When the dust settles, we will meet again
It has now been over 5 weeks since we bid farewell to our last Guests and have temporarily shut the Lodge down while we weather the storm of Covid 19.
We miss the sound of laughter emulating from the Boma as our Guests enjoy a dinner under the African sky around the flickering fire. We miss too the excited voices of our Guests as they arrive back at Reception after an actioned packed Safari, having witness a spectacle that only a Game Drive here in the beautiful Sabi Sand can produce. We look forward to your return, as return you shall, so we can make some more memories together, and share life changing experiences, experiences which will last us a lifetime.
I got thinking the other evening while enjoying a “sundowner” on our veranda looking out into the bush……. what a privileged life we lead.
As the World is experiencing such troubled times, Nature continues her journey, unabated by the suffering and plight of humanity. She is taking a break from the stresses and strains of the pressures she has been put under by Mankind.
Just sitting there enjoying a little whisky as the sun was disappearing in the distance below the Drakensburg Mountains, one of my favourite times of the day, in fact it is my favourite time of day. I used to like sunrises but I am sure they happen earlier now that I am getting older, and besides people tend to give you that knowing look when you still have a whisky glass in your hand as the sun peeks its head over the distant horizon!!
Anyway, I am digressing, where was I……. oh yes, the peace and quiet at the end of another day in this paradise we call home. The diurnal animals are bedding down for the night, a long stressful night ahead for them, as the predators awaked and begin their nightly hunt; this is confirmed by the distant call of the hyena, rallying the clan to get on the move. Suddenly the calm is shattered by the deep booming bark of a Kudu giving off its alarm call, it seems a leopard is on the move from the sanctuary of her hiding place, up on the rocky outcrop where the Lodge is perched. She too must head out on the hunt now, satisfied her cubs are safe in this place she knows so well, Leopard Hills. The crashing of bushes and another loud bark as the Kudu flees the present danger and heads off in the direction of the dry riverbed below the Lodge. She must be passing close by through the shadows being cast by the tall trees that surround our house, silence prevails once again.
Its dark now, a darkness that comes quicker than anywhere else I have experienced in the world, and as if on cue, the sound that sends chills through your body, and the blood runs cold in your veins, at least mine does…………a pride of lions roaring up towards the Sand River, the sound reverberating around the hills, what a perfect end to another wonderful day. The chill of the evening is closing in now and it’s time to head inside, but it’s not with sadness that we turn our backs on this natural stage, where things are left to the way nature intended it. We shall return tomorrow, same place same time, the only thing standing in our way between now and then, is another beautiful day in Africa.
Written by – Duncan Rodgers