Sunday 20 - Saturday 26 February
The last time I was at Phinda, it was again with my Mum and after I'd had those four days up in Abu Dhabi courtesy of Platinum. The last time, Mum and I had jumped in the safari vehicle for our first drive with another couple - Margie and Trevor. I slowly learnt that Phinda had been the dream and creation of Trevor and that when he had sold out of his investment in the Reserve he had been paid in 'bed nights' at all sister the lodges around Africa. When we met Margie and Trevor, they were spending their last two bed nights at Vlei Lodge, where Mum and I were also staying.
Over those two nights we developed a friendship (easy with these two magical people), I succumbed to Trevor's 'scotch appreciation class' and we made a plan to meet up for lunch when we were all in Cape Town later on in our trip. Since then, I also visited Margie and Trevor at their home in Durban when I was last in South Africa for what Margie has coined 'a whistle stop in the rain', which it was, but she managed to give me an amazing insight into Durban in one short day.
Margie and Trevor are possible the most hospitable couple I know, when they learnt that I was planning another trip over to SA with my new husband they insisted that we visit them in Durban and they would try to book in time at their time share lodge at Mziki - also on the Phinda Game Reserve. My goodness, what luck, Mziki was available.
Durban and Phinda are both in Zulu land - much different to the south where we had just come from, with rondavels, cane fields and green as green country side. The drive is about three hours from Durban and on the way we stopped at the most amazing market - full of artefacts, fruit and vegetables. It's so hard to pass these markets by knowing that we must carry everything we buy on our backs, so we reluctantly held strong.
At the markets, we met Joan, a good and old friend of M&T's who was also travelling to Mziki with us and later we also met Vic, another resident at Phinda, travelling with Trevor in another car (we made a nice little convoy: three cars and six people making the expedition.
As excited as I was to get back to Phinda, I'm not sure I was as excited as Margie, who was only going to be there for the one night - as we drove through the gates our driver gave a shiver of excitement.
We took the winding dirt roads through the reserve to the share block, and as it was in the heat of the day, the fellow residents were tucked away in the shade of the trees and bushes. But I'm sure they were looking at us. Margie had said that not long ago, though, there'd been a lion right outside their kitchen window.
I'm not sure how to explain the awe and wonder that was upon us when we did pull up at M&T's lodge - we were to stay in a separate wing staying in a room next to Joan. And what a room! Thatched roof (that smell always reminds me of a good holiday), windows that look out into the bush, a bed you could get lost in. In the bathroom there was a bath next to another giant window stocked with all the potions needed for a good cleanse and relaxation, a giant rain shower and an outdoor shower if you were feeling brave.
The small walk to the main house always had me wary - looking for anything wild that could snack on me. Inside the house, you wouldn't believe it. Just stunning African comfort with a view over water to die for. Outside was an infinity pool and next to that the braai, a fire pit and a relaxed outdoor area.
If I could root myself to one place on this earth it would be there. It is magnetising, mesmerising and so alive.
We began with a late lunch on the balcony, packed a cooler bag with sundowners and snacks and then Vic arrived with his Mfula safari vehicle (there's nothing special about a private safari truck there - if you live on the share block you've got one! (can you believe it)) to take us on an excursion as the sun made it's way for the horizon. You should have seen Jono and I in the back of the truck - biggest smiles you'd ever see. I have welt marks from pinching myself.
In November and December there had been loads of rain (just like back home) and the grass was nearly as high as the car. Great for the animals, but not so good for spotting. All the same, there was buck of all kinds everywhere - Springbok, Nyala, Kudu. Our first big spot was a group of four rhino not far from the side of the road, having a browse in the bushes. Then Vic spotted to cheetah sitting on a dam wall in the distance, so we made our way over there for a closer look.
The locals (M,T&V) told us that recently two new male lions had been introduced to the reserve after two younger lions had decimated the previous male lion population in fits of jealousy and the gene pool needed to be expanded again. Our aim for this trip was to find these two boys and we know they are around because Trev and Vic saw them both when they dropped Vic at his place when we first arrived.
Allas, no luck that evening, so Vic pulled up next to a dam and we unpacked the cooler box, a table and poured ourselves some sundowners while a couple of hippo huffed and puffed from the water at our disruption to their peace.
