Lakeside Lodge Entabeni 8 July 2014

Finally got off the plane, young mand took case and escorted me, not sure what point was, luckily it helped with queue for passport control, collected case and found Saga group, there seemef a distinct lack of organisation,  as we waited and waited for the rest of the group to join us. Finally we moved to the area for the coach, but where had our guide gone it was now gone 10 am, finally he arrived, not quite the coach I was waiting for, rather a hgv with seats in, seems previous driver had not filled up with fuel so this had to be done before we departed.
Luckily seats were better than they looked, so I fell asleep for a while. As we travelled the countryside looked much as other places in the world. We stopped for a while at what suppose was a service area, there was no McDonalds but there was a Wimpy, better still toilets and somewhere to buy a drink, we set off and the roads slowly started to become more rutted and niw understood that a conventional coach would not of coped.
At long last we seemed to of reached our destination, err no in fact we changed to 4 wheel drive vehicles for the last leg, problem was they were high off the ground, so quite a climb into but not such a bad ride given the state of the roads. Along the way we saw a few zebra and a young giraffe, a good sign for the days to come, only problem was I had left camera in case. 
Finally we were there at Lakeside Lodge, I was pleasantly surprised on entering we were offered a drink and a snack before going to our rooms. These were individual thatched units by the side of the lake with stunning views, rooms spacious but not very warm and quite dark. I unpacked, oh forgot to day outside was not that warm made worse by the cold wind, so now glad had packed extra warm clothes, only had a limited amount of time before welcome meeting, had a shower,  for some reason there was no curtain so water went everywhere, and no hot water to the sink, but at least I was clean and refreshed.
At meeting our Ranger explained he would be with our group for the duration of our trip, he explained how we would be spending our time, seemed very busy,  some days with a 5 30am start, luckily not tomorrow LOL, this evening we were going out for our meal but to remember to wrap up well, went back finishef dorting out then to the bar gor a drink and a chat with a couple of people, then off for the meal, was only a short drive but in the dark, in a traditional structure( cant remember name) had meal and chat, then back here,sitting by fire in lounge to keep warm, others were here to watch football on tv but  problem do all gone, think when finished this will go to room also,  hope you are enjoying the read.

The trip to South Africa 8 July 2014

Well I left you readers at the lounge, things from there did not go quite to plan, I duly went to the desk at 7 45pm but no assistance, the nice ladies offered to contact the service that would take me to the plane,  unfortunately someone had disconnected the phone, so it took a little while for her to find out I was not registered for assistance, but that this would now be resolved.
Whilst waiting  I was sat by the desk so it was interesting to watch the people arriving,  they came as you would expect in all types, but it was the ones who wanted to bring  families in without paying the extra money per person that seemed involve the most debate, it was only at that point I realised to use the lounge on a casual basis was £35 each, a room was £120 per night or £20 per hour with a minumum of 3 hours to pay.
After 3/4 hour someone came yo collect me it was just as well because I would never of made it otherwise  to the plane in time.
The staff on the plane were pleasant, I found my seat but an elderly man who obviously had the window seat was blocking my access therefore nobody could move past me, he seemed oblivious to the chaos, I moved a little further down the passage to enable others to reach their seats until he finally was settled. 
He fid not engage in conversation so I decided I would explore how the sound and audio system worked,  it was quite complex with little in the way of instructions as far as I could see,  but worse was that either their headphones or my hearing were not up to the task,  so I gave up and had a read instead. 
It did not seem that long before my evening arrived it was fruit juice, then a cucumber salad with dressing, followed by a chicken pasta dish which was quite pleasant and finally a mousse desert and to finish off cheese and biscuits, I was offered  tea or coffee but felt they would keep me awake not sure really that the Pepsi was any better.
The elderly man had finished his meal before me donned his eye mask ear plugs and blanket and was fast asleep,  when I looked at the clock it was past 12 so decided to follow suit. I must of slept for a couple hours, as everywhere was dark and quiet. I had a further go with the music but  quality of sound put me off. I slept on and off for a number of hours.
At some point the staff came round with breakfast,  I had a full english, this also came with fruit juice, a danish pastry and a yogurt so according to , my friend Brian thay constituted a full 4 courses LOL they were stingy with the coffe so only got one cup. There wad an announcement I did not quite catch so enquired it seemed someone had taken ill and the staff were seeking someone with the skill to assist, obviously not me.
The elderly man woke so I mentioned he had missed breakfast, this was brought and finally we got chatting he was telling me he does a lot of travel round the world and has bought a property in New Zealand. I mentioned to a member of staff that I would need assistance when we arrived,  she said she would sort out but for me to wait until others had disembarked,  which I was happy to do. On landing it was explained that we would all have to wait until the medics had dealt withe the sick person.

The Adventure Begins 7 july 2014

Well the driver arrived early in a Mercedes saloon, very posh, loaded case, then even opened the door for me, off we set, just for a change I chatted to him, maybe if he knew would of preferred I had fallen asleep.
Time passed quickly very comfortable drive, very few delays, only took just over 4 hours in total.

Had case wrapped in cling film but forgot to lock it so lets hope nobody is that desperate for my clothes, security swift, oh forgot to say had mentioned at check in about help, but also was going to lounge first, it was agreed I would ask for help there to get to the plane.

Lounge again posh but quickly sorted, mentioned help needed they said if any delay that they could resolve. Next nice shower and change of clothes, so diffetent to normal hanging about at airports connection with Wi Fi ok just had portion vegetable ragu, plus camomile tea, quite different to my usual Boots meal deal, seats comfortable man opposite asleep at first then onto his mobile, luckily now gone, hear now and then loud young child but otherwise not noisy, could get used to this, think I have about another hour before I have to leave so will relax and check my e mails gosh its a hard life