Shamwari Game Reserve

Finally, here's the last post of our trip to South Africa ....

We left St James of Knysna and headed back on the N2 towards Port Elizabeth. Three hours of driving was ahead of us so we started out just after breakfast. This part of the route was really breathtaking because we were closer to the coast. It seems after each bend we took there was another beach with waves crashing to the shore and mountains to our left. Along the way, we had to slow down for a family of baboons crossing the road!

We also saw a lot of shanty towns. I guess the shacks are maybe refugees, but they're all self-contained with washing hanging on lines and TV aerials up.

We didn't feel threatened at all, unlike in the past whilst driving in some parts of America or even in the UK. A lot of locals were hitching a lift, even holding out money.

There is no local transport heading down this route so it's the only way they can get about. Having said that ... we did follow a red double decker bus, which was a bit strange to say the least.

We arrived at Port Elizabeth airport, handed over our Avis car and went to find our driver to take us the hour and a half drive to Shamwari Game Reserve. We stayed at Bayethe Lodge, a tent, but a tent like no other. We were in number 12 and had just about the best view. Antelope roamed around outside as we unpacked for the next two days. We had a huge bed, plunge pool on the decking outside with hammocks surrounding it, an outside shower, brrrrrr, and a really nice open plan bathroom.

Because we arrived in the afternoon, we were able to make the first of four drives into the park. Our jeep had six seats, apart from the driver's who was called Headman. We shared our first two drives with four Germans from Frankfurt or as Phil called them, Franfurters. The last two drives, we shared with two Austrians. We noticed other Lodges had jeeps for nine, so we were really lucky. In the evening we had dinner with our driving mates, including the driver. The food was not as good as Cape Town but was plentiful. All meals, drink and game drives were included in the price.

The drives were absolutely freezing because of the wind chill factor.

So if you ever want to go, November, December or January is just about the best time because it's warm in the day, just take appropriate warm clothes for the drive. You get an early morning wake up call from your driver at 05.30am ready to set off at 06.00am. In the evening you go out at 16.00. The drives last about four hours and there's generally a pit stop for coffee in the morning and wine at sunset. In the Game Reserve, we saw just about everything we needed to see, it was a fantastic experience.

We also went to the Born Free Foundation which rescues big cats from zoos and circuses. There was a mix of lions and leopards with very sad stories but can now roam around in huge spaces, unfortunately, they can never be released into the wild as they just wouldn't survive.

So, although we feel we don't need to do another Safari, we definitely will return to South Africa. From what we saw in our very short time there, it's beautiful.

I'm going to put the Safari photos on separately, because uploading photos onto Blogspot is a nightmare! If anyone out there knows how to do it differently please tell me. They don't appear where the cursor is, all photos jump to the top of the page and you have to drag them into place!

Hope you've enjoyed our trip to South Africa.