As the sun set we topped up our G&T's and jumped back in the truck for some leopard spotting en route to dinner. While we were out Zodwa, the housekeeper, had secretly set up dinner for us around the fire - imagine those little tables people have to eat their tv dinners at - only safari style, with a crackling fire in front, bush table decorations and the sounds of the bush on the other side of the (open) boma.
Trevor fired up the braai (it's just a BBQ really, but they use coals not flame to cool to meat to tender perfection) and threw on some baby chooks, while us girls opened up a bottle of Cricket Pitch and the boys cracked some beers. We sat there revelling in the magic of it all.
When the chooks were done we took our plates down to the fire and got elbow deep in these delicious little things, hiding the smear of the smoking flavours on our faces in the fire light. More wine was poured and then some more and probably some more afterwards before we realised how late it was and made a plan for the next morning's drive.
Monday
I woke before six and saw that Margie had already left to head home to Durban and the production of Othello that she is heavily involved in. She later texts to say that she followed the big old lions on the main road for five minutes. Even with a very dusty head I couldn't wait to get up and onto that truck. We had a coffee and a rusk and packed the cool bag again for a morning drive.
This time Vic didn't join us, so we took the Mziki 20 vehicle and headed out onto the veld, into the fever tree forrest, through the hills. No cats, but we did manage an excellent view of two rhino down near the water - they came quite close to us really!! Not long after the rhino we turned the corner in the road and a mother zebra and her little foal were there to meet us. What sweeties! We were also blessed with sightings of some very inquisitive looking giraffe.
We unpacked the cool box in the fever tree forrest this time. Fever trees like to live around water, so when the explorers started getting sick after camping underneath them they initially suspected the trees were to blame. Not so - it was malaria from the mozzies in the water nearby.
Back home, Zodwa had laid out a fruit platter for us and we had a breakfast feast before going our own ways for naps, showers and more naps.
There was no way I could sleep - I set myself up on the day bed by the pool with my binocs, camera and diary and took it all in. The heat got the better of me though, and I collapsed in bed for an hour's rest before the afternoon drive.
This time we collected Vic and a guy who was mending his pool, from Vic's lodge Mfula, and hit the road. The boys had a beer in hand before we'd even started up the engine! It was another quiet night on the veld. It didn't really matter to us how quiet it was though - being in this part of the world was fantastic on it's own. We headed up into the hills and through some huge groups of buck. Up above us the baboons were darting about, calling each other.
Right on this great spot above a valley, with the hills rolling off into the distance and the sun setting behind them we pulled up for our sundowners. Trevor was on the Pimms, Joany, Jono and I on the G&Ts and the other boys on beer. The baboons couldn't have been 100m away and the spot was amazing! On the way home Joan spots two bush babies up a tree in the spotlight.
For tonight's dinner we were all heading back to Mfula for a roast lamb on the braai. Mfula was initially a camp for game hunters in the area, now it's Vic's second home. Outside his elephant wire are two trees now called the Ceremony Tree and the Drinks Tree - named after two important spots of Trevor's daughter's wedding earlier in the year. As you drive through the elephant fence into the compound you pass a tennis court, Vic showed us photos later that night of a cheetah on the court with an impala kill. That's how close the bush is!
Inside the elephant wire you have the main house - kitchen, bar and lounge. Off of the house are the bedrooms in lots of two, all decorated differently. Outside the kitchen and lounge is the fire pit. Around that fire the plans for Phinda were formed, years back. At this same fire Vic also formed our initiation ceremonies. Jono was first up, given the duty of braaiing some sausages with 'the short tongs', over the coals. He did a darn good job too!
We'd all pitched in getting the lamb ready, pouring drinks and stoking the fire and it all came together. More drinks were poured, grace was said and then Vic got back onto the subject of initiation...
I'm not sure how far we got into the night, but it was getting on, Vic pulls out this bottle of Tim Jan. I've never heard of it before and I hope you lot haven't either. He tells us it's medicinal (and not that it's also 33% alcohol) and pours three shots - one for Jono, one for me and one for the pool guy. And because Mfula and Mziki and Phinda are such wonderful places we want to be initiated and take our medicine.
