Written by Safari Tartlet, Renate de Villiers.

Bossy (the Nokia Navigator GPS) was talking nicely to us giving us directions, because Carrie had forgotten the way to African Game Lodge in the Western Cape Mountains near Montagu. But Bossy was a little out of sorts because we were going into the middle of the mountains and she was not familiar with this off-the-beaten-path track to nowhere. I am Renate de Villiers, Carrie’s intern from Pretoria University, spending a week with Carrie to learn how to become a travel writer. I didn’t realize I would start my career being a Safari Tartlet! But up until now, I’ve enjoyed it so much that I don’t feel like leaving very soon.

 The name, African Game Lodge, made me think that this lodge would have lots of wild animals, but that’s not what you should expect here. It is more of a self-catering nature reserve than a game lodge, with six whitewashed and thatched cottages well spaced apart and all with stunning reserve views.

There are some cheetah in enclosures (because if they were free-roaming, they would inevitably escape and probably get shot by farmers). You can pay for a close-up big cat encounter with Duma, the tamest cheetah, and hear him purring in extra loud raptures at being stroked.

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“Can you come to Lake Kariba on Thursday for a week?”, said a friendly voice. “I know it’s Monday today but I have space for one more person on my houseboat going down the length of Lake Kariba.”

My initial reaction was that I couldn’t get organised in three days, then the yearning for adventure and curiosity as to how Zimbabwe was coping took over, and without noticeable hesitation, I said, “Yes, I’d love to.”

I have fond memories of Lake Kariba, when about ten years ago I met Zim’s version of Crocodile Dundee and his sidekick, whom I named Camel Safari Man. These two hunks…..but that is another story, which you will find on this blog in due course. I thought this time was likely to be more sedate and what could be better than being on a houseboat, travelling from one end of this inland sea to another. There is nothing much to do on a boat but relax, and that’s exactly what I settled in to do.

The 8-bedded Lady Jacqueline, run by Flame Lilly Holidays, whose charismatic owner is Brett McDonald, had an empty leg to run from Kariba to Binga, and Brett wanted to show us that travel in Zimbabwe is not just possible, but still a pleasure.

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The Cherry on the Safari Cake

Just when I thought life on safari couldn’t get any better, it did.

It was my birthday and I was sitting in a bubbling hot spring on the edge of the Kafue River in Zambia. Fireflies were dancing around my head and a fellow journalist on this press trip - a rather tall, handsome fella - was giving my shoulders a massage (c’mon it was my birthday). I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

Large boulders surrounded the hot springs, protecting it from an unannounced visit by hippos or crocodiles. There I sat with a glass of bubbly in hand and a big smile on my face. If this wasn’t enough, I was then informed that Hippo Lodge offer massages at this spot too. This information served to put the cherry on top of the safari cake for me and I mentally awarded Hippo Lodge in Zambia’s Kafue National Park, top honours in my safari lodge repertoire.

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