The honeymoon adventures begin

Monday 4th September
We were all packed up and ready to go… Our taxi arrived at 3:15pm – it was finally happening!

We got driven to the airport with plenty of time to spare, as we had already checked in. We (well, dad) had managed to secure firm business class seats which Harry was very excited about! We got through security very quickly and then waited around for our flight time, which we soon realised was going to be delayed (only by about an hour though). We queued to board the plane and when we got to the plane doors we showed the lady our boarding passes and she said ‘oh 56 E & D – come with me!’… we followed her and as soon as we turned left I knew what was coming! Dad had been in contact with the pilot and we had been bumped up to first class! When he saw it, Harry was like a little kid on Christmas day – I was so happy he was going to experience it as an early 30th treat (and as a wonderful start to our honeymoon of course). We got ourselves comfortable and ready for take off with a glass of celebratory champers.

Once we had taken off we then had dinner, which was amazing!

After dinner, we were pretty pooped so we had our beds made up and got some sleep (a rare occasion on a plane)!

Tuesday 5th September
A couple of hours before landing we woke up and had some breakfast on the plane.

We landed and were sad to leave first class but excited for our adventures ahead. Passport control was slow but once we got through and got our bags we were greeted by a man waiting for us at arrivals to drive us to our hotel in Sandton (Sandton Sun) about half an hour drive away. We checked in and explored the hotel, which was pretty impressive!

We lay in the sun by the pool for a bit and then had some lunch in the restaurant while we waited for our room to be available.

When it was ready we went up to our room and we found it had all been done up for us and they had left some little surprises for our honeymoon.

Once we were settled in, we wandered through the mall to Nelson Mandela square and checked out all the restaurants there for our return after safari. We had been recommended this area as a safe area in Jo’burg.

After our wander around we went back to our hotel to enjoy a glass of fizz before dinner and then went down for dinner on the deck with a view over Sandton. The Pina colada was top notch!

Wednesday 6th – Harry’s 30th birthday!
We woke up, packed up and went down for breakfast in the hotel. Then at 9am we were picked up by our transfer minibus to take us to Madikwe where we were going on safari. We were driven by a nice man called Collen and the journey took 4.5 hours. Towards the end of the drive as we entered the game reserve we started to see some wildlife! We saw… A huge herd of elephants (including babies), zebra and giraffes… before we’d even arrived at the safari lodge!

We then arrived at where we were staying… Madikwe Hills.

We were greeted by some very friendly staff who showed us round the place. It was truly amazing, like nothing I’ve ever seen or stayed at before!

From the reception area, you followed these risen walkways to different parts of the hotel (to keep it all above ground because of the wildlife).

We were shown to our lodge (number 4) and we were absolutely speechless…

The view from our balcony (as we were shown round our room we were greeted with elephants at the watering hole)…

We then went to the main lodge to have a look around. There was a pool and decking area where all the meals are served overlooking the reserve and a water hole where animals regularly gather.

We sat and had some lunch with a view here and then after lunch went and got ready for our first afternoon game drive. We were very excited!

I loved my new safari hat!

We met at the meeting point and were introduced to our game drive guides for the week, Brian and Charlie – both really nice guys. We jumped on board one of the jeeps and headed out on the drive!

We were paired up with Paula and Richard (another couple on safari there) for all the game drives during our stay.

The game drive was three hours. Brian is the driver of the vehicle and guide and Charlie sits up on the front of the vehicle helping Brian by helping him to avoid pot holes, rocks, tree stumps and various other things in the road, as well as looking out for wildlife and prints/tracks in the sand. They are a great team and both such knowledgeable guys!

During the drive we saw so much wildlife including the following: Stone Buck, Black winged kite, Impala, Antelope, Warthog, Guinea fowl, Zebra, Elephant, Giraffe, Krimsen crested shrike, Jackel, Banded mongoose, Kori Bustard and probably the highlight, two lion who had just killed and feasted on a Kudu. I took so many photos but here were some of the best…

We continued to drive until sunset, when we then pulled up and Brian said, ‘Right we are going to get out here and have a drink while the sun goes down’. I thought he was joking but he absolutely wasn’t! Seeing as we had just seen the lion not that far away with their caught prey I thought he was absolutely bonkers, but once we had got out the truck and they had set up the drinks and snacks, I soon relaxed and just took in the surroundings and it was my favourite part of the afternoon! Giraffes were literally wandering all around us!

Once it was dark, we drove back to the lodges with Charlie on the lookout up front with his torch for any nocturnal animals. We didn’t see much.

Once we were back, I had arranged a private dinner on our lodge decking for Harry’s birthday. I had Kingklip fish and Harry had Oryx, it was lovely, and to finish it off, the chef had made Harry a birthday cake!