SA: Pilanesberg – Tshukudu Bush Lodge

December 2, 2007

Pilanesberg National Park is only a quick 2 hour drive from Johannesburg. Tshukudu Bush Lodge is an intimate sanctuary nestled away on its own private concession in the heart of the malaria-free Pilanesberg National Park. Situated high on a hill it has breathtaking view from where you can observe the herds of zebra and wildebeest, elephants and rhino grazing. It has just ten chalets and suites, and sits secluded at the foot of the Pilanesberg mountains, letting you gaze down over vast plains and a wildlife-enticing waterhole. The "Big Five" aren’t the only ones with a water feature here – your room has a private plunge pool and the lodge features a stunning rock pool.

🙂 Stunning Vista, Malaria Free, Most spectacular thunderstorm lighting up the Garden of Eden below viewed from our HUGE Bath – Stunning.

🙁 Worst Game Guide ever experienced

We had enjoyed some special time with the family in Kwa Zulu Natal and Pretoria and had decided to end the trip with a special treat for the two of us at Pilanesberg since it is so close to Johannesburg. We chose Tshukudu Bush Lodge for its spectacular location set up in the hills below the Waterberg Mountains. It was a straight forward drive and we parked our car and were met by our Guide. He seemed in a bit of a rush and we drove off at speed to our Lodge without a word …he had not asked us any questions to ascertain our level of safari experience and neither did he stop at any of the animals that we passed in our ferrari safari vehicle… they may just have been Zebra and Giraffe however, had this been our first time in the bush we would have been most upset not to stop and admire all this wildlife. On arrival, we were very impressed with the set up of the lodge which blended in beautifully with the surroundings. He showed us to our room along with our luggage…which is when I realised that I had left my vanity bag containing personal hygiene items….Paul went to find our Guide to apologise for the inconvenience and requested that it could be brought over to the Lodge … The Guide basically said that wasn’t possible as we were now in camp. Paul pointed out that it was a ten minute drive (which he had practically done in 5mins) and that there really was not an option for us NOT to have it delivered to us in the next 30ms and left him standing there considering his next move). Not a great start…. the bag was duly delivered within the hour.

Th accommodation is really stunning. The little ‘dassies’ (rock hyrax – closest living relative to the elephant) kept us entertained!

That evening we were ready for our sunset drive which yielded a lovely array of general game including leopard tortoise, warthog, hippo, waterbuck, impala, wildebeest and guinea fowl – the highlight being crash of 5 white rhino and a white rhino and calf.

We stopped for sundowners and enjoyed a glass of red wine. It is the first time in all our years of going on safari that the guide drank as much red wine as the guests!

When we got back we enjoyed a candlelight dinner in the HUGE bath and there was a massive storm. The basin below us lit up for 20 seconds at a time and we could see elephants and rhinos beneath us – it is an evening we will never forget – magnificent! We requested to dine alone rather than with our Guide and other guests as we had really wanted to get away from it all … which was lovely.

We were up at 05h00 and enjoyed some lovely sightings. We had a big bull elephant. Hartebeest, martial eagles, lilac breasted roller, perhaps the same crash of rhino and giraffe – a beautiful way to end our visit home. Unfortunately our guide did not share any of his knowledge with us (perhaps he did not have any or perhaps he was lazy). This was the only disappointing element because you pay top dollar for these places to learn from the experienced guides … never mind, we still enjoyed feeding our souls with our surroundings…