That shit burns man! It tastes like the essence of a blood grapefruit peel has been bolted to the back of your tongue. Then Vic pours three more because some idiot said 'it's not that bad'. And while Jono can say 'no' to a good host, I can't, and oblivious to the alcohol content I down his and mine to ensure a life long membership at Mfula. What a kick! Then they tell us the gear cures constipation, along with a whole other host of ailments that I didn't need curing…
Initiated, we sit around the fire again and listen to Vic's stories, while Joan makes attempts to get Trevor to take us all home for bed after a night of fresh air and booze.
When we do make a move to leave and get in the vehicle, Jono takes the spot light and we go hunting leopards again. On the way, Jono spots a big female Kudu buck with a rear glistening with blood in the torch light. She looks so uncomfortable and we wonder if she's just had or is about to have a little calf. We watch and watch and realise that the poor girl's been mauled, possibly by a lion. We are only two minutes from M&T's house and there's been an attack right on their doorstep!
Tuesday
The morning game drive is replaced with a drive up to Sodwana Bay, right up north on the coast and only a few clicks from Mozambique. The spot is known for it's diving and fishing and the Sodwana Bay Lodge was Trevor's first development in the area.
We stop in at the Lodge and Betty, the maitre'd and old friend of Trevor's serves up some tea and toasted sandwiches (to settle the queazy post-Tim Jan stomach). After that we head down to the beach, where divers are being ferried across the sand in 4x4 trailers and along the beach people have parked their cars and set up camp for the day. It's rough surf, but the water is warm and I'm jealous of the family wallowing in a large rock pool. Since there's no chance to take a walk at Mziki we stretch our legs on the long flat beach and take a walk.
In the heat, we work up an appetite and return to the Lodge and Betty's famous prawns with three kinds of sauces - peri peri, lemon butter and garlic butter. Joan and I have a beer and lime and then we all move onto a bottle of wine. Fully recovered and feeling very satisfied we return to Mziki for a nap before the drive.
Just as my head it's the pillow Trev is at our bedroom door in his jocks yelling that Vic's just called and said there's a female lion sitting under the ceremony tree at his place. 'Come come!' This time it's just the three of us in Trev's car racing to the lion, but as we pull out around the corner on our way our path is blocked! Another female lion who appears to be lactating is just outside Trev's place in the share block! Vic calls, his lion is on the move, so we explain the delay and get back on the move.
When we arrive the lioness has already headed off. He tells us about the shock it gave the guys working on the pool - the only barrier between the lioness and them is a tennis court and an elephant fence where the lowest wire to the ground is nearly two metres high. We trade Trev's 4x4 (Mziki 20 is in the shop getting work done on it) for Vic's safari car and do some laps around Vic's place. He says the lioness has been pacing in and out of the bushes for some time now, so we try and search her out. Just when we think she's gone for good she appears in front of us, back near Trev's 4x4.
We learn that there used to be two lioness who were friends and that they've been separated - it's an easy conclusion to draw that the other lioness is the one over near Trev's place with the cubs.
We sit and watch this wild animal, she paces in and out of the bushes and then sits under the Drinks Tree making soft calling sounds. Suddenly she gets up and starts walking straight towards us, then stops for a drink at a puddle just next to the the vehicle. She's lapping away and I can hear all her animal noises. Something distracts the big girl and she turns, steps away from the puddle and closer to me, she looks right at me and I think she steals my soul. I daren't move but I know she sees my eyes and I expect her to jump up into the car. No one is making a noise and I'm sure that four hearts stopped beating right then and there. But she turns and walks back into the bushes.
Of course, looking back at the video she's only next to us for a splitest of split seconds, but it feels like an age.
After that we're meant to go home for that nap in preparation for our last drive.
Yeah right. Like you can sleep after something like that!
This last drive we nearly didn't go on. It's exhausting work doing two drives a day and boozing it up during the night. The South Africans we not as keen as us to go, but we couldn't let a chance for a last drive slip out of our hands. In the end, it was the most successful! The bush just clicked. All the vehicles have radios so they can communicate and sightings and we were hearing about another lioness with four cubs about 45 minutes from Mziki. As we are heading out through the share block the mother lioness appears again, so we follow her for a while and suspect that her cubs are close. But since we know where some others are, we give up the hunt for hers and race across the veld to the other sighting.
