaps a substitute chef?
After lunch, we headed to Haute Cabriere, but our stomachs were both upset, so we elected to go directly to our hotel. We did see a bridal couple having their pictures taken there. We met them again on the main street in Franschhoek, and it turned out that they were from Grand Rapids, Michigan, not too far from our home of Ann Arbor,
Our hotel for the next two nights was Le Quartier Francais. We had requested a specific room, but were upgraded to a suite instead. It was very comfortable. The hotel also gave us two gifts, an apron and a book of South African wines., The breakfast there was absolutely superb. We didn't eat at the Tasting Room, or the Bistro.After our experience at La Petite Ferme, we were afraid to try overly gourmet food. Susan of Le Quartier obligingly offered to prepare us a simple meal, but instead we opted to try a new restaurant, which opened across the street, called the Grill House. It specialised in meat, and the steaks and vegetables were superb.
All in all, we found the food in South Africa to be wonderful, especially the fruits and vegetables. I think we have forgotten how real produce tastes, in the States.
Anyway, finally, on Friday, March 26th at 5am, we left for our safari. We drove to Cape Town for an 8:50am flight, arriving at the airport about two hours early. Our guide was afraid of early morning traffic, and the enormous amount of construction around Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. We flew to Joburg, then were transferred to Federal Air for a 1pm flight to Madikwe.
We flew in a single engine propeller plane that seated 12. Now I am afraid to fly and I had taken a pill early that morning, but nothing helped. I spent 65 minutes in a state of terror, and arrived at our lodge pretty wiped out.
The staff at the Makanyane Safari Lodge greeted us with drinks, and welcome. After signing the paperwork, we were shown to an enormous room with its own deck, glass enclosed on three sides, but with enough privacy for an outdoor shower. We took an abbreviated game drive, then the staff surprised us with a private dinner on our deck. As we ate, an elephant crossed the river right in front of us!
We spent four nights at Makanyane, and went on 8 game drives. Ernst was our ranger, and he was incredibly knowledgeable. We saw more elephants, lions, buffalo, rhinos, hippos, wild dogs, giraffes, zebras, impala, kudo. wildebeest, waterbuck, warthogs, brown hyenas, jackals, a puff adder, a leopard turtle and an enormous spider, whose web blocked the road we were driving on.
From our room, we saw bushbuck, zebra and a vervet monkey, running right in front of our window, which faced the river. We even saw a hippo swimming past.
Every game drive was different. The highlights included a hunting lioness, whose prey was warned by a screeching impala, a huge bull elephant on an island giving himself a mud bath, a pride of lions crossing the Marico River. There was one young male who didn't like getting his feet wet, and couldn't make it across. We saw him later on the other side of the river, trotting in the wrong direction from his mates.
We had two sightings of wild dog. On the first, they were just asleep. On the second, they were all asleep until they received some sort of signal, all rose at the same time, rubbed against each other, then trotted double file down the road.
We saw a white rhino mother and baby one day. The next day we saw six white rhinos, and a single lioness, who appeared to be hiding from the rhinos behind a bush.
We didn't see black rhinos or leopards. Ernst explained that the lion population of Madikwe had grown so big that the leopards were pushed out. There are plans to relocate some of the lions.
In addition to the animals we saw some beautiful birds, including comorant (from our room), African spoonbill, Egyptian ducks, barn owls, lilac breasted roller, Southern yellowbilled hornbill, pied babbler, African longtailed shrike. There were others, but those are the names I remember. My husband and I were never bird watchers, but after this experience we may start.
We also enjoyed the African sky which was constantly changing, and the different vegetation.,
Between game drives, my husband had massages on our deck while I used the gym. The staff of Makanyane couldn't do enough to please us. They actually cooked special hot lunches for us, since we didn't care to stay awake for the late dinners that are customarily served after the game drives. As we left, I told Garth, the manager, that Makanyane surely must be paradise on earth, and I really meant it.
We left on Tuesday, March 30th, and we did not fly Federal Air again. We ditched our reservations and hired a car to drive us to Joburg airport. Despite 45minutes of unpaved roads, the drive was very interesting. Our car was actually surrounded by cows at one point. It felt like a cattle drive from a western movie, It was also interesting to see how people lived along the road. They actually let their cows, goats and donkeys roam, so we were forced to stop many times to avoid animals. Still the drive only took 4 hours, and it was certainly worth it to us.
