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Page 45
Part 1
Singita,
Private Game Reserve
Adjacent to Kruger National Park
Republic of South Africa
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SINGITA
"The 18,000 hectare Singita Private Game Reserve lies amongst the
group of privately owned reserves known as the Sabi Sands. In this group,
Singita is adjacent to the 2.3 million hectare Kruger National Park
( an area of about the size and shape of Israel), separated only by
a boundary road. No fences exist within this area and animals are free
to roam unhindered in this enormous conservancy. Singita comprises mainly
arid brush savannah and is bisected by the many dry riverbeds which
form tributaries to the Sand River during the wet summer season. Late
in the 19th century the Tsonga speaking Shangaan tribes people arrived
here from southern Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique). The Shangaan
are an offshoot of the once warring Ndebele tribes in Zimbabwe. With
their proud traditions of hunting, uncanny tracking ability and sparkling
good humor they form the backbone of the Bush experience for visitors"
( This is a quote and was copied from the brochure found in our room).
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| A view of the Indian Ocean as we
left Durban. |
After flying from Durban
to Johannesburg we waited in the commuter terminal of a very small airline
that serviced the private game reserves. |
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| As we descended to the Singita airport
we could see the vegetation consisted of rough scrub. |
This is the smallest plane on which,
Donna had ever flown. She was a real trooper. However, it did take me
more than 10 minutes to pry her hands from the arm rests after landing. |
A car was waiting at the Singita
airport. Almost every car used in the game reserves is a green converted
"Defender" model Land Rover. |
The
Main Lodge at Singita, Boulders |
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Singita has two separate lodges,
Ebony Lodge and Boulders Lodge. Boulders is a little newer and a little
more open. |
This is the meeting room
of the Boulders Lodge where drinks and coffee are served. |
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These are views of the
same area from another direction. |
Donna gets her first cup of coffee
at our 5 AM rendezvous just prior to our morning game viewing. |
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Each afternoon we met at the same
place at 4 PM just prior to our afternoon game viewing. |
One afternoon everyone else in the
lodge decided to have lunch served in their rooms. Donna and I had a private
lunch set up in one of the the bar areas. |
Breakfast and lunch were served
on an open deck overlooking the Sand River. Frequently from the deck you
could see elephant, hippopotamus and monkeys. The monkeys would often
try to get on the deck to sample the food set out for the guests. |
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| The indoor dining room
was used rarely |
Donna at computer central. Here
in this part of Africa 52 K is considered very fast. |
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Lodge (No. 7) was the furthest from the main facilities (about 150 yards)
and was therefore quite remote and romantic. Because there are no fences
and wild animals including poisonous snakes roam freely, if you wanted
to go from a Lodge to the main facilities between the hours of 5 PM and
7 AM, you needed to call for a porter who would safely escort you. |
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| That's
our lodge (#7) behind us. It didn't look like much from the outside. |
Donna and I take breakfast overlooking
the Sand River. |
Lodge
7 |
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Now this is my kind of
African safari. It sure does beat a tent. I think a real estate agent
would say that when you first come into this lodge there is a certain
"WOW effect!!!". I had to keep reminding myself that we were
here to view the animals not the decor. |
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Donna liked the bed so much she wanted
to take it back to East Hampton. I thought with the amount of luggage
we had brought it would be no problem packing it. |
The views looking out were spectacular. |
At night mosquito netting was dropped
around the bed both for safety and beauty. |
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| Our entire lodge was
divided from a beautiful deck by a glass wall which ran the entire length
of the building. But after getting up at 5 AM each day in going to sleep
at 11 PM we had little time or energy to use the deck during our stay. |
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One night after our afternoon/night
game viewing, we were driven to a remote area surrounded by many lamps
for a safari barbecue. We were entertained by local singers and feasted
on local meats. |
African masks created by local tribesmen
were everywhere. We purchased these pieces for our home in East Hampton. |
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| One night after our
afternoon/night game viewing drive we stopped for cocktails on the Sand
River. For two days we had the Land Rover to ourselves but this evening
we were joined by 3 Brits, Rachael, Eleanor and Michael. |
Lunch was served mostly buffet style
with many unusual dishes. |
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