The Mole stays at an upmarket game lodge

Natasha, one of Falaza Game Park’s game drivers was indeed game – picking up the Mole (easily done when plied with cleansing ale) and then delivering him to Falaza Game Park for a stay in an upmarket game lodge on the Elephant Coast.

Arriving at reception I was greeted with “Look, there’s a Zebra crossing!” from Martin Myburgh, the General Manager of Falaza Game Park & Spa.  The Mole turned to look out the window and sure enough, a zebra was indeed crossing the lawn. Martin smiled and said “Just some bush-veldt humour for you….”

Martin and his team love it when Aussies & Kiwis visit, but just as in other parts of KwaZulu-Natal Province, there is a similar theme – Why don’t more Aussies and Kiwis visit the Elephant coast?

Falaza actually has a connection with Australia through the Rugby.  Recently, the Queensland Reds stopped at Falaza after their not so good result against the Sharks.  They were treated to a drive in nearby Hluhluwe Game Reserve and had a day of restoration at Fallaza.

The owner of Falaza is Peter Hassard, who is president of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Rugby Union. Their Super 14 team, The Sharks played in last Saturday’s Super 14 Grand Final and, er.. were ahead for 79mins of the game!  Unfortunately, they lost to The Bulls in the final moments of the game.

The staff at Falaza were hoping for a win as they all mad rugby supporters, particularly with their personal connection to the team.  The Mole hopes none of them throw themselves in front of a moving rhino!  Co-incidentally, David Campese coaches their backline, and is involved with rugby in KZN province.

Falaza hosts charity events, one of the more recent memorable ones was to raise money for a rugby player who walked from Zimbabwe all the way to Durban so that he could play rugby.  The target of R50,000 was reached, which will pay for his board and training.  Hopefully he can make a success of his opportunity.

Falaza is located 14km from the town of Hluhluwe, on the western shores of the St Lucia World Heritage Wetland Park, close to False Bay, so called due to the fact that it looks like you are going out to sea when leaving the bay, only to find yourself in the larger Lake St Lucia.

Falaza, like its neighbouring World Heritage Park of St Lucia, has woodlands, grasslands and primordial sand forests, which together host thousands of species of birds, animals, trees and plant life. The stretch of vegetated dunes along the Elephant Coast goes right past Falaza and if you are lucky you can spot the second smallest antelope in Africa called the Suni. Richard Ventor describes it as a “rat on steroids!”

The star attractions are the White Rhino in the reserve. There are eight of ‘em wandering around the place and you can literally have lunch with the Rhinos.  You may have read an earlier article where Hippos were visiting the swimming pool where the Mole was staying.  Well, the Mole spotted another fabulous looking pool at Falaza.

Sizing it up for a swim, and thinking “No hippos to bother me here!” the Mole looked up just as a large Rhino decided to push in between some deck-chairs!  Hmmm, me thinks, at least the hippos only drink, whereas this particular Rhino seemed to be assessing the mud-wallowing capability of the pool – and I don’t think he was overly concerned about resident moles…

There was also a mum rhino with a one year old in tow, who slowly mowed the grass outside one of the eating areas called ‘The Deck’.  Very cute – the ladies were all going “ahhhh”.  Whilst the Black Rhino has the reputation, the White Rhino can potentially be the more dangerous as it appears to be calm and unfazed at all times, but just like us homo sapiens, it can suddenly get upset and lash out – with its mass, this is not a pretty result!

At Falaza, you can get very, very close, around 10m away, simply by sitting around the pool or just walking around.  Very special, particularly when ‘baby’ suddenly prances around in front of you under mum’s watchful eyes!

Richard Ventor played a good one on the Mole, most likely because as a South African, he loves to stir the Aussies as much as we like stirring all and sundry.  We went for an afternoon game drive in the Falaza reserve, and at one point jumped out to stretch the legs.  A rhino that we had just passed started making a beeline for us.

What I didn’t know was that in winter, the Rhino’s diet is supplemented with a few food drops, and they head straight to the back of the vehicle, next to which I was standing.  As the rhino approached, a glance at Richard and he hadn’t moved – so I thought %$# I’m staying too.  Looking at the ‘whites of the eyes’ of a large rhino heading directly towards you triggers some interesting sensations.