We flew home on Air France via Paris, where we had an 8 hour layover. The trip home took 36 hours, and it was worth every minute.
Apr 1st, 2010, 04:08 PM
#2
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 14,440
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Worth every minute--the mark of a succesful holiday.
Good move on your part to drive on the way back so you were not worrying about the return flight the whole time. That would diminish the pleasure of all your wonderful animal sightings. Plus driving gave you an alternative perspective, based on your cattle wrangling and such.
I was especially interested in the brown hyenas. Were you told how rare it is to see them most anywhere in Africa? Very forunate you are! Madikwe is one of the best places to spot this elusive creature. I wonder what effect the burgeoning lion population had on they brown hyenas? Similar to the dogs in that is moves them out? Or hyenas and lions tend to co-exist a little better in that the hyenas (at least the spotted ones) act as constant pests from the lion's point of view. They are always trying to scavenge the lion kills. Any info or insight on the brown hyena's numbers or their interaction with the lions would be great.
How nice you give kudos to the extra efforts of Makanyane staff who went above and beyond!
Enjoy the birds you'll notice in the future, even at home.
Good move on your part to drive on the way back so you were not worrying about the return flight the whole time. That would diminish the pleasure of all your wonderful animal sightings. Plus driving gave you an alternative perspective, based on your cattle wrangling and such.
I was especially interested in the brown hyenas. Were you told how rare it is to see them most anywhere in Africa? Very forunate you are! Madikwe is one of the best places to spot this elusive creature. I wonder what effect the burgeoning lion population had on they brown hyenas? Similar to the dogs in that is moves them out? Or hyenas and lions tend to co-exist a little better in that the hyenas (at least the spotted ones) act as constant pests from the lion's point of view. They are always trying to scavenge the lion kills. Any info or insight on the brown hyena's numbers or their interaction with the lions would be great.
How nice you give kudos to the extra efforts of Makanyane staff who went above and beyond!
Enjoy the birds you'll notice in the future, even at home.
Apr 1st, 2010, 04:32 PM
#3
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 788
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for your report -- I really enjoyed reading all the parts, but especially this segment since I love Madikwe.
Lynn, you beat me to it! I was going to ask about your brown hyena sightings too, jgourdji. So exciting that you saw them! My husband and I worked on a volunteer research project with brown hyenas last August, and we were helping to identify new individuals for the study from pictures caught on camera traps in Madikwe (as well as Pilanesberg NP and Mankwe Reserve). My understanding from talking with the researchers (and our ranger in Madikwe, too) is that the brownies' lives are made more difficult by the spotted hyenas than by the lions. Since brown hyenas are pure scavengers (as opposed to spotted hyenas, who also hunt), it seems like they might co-exist pretty well with lions. But our Madikwe guide also mentioned the dearth of both leopard and cheetah in that park due to the over-abundance of lions. The cheetah we saw there was supposedly the last one left in Madikwe. So perhaps that's having an effect on the hyena populations, too. (That's part of what the study is trying to determine.)
Did you see the brown hyenas during the day, or on a night drive? What were they doing? We just missed seeing some in Madikwe during the day (they were chased off a rhino carcass by some spotties right before we got there!), but we did see one at night in Pilanesberg.
Here's some more about the hyena research project, if anyone is interested: http://www.hyaenidae.org/about-the-g...awn-scott.html
Lynn, you beat me to it! I was going to ask about your brown hyena sightings too, jgourdji. So exciting that you saw them! My husband and I worked on a volunteer research project with brown hyenas last August, and we were helping to identify new individuals for the study from pictures caught on camera traps in Madikwe (as well as Pilanesberg NP and Mankwe Reserve). My understanding from talking with the researchers (and our ranger in Madikwe, too) is that the brownies' lives are made more difficult by the spotted hyenas than by the lions. Since brown hyenas are pure scavengers (as opposed to spotted hyenas, who also hunt), it seems like they might co-exist pretty well with lions. But our Madikwe guide also mentioned the dearth of both leopard and cheetah in that park due to the over-abundance of lions. The cheetah we saw there was supposedly the last one left in Madikwe. So perhaps that's having an effect on the hyena populations, too. (That's part of what the study is trying to determine.)
