Rocking on Rovos Rail and wonderful wildlife

[love_the_life]

And outside



Out the back

 

[love_the_life]

Common areas of the lodge

Bar area








Lunch was served out on the deck

 

[love_the_life]

Our first game drive had us looking for cheetah. This one was found in the south of the concession and luckily we saw her on this day as she moved out of the area the next day.

 

[love_the_life]

At Exeter River, things were a little different from Ngala. For one thing, the wake up call came at 5.30 am, half an hour later and was a telephone call rather than a knock at the door. Lunch was a different set up, not a buffet, rather a plate of salad, usually a burger type dish or on one day a curry, with a side dish. This made lunches quite a light meal. Two of our dinners were in the BOMA (large open area with a fire and barbecue) and two in the restaurant. Other things were the same, even to the same tablecloths used for morning coffee and sundowners on our game drives.

Sabi Sand is well known for leopard sightings and this was one of the reasons we decided to include time at a lodge here. We were not disappointed - we had many close encounters with these magnificent creatures over our four night stay.

Young female




Same female during a morning drive

 

[love_the_life]

As we came out from dinner on the second night we saw a leopard walk across the area where the jeeps were parked, just up from where we were standing. It was a large male and he seemed to be going somewhere with a purpose as he did not look left or right. The next day we found him in the park and followed him for quite a while. The difference between him and the smaller female was easy to see.

He looked up at us in the jeep as he walked past - actually you could have reached down and patted him (if you wished to become a statistic that is).


We followed him along the dry river bed - he was a big cat!

 

[love_the_life]

On our last morning we were lucky to find a female and cub. There had been two cubs but one had died. Craig, our guide, was hopeful that this one would survive as the female had not been able to successfully raise a cub in the past. Again we followed them for quite a while. As PF said, one of the advantages of private reserves is that you can go off road for really up-close viewing.

Walking together


Like mother like baby - matching tails


Mum keeping an eye out


Just chilling together!

 

[love_the_life]

No doubt a fair few of you are now bored witless with the cat pics! Sorry, but they were fabulous!

To mix it up a bit, here are some hyena cubs. There was a den with three mothers and their litters - one set were a few weeks old, one set were beginning to get their spots and the others were quite spotty. The den is an abandoned termite mound, though the mothers had moved to this den a few weeks before.

The mothers were particularly long suffering and patient as they fed the cubs (they know their own and only feed them). Sometimes they had a very resigned look on their faces!

 

[love_the_life]

And mother and baby

 

[Pushka]

Hyena babies are almost cute.

 

[love_the_life]

Almost? They actually surprised me - very cute and entertaining. They do have big teeth though!
The tiny ones were like little bear cubs and were unsteady on their feet. The older ones were playing rough-house with each other or practising their bone crunching. The poor mothers had to put up with them!

Long suffering mum with older cub

And see if I can squeeze in here for a feed

Baby cub


I'll just roll around a bit and look cute

 

[love_the_life]

Pushka, you must talk MrP into a trip. I know you don't do confined animals but these are free and in the wild - just amazing!

 

[Pushka]

Pushka, you must talk MrP into a trip. I know you don't do confined animals but these are free and in the wild - just amazing!

I know - I am very keen. If he wont go then I will solo it.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I know - I am very keen. If he wont go then I will solo it.

You can come with us next time we go Honestly it is our absolute best thing. Before we went on this trip Mr FM said we must stop going to Africa, but by the end he was declaring he can never get enough....

 

[JohnM]

You can come with us next time we go Honestly it is our absolute best thing. Before we went on this trip Mr FM said we must stop going to Africa, but by the end he was declaring he can never get enough....

I think heroi_ is less addictive....

 

[love_the_life]

Lions had killed a buffalo and had feasted. They were so full they could hardly move. Vultures were waiting more or less patiently in the tree nearby though one was chancing its luck on the ground and trying to get a piece of the action. No hope though; as soon as he moved within 10 metres of the kill, one of the lions would make it obvious that it was a very bad move on his part. Vulture then would saunter nonchalantly off and then wait and try again, with the same result.

Vulture at 11 o'clock


But lion was so full he could hardly move


The next day the vultures had the kill to themselves. The lions had eaten their fill and left.


And the next day when we went past it was picked clean!

 

[love_the_life]

We had not come across rhino at Ngala even though they were around so it was good to have several lots at Exeter River. The scar on the female's forehead is actually a bullet hole. She had been shot but luckily with a low power rifle and the lodge managed to sedate her and have a vet check her out. The wound healed on its own so she was a very lucky rhino!

 

[love_the_life]

There were many other animals - all the usual suspects - and so as not to totally bore people, I will refrain from posting yet more animal pics. We flew back to JNB, Dr LtL flew straight home and we spent a couple of nights at the IC Sandton. It must have the smallest club lounge I have seen for a city IC! The hotel reminded me very much of the Adelaide IC in that there was a central atrium and rooms arranged around that. It was pleasant, but you know we preferred the feel of the airport IC. The shopping mall adjacent is huge but nothing that I needed/wanted caught my attention. There were plenty of designer shops - a la Gucci and interestingly with Woolworths taking control of the company, Country Road had a store there. On the first day we visited, Friday morning, it was pretty quiet but it was much busier on Saturday. The only thing we had planned for J'burg was a half day tour to get an overview of the city. It was interesting but I don't think I would recommend the guide. Some of his comments rubbed us. However, it was good to fleetingly see different areas of the city and recognise its historical background.

