Chris Dyson's Travel Blog

The tour was officially over but half of the group had decided to do the optional half day Johannesburg city tour as our flights were not until the evening. We met in the lobby and left just after 8:30am. The guide pointed out various buildings as we drove into the city before arriving at Constitution Hill, the site of a former prison. We walked around here and then next door there was also a constitutional court. Constitution Hill prison cells. We continued our drive passing over Nelson Mandela bridge. The guide pointed out some more key buildings before stopping at Carlton centre which has 50 floors. At the base is a shopping mall and if you go up the elevator, you get to the 'The top of Africa' viewpoint. This has been the tallest office building in Africa since 1973. After this we made our way back to the hotel to collect our suitcases. View of Johannesburg on the 50th floor of Carlton Centre. After a late lunch I made my way to the airport via a free shuttle b...

Our final full day as a group together started with breakfast just after 6am. We left just before 7am knowing we had a long drive day ahead of us after this morning activities. The day would consist of 4 short stops for photos and lunch before pressing onto Johannesburg. Blyde River Canyon, Three Rondavels. Our first stop was at Blyde River Canyon to see the Three Rondavels. The canyon is 25 kilometres in length and is around 750 metres deep on average. We then made a short drive onto Bourke's Luck Potholes. This is a p opular geological site formed by years of water erosion. Bourke's Luck Potholes. Next on the agenda was to travel to Lisbon falls. The Lisbon Falls are the highest waterfalls in the Mpumalanga province. We were then due to stop at 'God's Window' viewpoint but unfortunately the clouds moved in and we were unable to see the view. This instead turned into a 10 minute browse for some souvenirs from the locals. We then made our way to the...

Today most of the group would be doing a sunset game drive with barbecue dinner included, so we all had a good sleep with no real rush to get up. Most people used this opportunity to relax around the hotel pool or sit in the sunshine. After a relaxing day we all met in the lobby at 4pm. After a short delay we transferred to the Kruger National Park for our third and final time. African sunset. Our group of 20 made our way to a spot to get a great photo of the sunset. We had a target of around 7pm for the dinner so we continued to explore. We went to the same spot where we saw the leopard yesterday and we were lucky enough to see it feasting on the Impala in the tree. It was amazing to watch this happen in the wild right in front of our eyes. After the light had faded we stopped at our designated dinner spot and enjoyed a meal in the middle of the park. We had an armed guard on standby at all times. I was able to also use this opportunity to take some fantastic stargazing photos....

We started the day by meeting in the hotel lobby at 05:30am to collect our breakfast boxes. We would be spending another full day in the Kruger National Park, only this time in an open vehicle instead of the coach. As soon as the winter sun had risen we had some early sightings of elephants and some rhinos with birds on their backs. Another morning highlight would be seeing a warthog waking up from its hole and wandering off into the bush. One new animal we didn't sew yesterday was a honey badger. A warthog just waking up out of a hole. We took a morning break at Tshokwane, which is the same place that we used as a rest stop yesterday. No hyena to be seen today but the monkeys were back trying to steal an apple from somebody who wasn't looking. In the late morning we would have many giraffe sightings as well as the usual impala's. Just when things were looking quiet we saw 3 elephants running to the watering hole. We took a break once again for lunch at Skukuza know...

We started the day just after 07:30am by leaving the Bundu lodge and made our way to the Kruger National Park. After our morning rest stop to buy snacks and use the ATM's for the final time we entered the park just after 10:30am. Entering at the Paul Kruger Gate. Our very first sighting was a group elephants which we saw just before we even entered the park via the Paul Kruger gate. As the morning progressed we saw many impala, kudu, crocodiles, zebras, buffalo, wildebeest, lion, giraffes and more elephants crossing the road right in front of our coach. We took a 40 minute break for lunch at Skukuza rest camp before getting back to spotting the animals. Elephants crossing the road in front of the coach. Hyena at the rest stop picnic area. In the afternoon we saw a wild hyena just outside the restroom, adding warthogs and even a rare leopard hunting impala's as one of the last things we saw for the day. We managed to see 'the big 5' all in 1 day so we we...

Another early start at 05:30am as we made our way to George airport. We checked in and waited for boarding after 8am to make the 2 hour flight to Johannesburg airport. The landing was aborted for safety reasons as another plane made its way onto the runway, but there was no drama on the 2nd attempt. We then picked up two more people on the new coach and made the long drive towards Nelspruit. Kulula flight to Johannesburg. We made a stop at Alzu petroport service station, which had many animals at the rear of the facilities. I think most people would agree that this is the best service station they had ever been to. Various animals at Alzu petroport service station. We continued our long drive day eventually arriving at Bundu lodge around 17:30pm. We checked in and briefly had a walk around the grounds looking at some of the free roaming small animals. Dinner was set for 7pm and we looked forward to the upcoming 3 days at Kruger National Park. A video of today can be view...

The day started just after 7am as we made our way to Oudtshoorn to an ostrich farm. The farm breeds ostriches as well as the chance to feed them or even ride them if you are under 75kg. We also had Ostrich meat for our lunch at the same place. Highgate Ostrich farm. In the afternoon we moved onto the Cango Caves. Most of the group did the standard heritage tour, and 5 people did the more challenging Adventure tour. This is one of South Africa's best limestone caves and attracts many visitors from all over the world each year. Cango Caves. We then drove a further 15 minutes to end the day at our overnight lodge. Dinner was served and shortly after, some of the group enjoyed an optional star gazing guide. It was a clear night so those that joined would have had the best visibility possible for viewing. I was happy looking at the stars with my eyes as I am familiar with where to look for some of the planets. A video of this day can be viewed below: