Richards Bay is South Africa's largest harbor. The important habitat supports a large population of hippos and marine birds. Richards Bay Game Sanctuary was created in 1935 to preserve the delicate ecosystem and it's wildlife. The port opened in 1976 to manage valuable minerals that are mined in and transported from the interior. Even though the city is the heart of a busy industrial zone, the naturally sheltered inlet features fine beaches and unspoiled dunes. Tourism is an important part in the local as well as national economy.
The ship docked at about 9 a.m. We were ready to jump off to check out the vendors on the pier before we headed out to a game reserve. There were a few items we hadn't found in Kenya or Mozambique, mainly beads and baskets. We purchased a beautiful basket then raced back inside to get our luggage for our overnight.
The ride was just under 2 hours. We were amazed at how much the rolling, green hills looked like the mid-west of the US! The parts of the city we saw, could be in the US also. The hills were beautiful. Nice to see green after the dryness of Kenya. They grow eucalyptus to make paper, and there were rows and rows of trees in various stages of growth. They harvest every 8 to 10 years.
We arrived at Phinda Vlei Lodge shortly after 1:00. The driver stopped on the road to let us out, nothing in sight. The lodge was down a short path. It consists of an open air public building and 6 secluded cabins. Their maximum capacity is 12, so it is pretty exclusive. After learning about the schedule we were taken to our cabin. You can't see any of the cabins from the main building. We couldn't see any other cabin from ours! We were served lunch on the outside deck. While eating we watched the velvet monkeys running around, several dozen crested guinea fowl and a wart hog. When we went back to our cabin, the wart hog was in a clearing near the path. We stopped to take pictures with it before going back and getting ready for our first safari.
After tea and cake (they certainly didn't starve us!), we headed to the safari vehicle. They are very different in S Africa. There was no top to protect us from the sun, but it wasn't as hot as it had been in Kenya either. It was actually very nice weather, sunny and cool. The more we rode in the vehicle, the more I realized that it is EXACTLY like the attraction vehicles on the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland! Guess that's where they got the idea. We had bars in front of us to hold onto, pockets at our knees to keep our belongings. We rode leaning sideways, as the road was uneven, or whipped around corners when the driver could go faster. Even the gears changing sounded the same. It was very amusing. This safari was very different from Kenya. Here we had a tracker riding in front of the vehicle. We needed him since the animals were very good at hiding in the heavy underbrush. Our driver had a rifle mounted on the dash, they don't have that in Disneyland!
We heard some elephants before we saw them. All of a sudden there was one about 15' from the right side of the vehicle, shaking it's head back and forth. The driver hit reverse quickly. Mel complained that he'd missed a shot. The driver explained that the elephant was exhibiting charge mannerisms. Glad he backed up. We sat there with the engine off for sometime, listening to the elephants crashing and munching just a few feet from us on both sides. The driver (he was our ranger also) thought they would cross the road, but only 1 did. They sounded like a herd of elephants in the underbrush. Guess that's where the expression came from. We could catch glimpses of their trunks once in a while, but they were mainly hidden. In Kenya they were out in the open, on an open plain.
We did a lot of riding without seeing any animals at all. We did see a lot of large birds and beautiful trees. There were a lot of Nyala and Impala running around, as well as wart hogs. The latter are so funny when they run, sticking their tails straight up in the air. We saw a mother with 6 babies, which was cute. It was just starting to get dark when we rounded a bend and there was a mother rhino and her baby. We hadn't seen any in Kenya. That was exciting. We moved on a bit and there was a crash of 10 rhinos, about 25' from the road. We watched them for a long time. They finally moved on, heading back down the road from where we'd just come.
We stopped in the road for drinks. At first I thought they were kidding, but they hauled out a small table along with a cooler with ice as well as hot water. They also had a good assortment to choose from. There was another couple in the vehicle with us who seemed more experienced with this custom. She had a hot cocoa with Amarula, whatever that is! Turns out it is a cream liquor similar to Bailey's, only made with a fruit which grows in the bush in S Africa. It was quite delicious. I don't know how those guys spot the animals, but our ranger got all excited and said there was a black rhino off in the trees. I used binoculars and still couldn't see it. They quickly packed up the drinks and off we went, off road, in search of the rhino. It was almost dark so we could barely make out it's form. The ranger drove around to the other side of it, we must have been about 15 feet away. He said it would run if we turned on lights, but he turned on the headlights quickly so we could get a better look. Too bad he didn't warn us so we could get a picture too! I guess spotting a black rhino is pretty rare. They only have 22 in Phinda Game Reserve.
We were back for dinner at about 8. The manager at our lodge had surprised us by arranging for us to have dinner at a neighboring lodge where 4 of our friends were staying. Dinner was bush style with luminaries and lanterns to light up the area. We had lamb and impala, interesting selection. The impala was quite tasty, not gamey at all. We returned to our cabin at 9:30 or so, ready to go to sleep. Sad we didn't have more time to enjoy the room. It had a huge 4 poster bed with mosquito netting draped over it. The floors were African hardwood. The bathroom was as large as the bedroom, with a large claw foot tub, walk-in closet, double sinks and walk-in shower. There was a deck on 2 sides, so we could watch animals without being in too much danger. There was also a private pool just in front of the deck. In front of that was a huge open meadow area where animals were often viewed. Someone had had an elephant drinking out of their pool that morning. I took a hot bath since it had been quite chilly on the game run. Mel and I had both been wrapped in the blanket they provided. Mel took a hot shower then we hit the sack to be ready for the next day - up at 5:30!
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