When one is told by their best friend (of 17 years) that she and a bunch of friends will soon be spending 3 days in Mjejane Game Reserve in the lower Kruger National Park, who wouldn’t kick up a fuss and exclaim just how jealous they are about not being invited? Well let’s just say that was the quickest way for my husband and I to crack the nod! The Kruger is not quite as easy to travel to though, much to my dismay, unlike the reserves we frequent in Northern KZN. Firstly, after work we had to get on an aeroplane to OR Tambo (that is in another province), then hop onto the Gautrain for an hour ride to Hatfield (which is in Pretoria) and finally get collected by car and driven to our friend’s house. If that doesn’t sound like enough commuting, we then had to drive 4 hours to the reserve and another 4 hours back in 3 days time! Thankfully we were being chauffeured at this point. Jokes aside, it was a great travel adventure, except for missing our flight home, which my husband doesn’t like to talk about, it’s bit of a sore spot…
All the commuting paid off though, for the breathtaking view and luxurious accommodation that awaited us was next level! We had our own pool, an infinity pool, that looked right out over the banks of the Crocodile River where the hippos spent most of their days. Our days however, consisted of beautiful early morning game drives, fry up breakfasts, a nap for some and a swim and suntan for others, lunch time feasts, board games, late afternoon game drives and ending it off with a braai and chats around the fire. The sunsets we saw were just incredible and I kept hearing everyone declare that “This is a real African sunset!”. An added bonus was that one of the friends is a game ranger, who is often guiding in Mjejane. We managed to see 4 of the Big 5- it’s always that illusive leopard that leaves everyone wondering… if they really exist.
It was a great break and I am so thankful we were invited! Thank you to the other 8 friends for such a special time away.
