On Day 8, we woke up a little later, about 7 am, and packed up our stuff and headed to our final breakfast at Marataba! We said goodbye to our beautiful canvas castle and piled in our van that would be taking us to the local airstrip where we'd be getting on a tiny plane to fly to our next stop!
The transfer plane was the main limitation on the size and weight of our luggage. The weight was no problem- I think we were less than half the pounds we were allowed, but the size restrictions were a little tricky. No hard sided luggage was allowed (because they have to fit it through a small hole in the side of the plane), so I bought us two new duffles, figuring they would be useful in moving Landon to college next summer, and borrowed another from a friend. We still had the two duffles I'd purchased for Iceland, so that made up our set of five and everything made it in the cargo hold and we were off!
Claire was VERY nervous about the tiny plane.
James was too. But we landed safe and sound about 25 minutes after taking off, saving many many hours of driving because we flew over reserves that roads don't cut through.
We LOVED our canvas castle and the mountainside beauty of Marataba, but wow, were we blown away by the privacy and luxury of Mateya. At most the lodge only holds 10 guests and for the days we were there, we were the only ones.
The lodge was originally built as a private home for Susan Mathis, a wealthy widow from Atlanta, Georgia. Her husband passed away fairly young, they didn't have children, and she decided South Africa was her next love and moved there to live 6 months out of the year. She collected a lot of African art and ultimately bought 100 acres of land near the Madikwe Game Reserve and decided to build a home.
Her friends thought she was nuts, and South Africans said she'd never be able to do it. "Just watch me," she told them all.
Susan Mathis proved them all wrong. Against all odds, this tough, independent, wealthy widow from Atlanta, Ga., designed, built and furnished an ultra-luxury safari lodge in the African bush, 12,000 miles from home.
Her husband, Harvey Mathis was only 57 when he died of a sudden heart attack while watching television at home. He and Susan had traveled the world together, but went only once to Africa, a place he never really liked.
After being widowed, Mathis made three trips around the world. But in every place she couldn't overcome the memories of the wonderful times she had with her husband.
In the end, she was drawn to South Africa, the only place where she didn't have fond memories of her husband. "This place had such a pull. I couldn't see me anywhere else," she said.
She never really considered remarrying. Most of the available men were either too old or too poor. "Men are only interested in one thing, money," she said. "I didn't want to be a nurse or a purse."
Mathis did fall in love again, but this time it was with South Africa. The beauty, the animals, and especially the people she met, pulled her there. "The people are genuine and wonderful," she said.
She wanted to share her new love with friends and family. So she decided to build her own luxurious safari lodge and invite them to visit. Just five guest cottages, a house for her and another guest house. "I could afford it so I did it," she said.
For many years the lodge was only for friends and word-of-mouth guests who were connected to friends. Beyonce and Jay-Z stayed there! After she passed about 18 months ago, everything went to a trust and now the lodge is commercially available to book for a stay. 70% of the revenue from the lodge must go to conservation. Her trust pays for the staff and they said the lodge is not expected to turn a profit and doesn't have to, it's for people to enjoy the beautiful land around it, pay to keep it going, and keep her conservation work funded.
And you guys, the lodges themselves are absolutely spectacular. James and I had one (building 2) and the kids had another (building 3).
It was the most spectacular place we'll probably ever stay.
I walked by this window and out past our little pool I saw a giraffe walking across the savannah. Another time it was a family of elephants. I really can't believe we were there.
I also can't believe we were the only guests. The bathroom was my favorite part, that bathtub is the stuff of (my) dreams.
The shower was James's.
The outside shower was also hit.
We all had champagne (or sparkling apple juice) waiting in our rooms when we checked in.
The kids were fans.
It was a bit of a walk to the main part of the lodge where there was a gym, a beautiful library, a giant living room with bar and seating areas, a very fancy dining room, and large decks connecting it all.
The Reserve maintains a watering hole and we loved watching animals wander up to it while we were eating our own meals.
When we arrived we had lunch ready for us and we got our first taste of the gorgeous china and place settings we'd get to see at every meal.
They were all from Susan's private collection and I'm not sure they ever repeated one.
We got dressed and ready for our first Madwike safari and met our awesome guide Aiden back on the main deck where high tea was set out.
A high tea that I could eat every bit of!! There were fresh (gluten-free!) crepes with chicken salad, lettuce wraps with a bean and avocado salad, fresh fruit, fresh veggies, and these unbelievable milk tarts.
I'll talk about our first game drive in the next post, so this will just be highlights of the lodge. We ate dinner in the living room next to a roaring fire the first night. Each place had this adorable menus from a local artist that we could keep.
The kids learned about mid-meal palette-cleansing sorbets and I ate ostrich.
The other two nights we ate in the fancy dining room at James and the kids' request. With two roaring fire places flanking the table, it was surprisingly cozy among the grandeur.
We loved every piece of art. It was so fun to explroe every room- each piece was unique and beautiful.
Like this hand-carved door. Spectacular.
Even the glassware was unique to each meal.
Every meal was a delight.
The chef, Cuxton, had worked there for 24 years (!!) (the staff has almost no turn over; the housekeepers had been there 15 years, the managers- a married couple- for over 10) and he made me fresh gluten-free bread every day, saying he was excited to try new recipes. It was the only fresh bread I've had so far in my gluten-free life and it was incredible.
We got a tour of the wine celler, all Susan's collection, where wine was selected each night for our meal.
One woman I couldn't keep out of my mind during our stay was my Grandma Jo. She LOVED collecting beautiful tableware and setting a table for every meal. She loved art and was so creative herself. She would have loved every inch of Susan's masterpiece.
This sculpture and bead flowers greeted us at the front each day and I saw my grandma in the beautiful beads.
I could have taken one million pictures and I nearly did. I also fell in love with this little elephant salt and pepper shaker. We asked the managers where they came from and they said that Susan bought them from Neiman Marcus in the 70's and guests always ask about them.
Thanks to a Google image search, I found a one on eBay for $20! They couldn't believe it. It now sits on our table at home and makes me very happy.
The individual lodges didn't have wifi, so you could only use your phone or computer in the main room. The manager said Susan did that on purpose - that it made people gather together and talk around the dinner table instead of retreating to their rooms and phones when they were looking for entertainment. They told stories of her sitting at the dining table each night with the various guests, telling stories and hearing theirs and I just loved it. I'll talk more about her conservation work when I write about our game drives, but she did incredible things for the Madikwe Reserve.
Fires were lit in our bedrooms every night when we got back from dinner and I'd sit, finish my wine, and read or just chat with James. We were in bed early and up earlier, but felt very lucky and pampered and rested the whole way through.
"Lag liv," imperfectly translated, means "law life" in Swedish. I'm half Swedish and I was in law school back when I wrote my first post in 2006, so Lag Liv I became and Lag Liv I still am!
Now I'm a full-time attorney and all-the-time wife and mom of three. We live a busy life in Dallas, Texas. You can read more about me and my cast of characters in the About Me and My Blog page. Happy reading and if you'd like to contact me, my email is lagliv [at] gmail [dot] com.
