After Kruger, we stopped here for a couple days before heading back to Johannesburg. Our lodge is in the middle of a small game reserve so lots of antelopes cross the gate every day to come and feed on our part of the area. With the Blyde river in the front, we hear Hippos all nights so if getting a good night of sleep is your priority, this is not the place.
The more interesting thing to do/see in this area is probably visiting the Maholoholo Animal Conservatory nearby which rescues injured animals to help them get back on their feet again. Those that can heal fully are released back into the wild, those rescued at infant stage are kept here permanently because they never had the chance to learn how to hunt to be able to survive on their own, same for those so heavily injured that they lost their ability to hunt such as vultures with only one wing left, very sad indeed.
The area is also famous for their African Silk production so we could not miss the chance to spoil us with some very nice bed sheets. The only off-putting thing about this is that lot of shops while advertising for African silk does, in fact, sell silk made-in-China… Globalization has its price, I guess.
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Our “kingfisher” bungalow with river view at Blyde River lodge, a decent place, nothing luxurious but not too bad either. Breakfast was disappointing but dinner was quite good.Pool area of the lodge but the autumn weather didn’t call for a dipOur lodge is only one gate away from a small game reserve so wild animals wander very frequently around our room. These always came in the early morning.J still thinks this is funny. Well…Getting very close to a cheetah at Maholoholo animal conservatory. All animals were found wounded or poisoned. The people there are doing a great job in healing them, knowing that most of them can never be released back into the wild again because of their injuries.The staffs are giving extensive educations to the animals’ biggest enemy as well – human beings!Vultures are often poisoned because some legends said that eating them would give you the supernatural power they are believed to have for being able to spot their preys from very high abovePretty heavy birds !
Such a beautyNot much of a beauty, a little scary indeed. We were told that the wild dogs are “killers with a heart” because they kill their catch immediately by breaking their necks. Lions, on the opposit, eat their preys alive cause that way the meat and blood stay warm for several hours… Life is in fact not at all peaceful in the bush!The eagle liked being caressed on the neck, he even bowed his head
Giraffes are normally very shy of human presence. This one though, was pretty cool and let us touch him for a while. He’d probably gotten used to it after living here for so long.Driving into Blyde River CanyonIt’s the third biggest canyon in the world, much smaller than Grand Canyon but still very impressiveBlyde River waterfall, this part deep in the canyon does not see sun light very often so the water here was really cold, like real icy cold. J dared me so we both went in. It was so cold that you bones hurt but we had a good laugh in the end. So it was all worth it.Trekking paths on the way back from the waterfallWe bought our supply of fruits for the road from these street vendors a lot because they were the best, coming straight from the farms nearby. Looking back I wish we could take back more with us to Germany. How I miss these juicy mangos…Wild flowerOften we just walked around the hotel park on foot cause we were told there’s no really dangerous game living on the site. Giraffes are actually really shy, they always run away when we approach them. What a shame!
This was the closest I could get to any of them. They ran away right after this picture was taken.
