This morning we were to leave Hippo Hollow after 2 wonderful days and travel a short distance towards Ohrigstad where the Hannah Game Lodge was to be our final game reserve, which lies amongst the gently rolling hills of the Southern African escarpment. This beautiful private game reserve embraces more than 8000 hectares of malaria free, unspoilt African Bushveld countryside. It has giraffes, leopard, buffalo, zebra as well as lots of different types of antelopes, but no lions as they use this reserve for game hunting and don't want all the antelope eaten by lions, as this obviously brings it a lot of revenue for them from the rich hunters. The views as we approached the lodge were fantastic, with a large thatched building being the main reception for the lodge with the restaurant to the side of the main foyer.
 |
Approach to Hannah Game Lodge
This looks fantastic !! |
After checking in at the reception, we were shown to our chalets, which had these awesome views from our own balconies overlooking the bushveld landscape.
 |
| View from our balcony |
Once we had unpacked again we decided to drive through to Ohrigstad to have a look round the town and have some lunch.
The bar that we picked was setting up for a charity concert and fund raising for breast cancer, which looked like it was mostly supported by motorcyclists as there was a load of guys and girls which arrived while we were there with their Harley Davidson motorbikes. We sat outside and had burger and fries, I remember that the garden was arranged with small paddocks made up from bales of hay as extra seating with picnic type tables arranged within the make shift paddocks.
Today, Ohrigstad is mostly a farming community and a diverse range of crops are produced
The scenic Ohrigstad valley combined with the panorama and an abundance of activities make for the ideal weekend breakaway. Many enjoy fly-fishing, game viewing, horse riding, hiking and many other exciting activities.
Returned to Hannah Game Lodge for a lazy afternoon after all the travelling over the last few days. The weather was starting to drizzle so we decided to have a game of cards. We had a game drive planned later in the day so hopefully the weather would improve.
 |
| Female Nyala |
 |
| Gembok also known a Oryx |
 |
| Gembok also known as Oryx |
 |
Female Kudu
|
The game drives in the low bushveld area, tends to show more species of antelope, but they are very nervous animals and tend to stay well away from 4 x 4 vehicles, but it was good to see them in a different
environment.
 |
| Roan Antelope |
Roan antelope, the fourth largest antelope species of the African continent. Not to be confused with the Sable, it is lighter in colour, has shorter horns and long tasselled ears with a clown mask!! Absolutely stunning creature.
Returned back to the chalets in time to shower and change, then go up to the main building which had that huge thatched roof.
Inside the restaurant the ceiling was even more impressive than the thatch outside. The timbers and trusses were a splendid show of architecture. What a magnificent room to dine in. We looked forward to the menu arriving as this was going to be another special bush meat meal for Jeff and I, with the girls going for something not quite as exotic as Kudu, Impala Ostrich etc.
 |
| Hannah Lodge dinning room ceiling |
 |
Hannah Lodge dinning room
Pictures don't do the architecture justice
Wine & coffee to finish |
Unfortunately we only have one night left, and it will have to be special to top the ambiance, meals and drinks that were served this evening. The staff looked after us all evening and the head game keeper for the lodge kept us entertained with some of his experiences while working at this private game reserve.
Jeff are you drinking that wine!!
Finally back to our chalets, no cards or sudoku tonight, time for an early night, as we had another game drive booked for early in the morning.
Looks comfortable !!
No comments:
Post a Comment