With 2012 well on its way, you may be contemplating holiday plans. If so, we can seriously suggest that you consider an African getaway.
As long-time wildlife photographers, my husband and I have had the great pleasure of visiting a number of game reserves around Southern Africa, with accomodation ranging from five star luxury to the most rustic (i.e. zero facilities; bring everything yourself, including water) – an adventure of its own.
The wonderful thing is that there are plenty of options, so when our Swiss cousins were planning a recent trip to South Africa with their three young children, it was easy to identify a suitable destination; in this case the malaria-free Mabula Private Game Reserve.
Two hours drive from Johannesburg, this gorgeous game reserve boasts the Big Five along with fabulous accomodation, in the form of a stunning lodge and satellite camps of lovely, self-catering timeshare chalets. We opted for these, being a group of 12 people, and spent a glorious week in the bush.
In between early morning and late afternoon game drives, we soaked away the heat in the swimming pools, while evenings revolved around the braai in the boma, spiced up with South African wine. Some of our party enjoyed a horse-back safari, others played table tennis, the little ones took part in cookie decorating fun and we all learnt about reptiles at a lodge presentation.
There was so much to fill our days, including kicking back Africa-style, that we didn’t get around to everything on offer, such as quad bike riding. Instead, we focussed on our favourite – game viewing. You may enjoy a peek at this as much as we did:
Warming up the cameras after a beautiful sunrise – Mabula Private Game Reserve, South Africa
Male lion after his morning drink
Giraffe pair peering through treetops
Zebra foal crossing a dirt road
Buffalo grazing in grass
Female Kudu peeping from bushes
Rhino grazing at golden hour
For a whole lot more photographs, feel free to take a look at my Facebook album: Mabula – Dec 2011
Here’s wishing you all a fantastic rest of the year, including everything that you wish for yourselves, including happy holidays as and when you have them.