Travel: Zululand Fever!

Ridge editor Garth Johnstone visited Zululand Tree Lodge.

November 7, 2011. You could say it was the trifecta . . . a dream day of travel and tourism in the Kingdom of the Zulu.

After waking up in the luxurious surrounds of Zululand Tree Lodge (the rooms are deeply ensconced within the calming surrounds of a forest of fever trees, the visitors even more deeply ensconced in their cosy bedrooms looking out over said forest), we’d had the bright spark idea of visiting the Emdoneni Animal Care and Rehabilitation Centre near Bushlands, just down the drag from Zululand Tree Lodge.

What a great decision that was . . . from the African Wild Cat to Caracal, Serval and then Cheetah, this is your chance to get up close and very personal with Africa’s beautiful cats, many of whom are being rehabilitated to be returned to life in the wild.

All I can say is, make a plan to get there . . . see the cats and learn what makes each animal so special and so uniquely adapted for the African bush. A show is R150 per adult, concessions for kids . . . it’s worth every cent. Your highly informed host/guide/trainer also makes every effort to help you get that priceless picture. See our picture gallery below.

The gorgeous African Wild Cat at Emdoneni

Right, a great start, now for the afternoon’s events before a dinner under the KZN stars at the boma at the lodge.

Next on the agenda was a tour of Zululand Safari Lodge, just a few hundred metres up the road from Tree Lodge. Here, it’s all about self catering and the family experience. Prices are extremely reasonable, there is a large swimming pool, games room and boma for communal braaing, if that takes your fancy. While international tourists remain an important part of the market,  Zululand Safari Lodge increasingly aims at the domestic market.

See website for more details.

Before an exceptional dinner (breakfasts are also sumptuous, extremely generous affairs), we headed on to Ubizane farm, the land on which Tree Lodge and Safari Lodge are situated, for a relaxing game drive. There are no major predators here, so the drive is more informative than nervewracking, and takes in the sights and sounds of antelope, zebra, giraffe, white rhino and various impressive birds of prey.

We had a special 20 minutes parked alongside a watering hole where we observed a mother and adolescent male white rhino taking a lazy mud bath and bonding, unperturbed by our whirring cameras. Tragically, the adult male rhino who had completed the family unit, had been taken by poachers about six months ago, and our guide told us this was the first time he had seen the rhinos relaxing since that grim event. A special moment for us indeed.

Early morning game drives into Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park (just 15 minutes away by car) are taken every morning from Zululand Tree Lodge. While we didn’t make it this time round, we enjoyed a great day out . . . and will definitely be back for more. – Garth Johnstone