Because we must see the lioness in daylight the sundowners are put on hold, and instead we make up our G&Ts from the esky in the back of the truck. Hard life! Joan swings around and asks the two of us what we would like to see next and almost as soon as Jono says 'Elephant' our road is blocked by one! He's a young, lone bull and puts on quite a display for us. But the road is not blocked for long, a Phinda vehicle arrives, also on the hunt for the lioness with cubs.
The driver of this vehicle says 'blocking your way is he? Don't worry, I know this boy, he's quite cheeky, I'll sort it out'. And with that he drives his vehicle, full of passengers, right towards the elephant and chases him off the road. That completely shocks our vehicle, because the chance that the elephant could have swung around and bunted the Phinda car was really quite large and it's completely against the park rules.
But we make it to the lioness in time - she's sitting in the shade of a tree off of the road with her four babies, who jump over her and her freshly killed warthog. Unfortunately we disturb her a bit too much and she picks up her warthog and ushers her cubs into the the safety of a nearby bush. For us the visibility is diminished in the long grass and fading light.
We head for Mfula and the poitje (say it like poikie - an African stew) that Vic has had cooking over the fire while we've been out. On the way Vic takes us through 'Leopard Country' and I do my best at spotlighting one for us - no leopard, but as a consolation we did get completely splashed by mud and Jono was bitten by a bark spider.
Back at Mfula the dinner party expands to nine when we are joined again by the pool guy (his job is literally fixing pools at share blocks on game reserves, sounds like a tidy niche market to me!) and also by the Mziki care taker Johan, his wife Fiona and son Thomas (also sounds like a tidy lifestyle to me!).
When the poitje is ready Vic says that he won't serve it up to us just yet, because the party's character is not yet good enough. We must drink more!
When the poitje and the character is good we sit down for grace and dig into this amazing lamb stew with potatoes (half of which have been mashed into the stew) and butter beans and listen to Vic's animated stories over bottles of wine. Just as one of Vic's stories ends he turns his head to look over his shoulder and spies the resident genet sitting on the edge of the deck watching us.
I've never seen one close up and it surprises both Jono and I - imagine an adolescent cat that still has it's delicate kitten features, but is a little larger than a full grown cat. It's black and grey with spots like a leopard, but a striped tail that is longer than it's body and a long face with a tiny pink possum nose. What a cutie!
Wednesday
Joany rises us early and we leave Trevor behind at Phinda and return to Durban. When we get home I sleep for hours at M&T's house, catching up and recovering from the South Africans' onslaught on us Aussies.
Later Margie takes us for a drink at a bar on top of a jetty on the beach. It's very hip and the lights are made of recycled plastic bottles and pink ostrich feathers decorate a corner, matching the white and pink theme of the bar. We head off after a drink to meet Joan and her husband John at Mo's, a Thai joint. Margie's son, Neil also joins us and at the last minute so does Joan and Johns' son Greg. The Thai is amazing, with flavours I've never tasted before. We kick off with calamari for starters and then I dig into a fish for a main.
I get started talking to Greg, who Joan has told me a bit about. He's working with an organisation that is attempting to educate members of the Shembe church about the use of leopard skins by making a film. Apparently there are only 300 leopards in Kwa-Zulu Natal and the other day a man was arrested while in the possession of over 150 leopard skins (and then got let off). Greg's investigating the use of these skins and attempting to encourage members of this church to use faux skins. At the same time he's working on getting the appropriate machinery to produce these fake skins, of course most of it has to come from China, including the fabric that can only be bought in one metre lengths or 3000 metre lengths. It sounds like a fight, but a worthy one. Got a website too - http://www.toskinacat.org/
Greg's due to head to Mziki the following day to do some research on the leopards by tracking and darting one. We are so jealous that we won't be there when he's doing this!
