South Africa Day 5: Travel to Marataba and First Safari!

After 3 great nights in Cape Town, we were up early to fly to Johannesburg to start our safaris!

We really loved Cape Town- I'm so glad Kaleigh encouraged us to spend a few days there. I actually think we could have spent another to explore more of the cool little towns all along the peninsula and hike Table Mountain, but our itinerary didn't have room and I have zero regrets that we moved on to safaris when we did. It's just a note that I could absolutely see going back one day, maybe post-retirement, with just James and me.

Taking a domestic flights within South Africa was pretty easy- you can even carry on water or bottles of wine! Check-in and security were quick and then we waited to board a bus that went to the plane we'd take. The flight was 2 hours and we were met by a new guide and driver as soon as we landed to drive to our new home for 3 nights: Marataba Safari Lodge.

The drive took about 90 minutes (?) and we saw so many animals along the way! Baboons! Giraffes! An ostrich! Plus springboks, impalas, and even a rhino! We were clearly in a new part of South Africa.

Once we arrived at beautiful Marataba, we had a quick check-in, met our safari guide Njabulo (he'd be with us for the entirety of our stay, which was awesome), and then walked to our "tent".

It was SO much larger and more luxe than I ever imagined.

The kids' had one right next to ours- Landon took the big bed and the girls shared the bunks in the adjoining room.

The big copper tub was glorious and I took at least one bath a day while we were there.

I also used the outdoor shower. I am pro-hot water covering me in any format.

The lodges are surrounded by an electrified fence, but monkeys, warthogs, and tons of impalas come in and mingle with each other along the paths. We felt very safe, but there was always someone to walk you to your room any time you wanted accompaniment and someone always walked with us from the main room to our tents at night after dinner when it was dark.

This mama warthog and baby are in the photo above. I loved the warthogs - they ran with their tails high in the air, which cracked me up, and their faces and waddle-runs always reminded me of Maggie.

Pumba!

We got a little distracted with our incredible rooms, but Njabulo was waiting for us to go on our first sunset safari drive as soon as we were ready! The weather was beautiful and almost-warm, so kind of underestimated how much temperatures would drop as the sun went down.

Because soon, it was *freezing*. There were blankets in the jeep and we each brought our puffer jackets, but we bundeled up a lot more on future drives.

But the chill was largely forgotten as we immediately came across animals. Like hippos!

One showed off his big big mouth for us.

And giraffes and zebras too!

After the sunset our guide drove us to a bush dinner! (Another reason we should have bundled up, but we sort of missed the "dinner would be outside" detail in our welcome, probably because I was distracted by the giant bathtub.)

We came across a giant rhino next to the path as we drove with our red spotlight (red because it doesn't hurt the eyes of prey who see well at night). It was crazy! He almost looked fake until he ran off through the bush.

The chef was outside grilling tons of meat over an open flame and there were great salads and sides and bread to go with it. Our guide sat at our table with us and we got to hear all about his background and experience and the cool things he'd seen in Marakele. It was really lovely, and the stars were incredible, but man was it cold! I didn't take any pictures, even though it was so beautifully decorated and lit with candles and lanterns, but here's one of Cora staying warm.

We got back to our tents where I took the first of many baths in that magnificent tub and then we snuggled into beds -- beds we discovered the staff warmed with hot water bottles under the sheets! A delightful treat we discovered would continue in the jeeps for the morning ride. Our guide would be calling at 6 a.m. to wake us up and then we'd be off on our first sunrise drive!