Back to the airport to discover the flight was delayed (45 minutes so not so bad). Shongololo lounge was OK but packed before some of the other flights left. On to QF64 and I must say service was pretty ordinary. We had 3A & 3B on the refurbished bird so it was a reasonably quiet cabin. The FAs just seemed to be 'all over the shop'. Certainly service was nowhere as professional as on the way over. The other thing I noticed on this flight (maybe I've been lucky in the past) was the lack of toilets as part of the refurb. There were 3 to service all of business downstairs as well as PE. As it was an overnight flight a lot of the pax changed into PJs and of course then there was a very long queue in the morning while they changed back into day clothes. And all I wanted was a quick wee before breakfast! Their location as well meant that FAs were working around everyone waiting for a loo.

Dr LtL reported that the FAs on her flight were actually quite rude. She was upstairs in an exit row so then there was a bit of discussion as to whether she could manage the door (she is mid 30's and very fit but looks quite young - a check of the Pax list would show her title as Dr which might indicate that she is an adult). She was holding her handbag and yes I know it's not allowed on take-off/landing; however, I would expect that an FA would offer to put it up for her - no, it was 'You can't hold that. You'll have to put it up'. When one is paying $5000+ for a seat one would hope to receive pleasant and helpful service. She travels internationally extensively on a variety of carriers and said that the FAs were really very poor on this flight.

Anyway we all arrived back safely so that's a bonus. Now it is just deciding where to go next.......

 

[Flying mermaid]

The other thing I noticed on this flight (maybe I've been lucky in the past) was the lack of toilets as part of the refurb. There were 3 to service all of business downstairs as well as PE. As it was an overnight flight a lot of the pax changed into PJs and of course then there was a very long queue in the morning while they changed back into day clothes. And all I wanted was a quick wee before breakfast! Their location as well meant that FAs were working around everyone waiting for a loo.

Dr LtL reported that the FAs on her flight were actually quite rude. She was upstairs in an exit row so then there was a bit of discussion as to whether she could manage the door (she is mid 30's and very fit but looks quite young - a check of the Pax list would show her title as Dr which might indicate that she is an adult). She was holding her handbag and yes I know it's not allowed on take-off/landing; however, I would expect that an FA would offer to put it up for her - no, it was 'You can't hold that. You'll have to put it up'. When one is paying $5000+ for a seat one would hope to receive pleasant and helpful service. She travels internationally extensively on a variety of carriers and said that the FAs were really very poor on this flight.

Anyway we all arrived back safely so that's a bonus. Now it is just deciding where to go next.......

We noticed the loo situation as well. I really liked the nose - have only sat in it before when it was F, but it worked well as J. However the morning queue was bad. Upstairs seems to have a better ratio. Unfortunately Crews can be patchy We were lucky to have good ones both ways this time. Did you find boarding a total shambles as well? We went to the BA lounge, as I prefer that to Shongololo so maybe had a bit further to walk. By the time we got to the gate and had our bags checked again, it was a total melee and didn't seem to be any priority boarding.

 

[love_the_life]

FM we had the same problems with boarding. We actually left the lounge as soon as the flight was called but by the time we got to the gate there was quite a queue of people for bag checking. There were 2 women in front of us who had taken a large bottle of water each from the lounge and were arguing the toss with the security guy as to why they should be able to take them on. When it was our turn it was a pretty cursory check as we said there were no liquids. I'm not sure how the priority boarding went at the start but the line was empty so we swanned on through and to give credit where it's due, they stopped the non-priority pax and scanned us through. I agree that service can be patchy; we've had some excellent FAs on flights including on QF63 on the way over. This time the (male) FA serving pre-dinner drinks somehow lost the lid of the gin bottle and was scrabbling around looking for it, so he just plonked my unopened can of tonic down next to the glass of gin (sans lemon/lime but with ice), no swizzle stick). Mr LtL ordered vodka and tonic, no tonic so they had to trundle off to get that. The FA (different from the first one) who returned with it proceeded to fill the glass with tonic and seemed a bit put out when Mr LtL said that he would do it (he does not like a lot of tonic) then she came back about 10 mins later and dropped a slice of lemon in the glass. It just sort of went on from there. Part of the rich tapestry of life though! I was more annoyed with the way DrLtL had been treated to be honest. I think I would have said something if it was me.
One thing I did like was the order form for breakfast - it was quite efficient.
Regarding the loos, the FA I spoke to while waiting said they all knew it was a mistake to take out the toilets but no one took any notice of what the crew said! The big problem was all the people wanting to get dressed, put their make-up on, clean their teeth etc. They were not quick! We had 1A & 2A on a non-refurbed on the way over. Seats were great though MrLtL is a very poor flyer and become quite unsettled about being so far up the front! Guess that puts paid to F travel in the future. Funny, he didn't mind row 3 on the refurb which is nearly in the same location (but I didn't tell him that). He prefers upstairs if possible but this was full on both legs.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Lucky you - I actually moved us from downstairs into the nose on the grounds that if we did get an unrefurbed we would get old F, rather than those nasty MK1s. We've only had them once. (on QF64 in March), but Mr FM is still complaining. . Unfortunately no subs when you want them.

Service doesn't sound good. I agree it is annoying when you have paid a fair bit of money for your kids tickets and they get poor service. In 2012 we paid for Miss FM for a round the world in F. She was travelling with us most of the time, but had to go back early for Uni. On QF12 she asked the crew to tidy up her bed as it was getting close to landing, but no-one bothered. In the end she took it all off herself - I was pretty cross about that as well - I think we paid $18,000 for her fare, but she got sub standard treatment just because she was young! Don't know what the staff think - maybe they are young so they must be flying for free!

I actually squirmed my way to the front of the economy queue and showed my boarding pass to the attendant and she directed me to go to the left. no-one I asked at the melee seemed to have any idea and it was just a huge group of people I just couldn't see any signage.

Security was cursory - lovely friendly guy, who just asked if i had any liquids more than 100ml and when I said no didn't even look in the bag!