Thursday
We take it easy in the morning and then make our way to the city to watch Margie's Othello. The production is pitched at school students who are studying the play this year, but Margie has explained how rewarding it is to watch these kids take in the play. For many of them English is a second language, but they really picked up on it when we were there and got really vocal. These were mostly private school kids too! On Tuesday and Wednesday Margie and the cast went inland to some tiny country schools and she said that the audience were amazing!
I have to say that I nearly had tears in my eyes at the end too! The kids went wild! The girls were nuts about the guy playing Casio and I think the boys were just as nuts about the guy playing Iago and then everyone went wild over the attractive, black Othello! It was fun just to see that!
When the play was over we had a quick lunch with Margie in a hotel cafe next to the Playhouse and then headed to the markets - The Victoria Markets, the Muti Markets and the Seafood Markets. We were such chickens, this really was quite cultural. The Victorian Markets were just an Indian styled Paddy's Markets, so they were quite tame, but the Muti Markets were really dense, they were huge and they were built on and under an incomplete carriage way. We didn't make it far in before we freaked out! Then we tried the Seafood Markets, where seafood really played a very small role. Sheeps heads, goats heads, offal, guts.. we got the end of it, so much of the 'good' stuff had already been put away. We took a walk around the block after that, checking out the street stalls, looking in the Indian fabric shops, watching some guys selling cds on the pavement freak out about the cops. My favourite was seeing some guy selling Lays chips labels and Ponds soap labels in sheets.
We headed home empty handed, had some rest and then got ready for dinner at the Oyster Box up the coast at Umhlanga (say it like ooomshlanga). I went there last time with Margie but it was Fan Tastic - a definite Durban Must do! It's a hotel that has a whole range of restaurants and bars in it, right at the water's edge. We headed upstairs for a drink on the outside deck, while the red and white lighthouse put on a show over the crashing waves below. Then we headed down by the pool for dinner to the Ocean Terrace. The restaurant we chose had an indoor and outdoor eating area and was very popular with the Indians. Inside it looked like England and India had gotten together to design an outdoor garden inside - fresh green and white everywhere There was a curry buffet inside so it filled the restaurant with the smell of a thousand spices.
Jono surprised us all by going for the crab and fish cakes (hates fish), Margie had a lamb curry and I went with a huge serving of oxtail (the left overs of which made an excellent late lunch the next day for both Jono and I and then the dogs, Finn and Sophie joined in too!).
Friday
Another late start, but we headed out about lunch time for a drive over to the Valley of 1000 Hills. Great views! We took a drive around the area and bought some postcards before the oxtail started calling us.
From there we joined Margie and went to meet Joan at The Freedom Cafe, which was looked fantastic (chic shipping container kind of style), but turned out to be closed, so we popped around the corner to the Bean Bag Bohemia, an artsy kind of bar, and added Joan's husband John to the group. Only a quick drink though..
Now we're back at M&T's soaking up the electric lights, televisions and running water before heading up to Johannesburg tomorrow and joining the overland tour we're doing through Botswana.
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| View from M&T's |
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| Cheetah Boys |
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| Sundowners Stop |
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| Sun down |
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| You would look like this too after a couple of G&Ts and a surprise selfie! |
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| Trevor and his chookies |
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| Joan getting us organised |
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| This is how you do a bush dinner! |
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| Jono, Trevor, Margie, Vic and Joan |
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| View from the day bed |
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| Maybe he wouldn't have gotten into them so early if he knew what was to come. |
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| There's a little bird on top of his head! |
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| Sundowners overlooking the valley |
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| Trev having a moment |
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| Dining at Mfula |
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| Initiation with Darrell, Vic, Jono and I - note that Vic didn't pour himself one. |
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| Oh the horror - Joan is the only one smiling! |
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| The new Mfula Members! |
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| The culprit |
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| You can drink it, or use it directly on skin… |
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| Sodwana Bay rockpools |
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| Sodwana Bay |
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| Sodwana Bay |
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| The lioness getting in the way of our drive to the other lioness |
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| Under the Drinks Tree |
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| Under the Drinks Tree - Vic's tennis court is just in the background. |
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| Drinking by Vic's vehicle. |
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| Back up near Mziki |
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| Mum and cubs |
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| Poitje |
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| Jono, Joan and Trevor watch on in Vic's kitchen |
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| The chef at work |