Finally, the Mole bolted for the game vehicle, at which point Richard flung his hands out and jumped forward, stopping the rhino in its tracks about 10 metres away!  After a laugh, we broke out a cold Castle brew and went on to spot some antelope, giraffe and zebra.  An excellent experience – cold tinnie in a sand forest looking for game, complete with free underwear test….

Falaza Game Park is a good example of a four star privately owned game park offering a ‘bush experience’ to guests.  Three hours drive north of Durban, Falaza has a number of differently vegetated areas within the park, so there is quite a variety of wildlife.  It has what is called more ‘general game’ including giraffe, zebra, rhino, wildebeest, warthogs, vervet monkeys, impala & kudu.  Leopard are also spotted on occasion.

This means it has a host of animals, but there are no lions and elephants to eat or trample guests as they wander about the place! Watching the monkeys zoom around is sure to bring a smile. The area in and around Falaza is renowned as a birdwatcher’s paradise (feathered variety!) with over 300 species flying about.

Everything, including the accommodation is inside the Park, the only actual secure area is the car park, and that’s only because one of the rhinos used to become amorous with the cars.  Apparently they are very short-sighted and this particular rhino just lurved to rub himself against his potential mate….

The idea of an en suite tent is an interesting one – more like a timber deck with tent sitting atop – all very well thought out and designed.  There is even an outside veranda on which to ponder the rustlings in the bush.  The whole set-up evokes images of a colonial safari, except of course they didn’t carry claw-foot bathtubs and porcelain dunnies back then.

Perhaps you also need to know your partner(s) very well if you stay in this type of accommodation, as in the case with most tents, sound carries quite well – which could be off-putting in the case of bathroom, er… activities!

Brush up (so to speak) on your African birdlife so that when required you can shout out “Hey Darl! Wasn’t that the Lemon Breasted Canary?” Conversely, have your replies ready, such as “No way! That was definitely a Buntings Firefinch – in trouble if you ask me…?!”

Falaza is the Zulu word for “Chatterbox”, very appropriate as there is a conferencing room on-site, for up to 32 people, with all the necessary technology including internet access.  They cater mainly for South African corporates, and offer a number of different packages, including an ‘office service’ (a mini business centre) for delegates.  Good thing is that there is only patchy mobile phone reception.

Adele is a fabulous and efficient administrator and she would love to welcome some Aussie corporates to a conference at Falaza.  She is also well into all things marine and can tell you all about the coast and its inhabitants.  Adele reckons they have a double that is sure to entice – right next to the conferencing facility is a health spa for indulging partners.

Sharon, from the health spa, does a mean back massage & she put the Mole to sleep – not an easy thing to do! So wraps, scrubs and treatments of all descriptions are on offer including full body relaxation and something called a ‘Bio Sculpture Gel Treatment’. 

There is even a romantic & secluded spot outdoors where couples can be served a romantic dinner (complete with candles) and then hop into the spa bath – we are talking maximum points here fellas!  But you have to be careful; Falaza is also a wedding venue…..

Adele can put together a fab package that combines accommodation, conferencing, spa treatments and game drives, so it is definitely in my view a winner. There is a great little lounge area and bar, and also a pool to wait for rhino arrivals (no pun intended here!).

The area has a number of other activities on offer nearby, from cruising Lake St Lucia to spot crocs and hippos, to visiting the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve or Sodwana Bay (a top 10 world diving spot), and visiting the Cheetah Breeding Project.  Between July and November, there is Whale Watching and between November and March there is Turtle Watching (leatherback turtles nest along the coastline), so its quite a tempting package.

The Mole had a full day at Falaza and was very happy to zip-up and fall into bed.  He was awakened in the wee hours by the sound of something pulling at the fabric.  Getting up quietly, he carefully peered out to see… a small white house cat look up and go “Meoowww!!”

So be careful if you decide to visit, those cunning South Africans have even trained the domestic animals to provide you with a ‘bush experience”…

Report by the Mole