Guillaume de Bassompierre
- Sep 29, 2016
- 2 min
Stuck in the Kruger (part 2)
Day 2 in the Kruger National Park is another fun chase for animals not yet seen and, particularly, the remaining three Big Five. While Guy, binoculars at the ready, takes the game of spotting game very seriously, Max only rouses interest when an animal has already been seen, a sometimes tricky affair in dense, albeit dry, forests of bush and thorn. Since Leanne is driving, we strategically position Guy behind her to keep a close watch on the right side of the road and I take
Leanne de Bassompierre
- Sep 28, 2016
- 3 min
Stuck in the Kruger (Part 1)
It is 1 a.m. and rain is pummeling the thatched roof of our rondavel at Rio Vista Lodges in Malalane, on the outskirts of the Kruger National Park. I can’t find sleep. Images of some of the emaciated impalas, withered elephants and scrawny giraffes trying to graze among lifeless trees we saw in the park today still haunt me and it feels good to hear rain coming down. Like the rest of the country, they too desperately need the rain. We arrived in the southern Kruger two days a
Leanne de Bassompierre
- Sep 12, 2016
- 4 min
The 'I' of BRICS in me
On a slow, solar-powered internet connection at Bulungula Lodge, on the Wild Coast, I manage to get a message through to a cousin of my late maternal grandfather, who lives between Durban and London. We are headed up to KwaZulu-Natal after and I want to make sure she is around. She is, but only on Thursday evening. We had arrived in paradise at the Bulungula River mouth a day earlier a couple of weeks ago, so leaving slightly prematurely to split the journey to Durban would b
Guillaume & Leanne
- Sep 5, 2016
- 6 min
Basking in the beauty of Bulungula
After an early morning yoga session in the company of a school of about 50 dolphins frolicking in the bay, I overhear Bulungula Lodge manager Dali, speaking to a guest he is expecting. It is 7 am and the young man had just arrived in Elliotdale on the overnight bus from Johannesburg. Elliotdale is less than two hours away from the lodge, but Felix only ended up checking in after 4 pm. To raucous laughter, later in the evening. he explains in his deadpan German accent that he
