Safari – Phinda Reserve, South Africa

March 2020 – A safari was our motivation for out trip to South Africa. Adam had wanted to go on a safari for years and asked for it to be his present for his 40th birthday. Since he mentioned it a few months shy of his 40th, I couldn’t pull it off that year but knew it was a bucket list trip I wanted to plan. A good Chicago friend gave me recommendations on safaris she’d visited in Kenya and Rwanda and for a while we thought that would be our same plan. When United started a nonstop flight to Cape Town, we decided to change course and looked for a safari in South Africa. We knew this would cut down on our travel time and give us a few extra days to explore. As luck would have it, we received additional recommendations on safaris within South Africa. &Beyond has world class properties across Africa and we booked our safari with &Beyond Phinda. Phinda is a private reserve located on the eastern side of South Africa. The nice feature of a private reserve is that they may travel off the set path which isn’t always possible in a national park like Kruger. Another aspect we loved about &Beyond was their belief in conservation and in supporting the local communities. Being such an animal lover, it was very important to me to know that our trip was going to help to give back.

But let me be honest, while I was excited for our safari, I was still nervous. I knew that the reserve was going to be in the middle of nowhere. And while the middle of nowhere is a dream to many, I love to fall asleep to the noise of city traffic. Nature and I are not one. I do not like bugs, snakes, poisonous plants…you get the idea, so this trip was definitely going to be a bit out of my comfort zone.

On our way to our lodge we came across an incredible sight and we quickly realized we were somewhere special. Crossing the road ahead were zebras and giraffes just calmly grazing from the trees as they walked they past. We were now part of their world and it was remarkable to witness.

We arrived at our lodge and our butler, Michael showed us around the property. Vlei lodge has six rooms and a main house for meals, cocktails and meeting your game driver and guides.

Walking to our room, we stopped in our tracks the first time we saw the Nyalya huddled under our cabin. It is ironic how in a few short days, I thought of them the same way I thought of deer. They were everywhere! But the first time, it was a bit startling and exciting.

The suite was beautiful with its own private splash pool. We quickly changed into our swimwear to enjoy the amenities. While we did’t see it personally, we heard it was common to see animals, even elephants, drinking out of your pool! Michael, did warn us to make sure we kept our doors shut as the monkeys could be quite cheeky and love to get into rooms and eat all the snacks while causing a ruckus. More on those cheeky monkeys later…

Post our dip in the pool we walked back to the main lodge for lunch. One thing that doesn’t happen on safari, going hungry. Happiness, our cook served us a tasty lunch before we headed out for our first game drive.

We only had one other couple on our afternoon drive and they had seen all of the big five except a lion. Since it was their last night we set out to find a lion pride. We were very fortunate to end up with Wade as our ranger and Jabs as our spotter. They were incredibly knowledgeable and had a great team chemistry that often left us laughing.

As luck would have it, another ranger called about spotting lions and we sped off to find them. Upon arriving, I was blown away by what we saw; a few lionesses and cubs just sleeping out in the open! Wade explained to us that they had just had a large meal and this was common for them to sleep it off afterward. (I equated this to how I feel on Thanksgiving.) It was wild watching the cubs play and being so close! How could anything top this?

After spending some time observing, we drove a short distance to view the two male brothers of the pride. One had a scar on this face, and it felt like I was in a real life Lion King! At one point, one of the males woke up and walked extremely close to our vehicle. Wade said that as long as we didn’t make any sudden movements, the lions would not see us as a threat and in that moment I didn’t bat an eyelash. It was an incredible experience.

We stayed for a bit longer and had the opportunity to watch the pride get up and wander over for a quick drink. I still couldn’t fully wrap my head around seeing them in such a natural habitat.

We left the lions and we ventured over to a large body of water that contained a pod of hippos. Maybe because I am naturally drawn to any animal that takes on the overall shape of a chubby bulldog, I really enjoyed the time we spent watching the hippos interact. I loved watching them play in the water and seeing the babies partake in the fun.

By this time, it was starting to get dark so we stopped for cocktails to watch the sunset before trying to catch a sighting of some of the nocturnal animals within the reserve.

After making our way back to the lodge, we had cocktails and another delicious meal before heading back to our suite.

Even though you are sitting for a good portion of the day, Adam and I both found ourselves tired by the end of evening. Knowing that we had a 5am wake up call also made it easy to call it a night. Even though our suite was only 50 yards or so from the main lodge, we had a guide walk us back as it was pitch black and you don’t know what you may encounter on your journey!

After our next morning game drive and breakfast we came back to our room and had our first encounter with those cheeky monkeys. Cheeky is one way to describe them! They were quite mischievous and definitely not intimated by us. While we retreated to our room, they took over our deck wrestling and running around the roof!

The next few days on our drives were equally as incredible. We saw so many animals including a cheetah, warthogs, wildebeests, buffalo, scary snakes, and one of my favorites, African elephants. When Adam and I went to Thailand, it was really hard for me to visit the elephant sanctuary and learn how much the elephants had suffered at the hands of humans. Seeing the elephants at Phinda was emotional for me for all the right reasons. We found a herd of at least 20 elephants playing and living freely. It was such a wonderful experience to see them so happy and content.

In fact, when a rather large bull came out of the forest, we were the ones that quickly backed up to allow him to move on his way. The elephants at Phinda are definitely the ones in charge!

On our last evening, we came back from dinner to find warm bath waiting. The staff at the Vlei lodge really do think of everything. It was a wonderful way to relax.

We originally planned to spend four nights at Phinda before heading back to the Western Cape for our final few days. We left a day early in an attempt to get an earlier flight back to the States. The COVID-19 pandemic broke out while we had been traveling. When we left, for our trip, neither our home state or South Africa had any cases. 10+ days later, the world was a different place; borders were being closed and we thought it might be best if we attempted to get back early. The staff at Phinda was incredible and so helpful with the last minute change. They helped finalize our arrangements which included finding a driver for our three hour drive back to the airport.

I can’t say enough about our experience. While we were sad to cut the trip a day short, even a city gal like myself is looking forward to another safari. My anxiety was running high with all the uncertainty over the virus yet out on the game drives, with no cell service, it was easy to get lost in nature and wrapped up in the moment. Maybe next time I’ll even be brave enough to try the outdoor shower, but probably not. Thank you to everyone at &Beyond Phinda for such a wonderful experience!