Thursday, September 03, 2009

SAVANNA Private Game Reserve rates tops with food and friendliness (Sabi Sands Reserve near Kruger ark, So. Afr)

Our second game reserve was at the Sabi Sands Private Reserve which is adjacent to Kruger Park, perhaps the most famous, but not the most desirable park to visit as it is open to the public (picture a drive through wild animal park). Sabi Sands is much smaller and there is a confederation of several private lodges on the western edge which means that very few people are in any area at any given time. It is all done with private rangers and trackers, and the prices at Savanna are about half that of Royal Malewane, where we stayed the previous night.

As soon as we drove through the gate we saw "English" style gardens and while everyone at every hotel here in South Africa has been most welcoming, it was at Savanna where we immediately felt like family. There are less than 10 rooms and they are all amazing. It is what is called a "tented" lodge, but you don't live in a tent. This is MY KIND OF TENT, where the accommodation is huge spacious, luxurious and a the room has a huge canvas tent over the top of it. This is done mostly so you can "hear" the sounds of the animals, birds, frogs, etc. at night and fell like you are "in" the veldt.

Although we had arisen at 5am for a game drive at Royal Malewane, had breakfast after that and traveled for 2 hours (and done a site inspection of yet another lodge), we had no clue what meal we were supposed to be eating! Our hosts sat us down to a huge lunch buffet and we all dug in. If you know me, I eat whenever there is food. (I sadly weighed myself today and found out I had gained 8 pounds in the last 16 days on this trip!)

We set off on one of the best game drives ever (we saw lions mating from 20 feet away and tons more).

Upon return we were advised we had about 45 minutes to clean up and appear in the owner's suite for a cocktail party. A bath with bubbles had already been drawn in our suites and I was in heaven; this experience goes WAY beyond just the food.

We headed off to the owner's suite for GRAHAM BECK Sparkling Wine from Franschhoek and some VORSS, which is the somewhat Afrikaans equivalent for "wurst" but refers to the dried sausages made from beef, ostrich, eland, kudu and more. Here is was a beef vorss and had a mild Thai dipping sauce. YUM YUM.

After meeting the wonderfully sweet owners, David & Dee, who hail from Austrialia, we went to the BOMA for the first time on our trip. It was the last night in the east (our final night was in Johannesburg) and we all really wanted to have a BREII (bbq) in the BOMA, an enclosed area with a campfire in the ground that is about as uniquely South African as our 4th of July BBQ at home, but done all the time.

The bar served up anything we wanted and I started with a BEYERSKLOOF PINOTAGE 2008 knowing that I needed a BIG wine for the heavy duty food; I was right. CHICKEN, OSTRICH, LAMB CHOPS, BOERWURST (huge sausages) were the grilled meats on tap with multiple sauces. One the side was piles of potatoes, PAP (the polenta-like maize staple) which here was much more typical as it was quite sticky and served with an amazing Tomato Sauce, Corn on the Cob, Veggies, Potatoes, and just about anything else you wanted. We sat at two huge tables and I sat next to Dee and a wonderful couple from Miami (Dee & David's friends) who were celebrating their 49th anniversary that night and had been there for an entire week.

I went on to a 2008 SPIER SHIRAZ from Stellenbosch which was a bit lighter, but totally brilliant and then a huge CHOCOLATE OBLIVION Anniversary cake came. I offered up a special bottle of PELLETIER ICEWINE from Canada that I had brought from the US and we all truly felt like a family, even though we had only known each other for 3 hours.

Although, we had been in South Africa for quite some time, and as I said, everyone had been super friendly, it was here at SAVANNA that we were at home....a place I know we MUST return to, to eat, be friends, enjoy the wildlife and so much more....