Durban is our port of call today and we will get off for a 4 night overland safari adventure to Thanda Safari Private Game Reserve.  I will be updating this post with more details about our Safari planning process after I get back to San Diego.

DURBAN

Harbor Pilots normally board using an accommodation ladder lowered down to a speed boat pacing alongside outside the harbor.  Due to heavy seas, Durban was using a helicopter to ferry the pilots to the ships.  Early this morning I could hear the helicopter approach the sea view pool and lower the pilot down to the deck.  You can read a story about the helicopter transfers HERE

IMMIGRATION

South Africa requires a face-to-face immigration check and this took place in the Main Dining Room on Deck 3.  Yesterday we received a letter that described the process.  Everyone on independent overland adventures was in the first group, followed by the HAL overlands and then by deck, starting with the lower decks and working up.

Immigration checks were scheduled to start at 7:15 am but they didn’t actually start until 7:37 am.  Our driver was scheduled to pick us up at 9 am so we weren’t in any real hurry.  As normal, people were lining up outside the MDR before 7 am.  We went down at 7:40 and joined the line back by the Ocean Bar.  We finished our checks a little after 8 am.

HEADING TO ST LUCIA

Susan, Cindy, Brad, Judy, and I, headed down to the wharf a little before 9 am as the five of us started our safari.  We used On Safari Africa for our transfer from Durban to Thanda.  We decided to stop in St Lucia en route to take the two-hour Hippo and Croc Tour on the St Lucia Estuary.  This tour was arranged by our transfer company, On Safari Africa.

For those not leaving Durban a shuttle was available to U-Shaka Marine every thirty minutes.

Our driver, Mtoko, arrived exactly at 9 am and he was able to meet us near the gangway alongside the HAL buses.

The five of us had plenty of room in the 15-seat Toyota Hiace Commuter as we headed north on a modern freeway toward St Lucia, 150 miles away, or about 3 hours.  We stopped once for restrooms and to get some Rand in an ATM.

ST LUCIA HIPPO TOUR

Once we arrived in St Lucia around 12:40 pm, we had time for lunch at the Ocean Grill as our Hippo Tour didn’t start until 2 pm.  The food was fine, but the service was a little slow and we had to rush to get to the nearby starting point for the Hippo Tour.

Two flat bottom boats were leaving for the same 2-hour tour at about the same time.  One boat was full with over 50 people onboard while our boat, a little smaller, had only seven guests.  I’m not sure what accounted for the difference in the number of people on each boat.

We headed north up the St Lucia Estuary for about 90 minutes, hugging the coastline and pausing whenever hippos were spotted.

There were plenty of hippos, but the ones in the water were almost submerged with only the tops of their heads and back visible.

After we reached our turnaround point, we returned to port in the center of the Estuary at a much higher speed.

THE DRIVE TO THANDA

Back in the van, we sped north on a two-lane road.  This is coal country and dozens of trucks hauling coal were heading south toward Richards Bay.  To facilitate passing, cars, and trucks will drive on the shoulder whenever a passing car in the other direction starts to close, allowing the passing cars to drive down the centerline.  This works out well but is a little unnerving at first and requires all drivers to cooperate when cars are passing.

After about 90 minutes we turned onto a dirt road for 3.5 miles before arriving at the main gate to Thanda Safari Private Game Reserve.  The guard at the gate notified the lodge that we had arrived and they dispatched a driver in a Land Rover to pick us up, arriving in about 10 minutes.  The lodge is about 4 miles away and we took twenty minutes to get there after stopping once to see a small herd of zebras and a warthog.

THANDA SAFARI LODGE

Elevated, wooden sidewalks connect each suite with the main lodge.  As is typical for safari lodges, guests are not allowed to walk unescorted after dark.  Some lodges don’t have telephones so the times for dinner are fixed.  Thanda has telephones, and we could call for an escort at our convenience.  Meals here are served for our group as we arrived from a limited menu.   Some lodges may have one “seating” where everyone eats together.

Thanda has nine suites, each one about 2,300 sq feet.  Each suite has a bedroom, living room and a large bathroom with outdoor shower.  All the rooms have high, open vaulted ceilings.  On the large deck is a plunge pool, circular lounging bed and a small picnic table.  The mini bar is well stocked with wine, beer and other beverages and are available at no additional charge.  Wifi is very fast – over 23 Mbps.  A telephone is available to contact other rooms and the front desk.  There is also a large circular fireplace that faces the living room and the bedroom.  The bedroom has a large bed with mosquito netting, which we gather was more for ambience than anything else as we didn’t see any mosquitos during our visit.  We were cautioned not to leave our sliding doors open, especially those leading to the outdoor shower, as the Vervet monkeys will enter the suite and create a big mess.

DINNER

Dinner was at 7:30 pm and we called for our escort, Sipho, at 7:15 who arrived in a few minutes.  As we were walking to the lodge we saw Nyala and Kudu, along with Vervet monkeys along our path.  Our suite was the furthest away so as we walked back to the lodge we picked up Susan, then Cindy and Brad.

We were a few minutes early and we enjoyed some drinks in the lounge outside the dining room until our table was ready.

Our table was set up outside under a beautiful night sky.  Dinner included our choice of lamb, chicken or fish.  We had some of each at our table and they were all delicious.  The service was excellent.

After dinner, Sipho escorted us back to our suites and we got things ready for our 5:30 am game drive.