June 2, 2008

KwaZulu-Natal Update

Posted by Julia and filed under: Family holidays, Tailor-made safaris

The African Leisure girls have been out and about again.

And this time we were in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa.
We were en-route to the massive travel show, the Durban Indaba, which is held each May at the enormous Durban International Convention Centre.

We flew from Cape town to Durban (under 2 hours), grabbed our Europcar/Imperial hire car, in this instance a Hyundai Sonata, very spacious and easy to drive, and set off along the N3 into the KZN hinterland.

When we reached the area around Mooi River called the Midlands Meander (http://www.midlandsmeander.co.za) , we left the highway and ventured along the many charming by-ways and gravel roads that criss cross the hillsides.

All over this pretty countryside, there are masses of guest houses, restaurants, lodges, art and craft workshops including the world-famous Ardmore Pottery Studios (http://www.ardmoreceramics.co.za) , some of the top South African schools and plenty more to keep you occupied. We stopped at the Caversham Mill for a light lunch on their verandah overlooking this old mill wheel.

Then we were back on the highway heading for the area known as Spionkop, a name that has deep resonance for South Africans and plenty of British people too!
We arrived at Three Tree Hill Lodge (http://www.threetreehill.co.za) where we were warmly welcomed by the owner Cheryl (her husband, Simon, was already away at the Durban Indaba).

We were shown to our charming rooms, each a free-standing cottage built in a typical frontier style with corrugated-iron rooves, tongue and grooved paneled interiors and each with a verandah with wonderful views over Spionkop Mountain itself.

The lodge offers a varied range of things to do: besides the obvious attraction of tours of the historic battlefields of Spionkop and Majuba, where the foolishness of war was played out between the British and the Boers at such extreme cost to both sides, there is a whole lot more on offer.

Spionkop Mountain lies within a small game reserve stocked with rhino, zebra, giraffe, eland, waterbuck and other small game. We were actually able to view white rhinocerous, zebra, waterbuck, eland and red hartebeest from our cottage verandah!

Of course there are plenty of walking opportunities on the land surrounding the lodge and then for the more demanding walkers and professional hikers, drive yourselves to the mountains for a hike on one of the many routes in these mountains, a 1 hour drive away. (The lodge will send you off with a packed lunch and drinks).

Horse-riding, fantastic birding - you need hardly leave the lodge surroundings, picnics on Spionkop Dam, boat cruises are to be introduced soon, game drives into the reserve and then of course, the wonderful ambience of a well-run, owner-managed lodge with charming staff, great attention to detail, good food served in various settings both in and out of doors, and the company of other like-minded people.

A visit to Three Tree Hill Lodge is best combined with a few nights at the more well-know Fugitives Drift Lodge (http://www.fugitivesdrift.co.za), near Dundee, under 2 hours drive away, and some time at Cleopatra Mountain Lodge http://www.cleomountain.co.za where you can end the trip with a couple of nights of exceptionally good meals cooked by the owners and made mostly from ingredients grown or raised on their land!

After our wonderful stay at Three Tree, it was back to Durban for 48 hours solid of travel networking, the Indaba gives a great insight into the depth and vibrancy of the industry and shows the tremendous growth of African Travel; a positive ending to a great trip!