In the Beginning…

If you haven’t yet read our introduction, to the Shindzela journey, you can find it here: Our latest expedition – Shindzela in the Timbavati.

Right, so to be 100% honest, our journey actually really started on Thursday night with a trip to OR Tambo International Airport (ORT for short) to fetch our guest of honor: Bern’s mom! This was super special for all of us as this was the first time she was joining us on a holiday like this. That being the case, there were plenty of laughs, good memories and big smiles all around for the entire holiday.

The Road Trip

Queue 5am on Friday 5 August…

The map below gives you an idea of the distance we had to cover, before 14:00, as this was when lunch was served! Having never driven the road from the Pretoria side before, we had no real idea of how long this would take. So we took some extra precautions and left a couple of hours earlier!

The clock

This was all good and well, because before we knew it, we were in Dullstroom to collect the most amazing cuckoo clock that we had purchased a year before. Let me tell you, the Dullstroom Clock Shop is one of those places that you absolutely have to see. The number of weird and wonderful clocks is simply outstanding!

From there, we took a drive down the road to…

The pancakes

If you talk to any South African about Harrie’s Pancakes, they will immediately know what you are on about. So we decided that it would be completely remiss of us to not stop by and have breakfast at Harrie’s. Fast forward about an hour, and we were all complete, utterly and totally full to the brim. If you enjoy sweet or savoury pancakes, then Harrie’s is an absolute MUST.

The drive

With Dullstroom firmly in our rear-view mirrors, we finally hit the long(ish) road to Shindzela. While you might think that this would be a boring trip, those who know the road up through Ohrigstad and Hoedspruit will know that is is both stunningly beautiful, and incredibly fun to drive. Just see the pictures below for an example!

The Camp

After a long day’s drive, and arriving at the Timbavati Main Gate around 12:00, we took it upon ourselves to celebrate (a little bit) in the car and take a slow drive through the reserve that we had been waiting so long to visit. The next 90 minutes (the time it takes from the main Timbavati gate to Shindzela) absolutely flew by. On arrival at Shindzela, we were blown away by the friendly and warm greeting we received, as well as the help offered to get our bags to our rooms.

However, after our slightly longer drive, we had to make haste to get to lunch after which the first game drive of the trip was to begin!

Before this section gets a bit too long, we are going to take a short break. But fear not, we will be back shortly with some juicy details on the first evening’s activities!