The drive from the main gate to the lodge is about 15 minutes and can be utilized as a mini-game drive.
From a spiritual perspective, vultures are linked to transformation. If you see a dead vulture, it could signify you’re nearing the end of a period of change.
Did you know?
A group of vultures is called a committee, venue, or volt.
In flight, a flock of vultures is a kettle, and when the birds are feeding together at a carcass, the group is called a wake.
There are 23 vulture species in the world, and at least one type of vulture is found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica, and 9 species are found in South Africa.
Vultures enjoy their own holiday, International Vulture Awareness Day, celebrated annually on the first Saturday of September.
Our tented accommodation! Not what I was expecting at all. In fact at the end of our stay, neither of us wanted to leave.
As the lodge was opened the week before our arrival, there were still some tweaks to be completed, but to arriving guests, these would not be apparent at all.
A view of the mountain from our MOST comfortable bed.
When I awoke in the morning, this was the view from the deck at the front of our tent.
Once the mist burnt off and the thermals heated up, vultures in their dozens took to the sky.
The property does have a pool and my wife was the one brave enough to take a dip. I have to say that at every property we stayed at where there was a pool, she would be changed and in before the suitcases were unpacked.
Looking like part of a movie set, these trees were covered in these structures.
This is a female Golden Orb spider and the forest was filled with their webs.
With the help of the staff, my wife made it to the top of this look-out rock. My excuse for NOT tackling the obstacle? Someone needed to take the summit attempt photographs.
That is my story and I am sticking to it.
This is the only Baobab on the property and one of the few in the area.
The baobab is a prehistoric species which predates both humankind and the splitting of the continents over 200 million years ago. Native to the African savannah where the climate is extremely dry and arid, it symbolises life and positivity in a landscape where little else can thrive.
A common Arab legend regarding the upside-down tree is that the devil plucked up the tree, thrust the branches into the soil, and left the roots in the air. A Burkina Faso legend tells that when God planted the baobab tree it kept walking, so God pulled it up and planted it upside down to keep it in place.
The baobab was a vain tree and looked down on God’s other creations such as the zebra and hyena. God became angry and ripped the tree out of the soil. Not wanting to completely eradicate the tree, God inserted the tree into the soil upside down with its roots exposed.
Whatever YOU choose to believe about the tree, it has strong spiritual energy and will be of interest to visitors here over the years to come.
Just one of the areas that we walked through.
The lodge is involved in a series of projects, one of which is the Permaculture farm near the entrance to the property. When my wife and I visited, we were uncertain as to what we were going to find.
For those who do not know what this is: Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking.
And what we DID find astounded and amazed us, given what has been achieved in a short space of time.
More of this in another post.
Sundowner time as we watch the sun crash behind the western horizon.
The sunsets in the Lowveld are truly breathtaking and it is difficult not to wax poetic about them.
From the outside looking in…
The deck of the main building is gently lit and kept the darkness at bay. Although the camp is unfenced, there are few predators that roam this conservancy (leopards are known to be in the area) which means that guests can safely walk to their rooms accompanied by one of the lodge staff.
What better way to end off a perfect day than with a delicious meal?
All the evening meals that we enjoyed offered a choice of a starter. mains and dessert.
I have to admit that I did have the dessert as research so that I could inform you, dear reader, what to expect.
Breakfast had both continental as well as full English options and also there was no lunch per se, there was a high tea that was served before we headed out on afternoon game drive and sundowners at the foot of the mountain, with vultures above to their roosting spots before the sun and the thermals, vanished.
To find out more about the lodge and what they offer, click on the logo above to visit their website.
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