Did you see the brown hyenas during the day, or on a night drive? What were they doing? We just missed seeing some in Madikwe during the day (they were chased off a rhino carcass by some spotties right before we got there!), but we did see one at night in Pilanesberg.
Here's some more about the hyena research project, if anyone is interested: http://www.hyaenidae.org/about-the-g...awn-scott.html
Apr 2nd, 2010, 02:23 AM
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Gosh, I had no idea that the brown hyenas were so rare. We actually saw one two or three times, always in the daytime. The guide did mention that they are very shy. They certainly disappeared fast, as soon as they were pointed out.
Judy
Judy
Apr 2nd, 2010, 08:57 AM
#6
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 788
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well, I should add that your whole trip sounded terrific, not just the brown hyenas. Yes, they are very special... but so are lots of other animals. In fact, we could also jump all over your wild dog sightings! 
Didn't mean to hijack your post, though. And I also appreciate your comments on Cape Town, since I am in the midst of planning a trip there with my parents. Thanks for writing this.
Didn't mean to hijack your post, though. And I also appreciate your comments on Cape Town, since I am in the midst of planning a trip there with my parents. Thanks for writing this.
Apr 5th, 2010, 09:19 AM
#7
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 4,215
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Very good report!
Sorry you did not experience TASTING ROOM as it's really a highlight when staying at LQF.
I also loved Makanyane - particularly the room facing the river and the deck - and as you are not mentioning the pet mongoose I assume it's gone
The wonderful sightings you had - was it all in their private concession?
Regarding the lion population - I am afraid to tell you they "harvest" the "surplus" of lions, as well as the leopards, by trophy hunters
SV
Sorry you did not experience TASTING ROOM as it's really a highlight when staying at LQF.
I also loved Makanyane - particularly the room facing the river and the deck - and as you are not mentioning the pet mongoose I assume it's gone
The wonderful sightings you had - was it all in their private concession?
Regarding the lion population - I am afraid to tell you they "harvest" the "surplus" of lions, as well as the leopards, by trophy hunters
SV
Apr 5th, 2010, 05:22 PM
#9
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,147
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You were very lucky in your sightings JG. We also saw a brown hyena--at the above mentioned Jack's Camp), a gorgeous but very shy creature.
Thanks for the honest report on Le Petite Ferme. It gets hyped a lot here and I've heard it's way overrated. Another on the long list of places that have great views and lousy food.
Thanks for the honest report on Le Petite Ferme. It gets hyped a lot here and I've heard it's way overrated. Another on the long list of places that have great views and lousy food.
Apr 12th, 2010, 02:50 PM
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Our sightings were in both the private concession, and the Madikwe reserve.
Our ranger told us that the extra lions would be moved to other parks. I certainly don't want to believe spassvogel about harvesting the lions for trophy hunters.
JG
Our ranger told us that the extra lions would be moved to other parks. I certainly don't want to believe spassvogel about harvesting the lions for trophy hunters.
JG
Apr 22nd, 2010, 10:36 AM
#11
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
JG Want to thank you for your great trip report..
Because of your report, my Wife and I will be booking a
5 day stay at Makanyane. We will also being staying at Amakhosi Safari Lodge. Read a great trip report about
Amakhosi but can't remember where.
So Next February we should be staying at two great lodges.
SV - What was the room number - the one facing the river and the deck.
Again Thank You...
NLB
Because of your report, my Wife and I will be booking a
5 day stay at Makanyane. We will also being staying at Amakhosi Safari Lodge. Read a great trip report about
Amakhosi but can't remember where.
So Next February we should be staying at two great lodges.
SV - What was the room number - the one facing the river and the deck.
Again Thank You...
NLB
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
AKR1
Africa & the Middle East
23
Oct 15th, 2012 12:26 PM
PacoAhedo
Africa & the Middle East
12
Oct 2nd, 2009 03:12 AM
cw
Africa & the Middle East
43
Aug 23rd, 2007 10:47 AM
