Johannesburg, Kruger National Park

I don't remember how the idea came to our head but I do know it took 2-3 months to find out the details, work out the logistics and organise the trip. We wanted to visit Kruger National Park and Johannesburg was the base in South Africa for us.

The flight to Johannesburg was very tiring since it was via Abu Dhabi and Etihad isn't really a comfortable airline. I would recommend people to take direct flights to Johannesburg if possible. Its a little expensive but worth the money.

From the moment we landed in Johannesburg - the stay in a cottage, the wholesome Seafood dinner, the walk through the streets of Johannesburg in pitch darkness - despite being asked by locals not to do so - every moment is a memory. We had booked ourselves in Bed and Breakfast accommodations as advised by people I spoke to. And, I think it was an extremely wise decision. Not only are they cheap but the accommodation is actually very good, most of them are centrally located and have all facilities.

We decided to explore Johannesburg in the one day we had before we moved to Kruger and spent almost the entire day in Gold Reef City, which is a theme park. Lot of thrill rides, water rides, 3D shows, excellent food, bird watching - its a place you can spend the whole day in.

The drive from Johannesburg to Kruger was long and tiring and we both wished we had opted to pay some money and fly down rather the 7-8 hour drive. But we saw some picturesque spots. Driving through the fog, rain and amidst the mines was a beautiful experience.

Kruger itself is adventurous. We stayed in a tree-house located in one part of the National park. Which meant that you never know which animal will come out of which corner and how will it react. Often we heard Buffaloes in the night and people living there had stories to tell of a spitting cobra showing up in their bathroom !!!

The safaris were mind-blowing and the drivers ensure they cover as much of the park as possible so that you get to see at least the Big 5 besides many other animals. We managed to see 4 of those - Rhinos, Leopard, Elephants and Buffaloes. Missed the Lion but got an elephant to do a mock-charge for us and had a cheetah give us some good shots.
What we also got to see were the realities of the jungle - a dead baby elephant, left to decay. Saw an Ostrich family - papa, mummy and 4 chicks.

The food in South Africa is good by every standard and the quantity is massive. The people who managed the jungle-resort were very friendly and did everything to make us comfortable including getting us travel-adapters as South African plugs are different from the UK and US ones and we had forgotten to carry the World-wide adapter.

The best thing about South Africa are the people and whatever anyone would say - I liked my experience.

Back in Johannesburg, we visited the Rhino and Lion Park besides the many other UN Heritage sites. Among other things, this park has Lion, Cheetah and Tiger cubs and you get to spend time with them as well. This is a great experience and you get to see these animals at close quarters, of course under supervision.

We stayed in another Bed and Breakfast place on our return from Kruger and it was in the centre of the city. Johannesburg has a lot of decent restaurants and if you are willing to have game meat and experiment with different types of meat - you can try 'Carnivore' - its quite an experience. Moyo is another good restaurant situated in the centre of the city, serving African cuisine at reasonable prices and great ambiance.

Shopping, tourism, animal watching, adventure done - the 6 day trip came to an end.

The best time of the year to visit Johannesburg/Kruger is between August and December. It starts raining thereafter and then its difficult to spot animals in the park. Since, this is the peak season, accommodation, flights, safaris get booked months in advance; hence it is advised to plan a South Africa or any jungle trip in Africa way in advance to get the best prices.

Even though we had gone in the peak of summer, we did face rain and cold weather and hence travellers should take some basic woollens with them. Given the fact that I researched about this for almost 2 months, I practically know all bed and breakfast accommodations, all jungle resorts and all flight connections.

South Africa is a great place to visit and there are plenty of cities to visit there besides Kruger national park.

Jilling

A very less known hill station/private estate about 38 kms from Kathgodam. Jilling is a private property of the Lall’s disconnected from the internet/mobile world of today. Beautiful cottages set in the Kumaon hills, surrounded by forests; Jilling is a place for the fit and for the peace lovers. Its spread over an area of 120 acres and is maintained by the Lall family themselves which includes Steve, his wife Parvati and their daughter Nandini.

Jilling happened by chance for us and despite knowing that this place can be reached only by foot or pony from the main road; little did I expect the climb which confronted me when I reached there. The estate is about 2 kms from the main road; about 40 minutes to an hour by foot. It’s a pretty steep climb on cobbled roads. But once you reach there its complete heaven. They have about 4-5 single and double bed cottages across their estate with cooking facilities in only 2 of these cottages. Nandini welcomed us with fresh nimbu-paani and then we were escorted to our cottage across the woods. The food comes from the Lall’s own house for all the guests and is cooked by Mrs. Lall herself with help from a few villagers.

There is actually no facility to have hot water for bathing there, so water is heated on chestnut wood fire early morning in large containers and it’s interesting to have a bath in chestnut smoked water. The Lall’s are extremely friendly and warm hosts and they make you feel completely at home. They took us out for a forest safari with Mrs. Lall herself taking the gun to scare animals away. Nandini took us around to show animal marks all over the forest and also taught us how to understand an animal’s diet through his poo. Like all of Uttaranchal, Jilling is best visited between April - June and in the September/October months. It’s not for first time visitors to the Nainital, Bhimtal area, who intend to stay here and visit various places through the day as the climb back to the estate at the end of the day can be tiring. Jilling is for people trying to run away from the hustle-bustle of city life; who would like to wake up early morning to sunshine and snow covered peaks. It’s for people who like to enjoy nature and are willing to go back to the basics like heating water on wood and walking through quiet jungles in search for nothing.

We spent 5 days in Jilling and they went by very quickly. Some people who go to Jilling during Christmas claim that it looks beautiful as snow covers everything there. We visited them in autumn and the place looked beautiful with tall green grass and colorful flowers.

Some of the things you should do if you ever go there is watch Mrs. Lall get fresh milk from their own cows; have a bonfire in the jungle in the night; go for an animal safari where the villagers will do the ‘beat’ to push all the animals in one corner of the jungle for awesome animal viewing and of course visit the villages. One of the villages is situated next to the river flowing nearby and though it’s quite a walk from the estate, it’s worth the effort. Steve also helps people set-up excursions to other mountain peaks nearby, various tourist attractions, fishing activities and temple visits.

Home cooked food, a walk through the woods, gentle breeze, snow covered mountain peaks glistening in the morning sun, trip down to the local village, dangerous cliffs, jungle safari – that’s what forms a part of Jilling.