A bit of web research turned up Ciske, and the Hluhlala Guest House where I stayed for the weekend. Ciske is a great host, made me feel most welcome and kicked me out the door within minutes to send me to the Emdoneni Cat Sanctuary where I saw African Wildcats, Caracal and Serval. The highlight was meeting a cheeta, a pretty surreal experience I am sure that you'll agree. When I returned Ciske had organised a delicious lamb supper! :)
The following day I decided to head North to the beach at Sodwana Bay. There the guys at Sodwana Bay Lodge found space for me on a dive accompanied by a dive master. Another great day under the African sun and it was back to Hluhluwe for supper at the Protea Hotel.
An early start, with a packed lunch and I set of the spend the morning on Safari, by VW Polo, in the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Park. Wow! Highlights included a lone elephant, zebra, & giraffe...but next time I am going to take longer as I didn't manage to track down the big cats.
As I didn't have to catch my flight until the Sunday evening I spent the final day on a last ditch attempt to track down those elusive big cats in the Mfolozi section of the park. Unfortunately, still no luck...and I think Safari definitely requires more time and patience. By the time I hit the N2 again at Junction 375 I was feeling the pinch in terms of getting my hire car back, and making my flight. It's great fun travelling by the skin of your teeth, and South Africa's motorways are great! So needless to say I needn't have worried.
When I got the King Shaka International Airport the guys at Hertz were a pleasure to deal with, the BA lounge offered a much needed shower, and best of all BA upgraded me to First Class for the trip home! So flat beds in 1st and I arrived back at LHR ready and raring to get on with a new weeks work!
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