Here we have the team extrodinair. From Left to right: -

Jo, Bret, Salome and Mpho

This was our "palace" for the week. The thatched cottage was marvelous. It really was. Walk in cupboards, lovely bathroom / toilet and the crem del lar crem, an outside shower overlooking the bushveld.

Look at the next photos below.

The outside shower was something else. As someone put it, it's like skinny dipping with the thought that you will get caught.

Makes you feel young again and very exciting..

And here are some inside shots of the lodge itself.

The outside table you see in the first 3 photos is where we ate every time bar two nights. The first due to a wind I have never even seen in Cape Town and the second due to an invasion of bugs.

The photo on the left is the kitchen where some amazing food came out of and the photo on the right the inside dining room.

Tamboti sun rises.

Close to heaven.

And then the swimming pool.

No, it's not green, the pool wall is colored to help absorb the suns heat. Every day you would find people in the pool, myself included.

Now for me to be in there (taurus the bull), you know it was hot!

Here is the braai area. On two nights we were out here. In particular, the night shot was on the last night and fillets were cooked.

Finger licking good.

Every morning, Bret was to wake everyone up at 05h30 so we could get out for a morning drive at 06h00.

Well, believe it or not, on the first morning, Bret woke us up an told us there were lions in front of the lodge!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nooooooooo.

I could not believe my eyes. This was better then the Kruger web cam's

These 4 lions, 3 male and 1 female, dozed until the sun hit them. Then they got up and sauntered into the distance to find some shade. What a start to our game viewing.

As you will see from above, the water hole in front of the lodge attracted many animals. It was amazing to see what actually came for a drink every day. Regular visitors in particular were a hare and a Jackal. Obviously not at the same time.

Below is a collection of photos taken from the comfort of our "viewing chairs"

Photo on the far left: - Debbie, Anya, Andre and Lindsay.

Photo on the right: - Lindsay and Debbie

Elephants had a wonderful time in the water.

How's the pose at the bottom right

And then tons of Kudus, Zebras and Wildebest.

Another pastime alien to me was on each and every game drive, we would come to a point where it was out with the table and table cloth and drinks and eats.

Each morning drive was coffe or tea with muffins, crunchies and the like.

Each evening drive was beers wine or hard tack with biltong, drywors, provitas, cream cheese, chips etc etc.

My absolute favorite was the provitas with creame cheese and Sweet chilli sauce. Man O man. Delectable.

Photos on the left are from the many stops we had.

Yes, I did keep a constant look out for Lions ;-)

On two occasions, we were privileged to have a morning walk like never before. Now if you look at one of my other "Berg en Dal" pages, you will see I talk of a walk in Kruger and how much e enjoyed it. The problem was that it was over so quick.

Well, this was totally different. On the first walk, Bret took us out at 06h00 and we only returned at 11h00 after a wonderful walk.

However, the second walk was even longer, more enjoyable and amazing.

On the second walk, Bret took us to a mountain range called 20-20 (twenty twenty). We started the walk through dense bush and were incredibly cautious. Man it was scary, but if we wanted to go where Bret was going, we had to do it. During this section we came across this spider hole as in the top left photo. Bret tried to coax the sucker out and together with Greg actually saw its leg, however, it never came out. Bret said however that they are the size of large saucers.

Second photo down is where we came out of the thicket to see this amazing tree. I took a photo from here, but once actually under the tree, I was so wrapped up in the experience, I forgot to take a photo. Man am I mad.

The photos to the left were 1/3rd up the mountain. It was basically a waterfall that had no water.

Bret had just taken us past where he was hoping to show us Wild dogs and their den. However, they were not there. There was tons of evidence though with Scat and spoor all over the place.

Then the whole reason Bret brought us up here. We could have a commanding view of Madikwe from upon up high. We all sat there for some time taking in the beauty.

And here is Pinky and Perky. Not sure who is who, but anyway.

Spot our vehicle. See if you can see it in the photo on the left first. The Photo on the right is a zoomed in shot.\

Lastly a shot from the bottom up to where we had walked. We came up to the top via the other side and came down this side actually following a game path.

I could go on and on talking about what we saw and where. However, I will not as it will take weeks for me to get the web page completed and I do not want to bore you.

Some or the rare anumals we saw on night drives was a Red rock Rabit, Serval cat, a proper 100% wild cat, and a spring hare. This little guy looked and hoped just like a Kangaroo!

Below are an asortment of some of the photos from the holiday. I hope you enjoy.