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Hlosi Game Lodge, Bushmans River Private Game Reserve, Amakhala, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Luxury accommodation and a malaria free safari experience
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Alexandria Dune Fields Excursion
Your day trip begins at 9am, when you will arrive at Dunefields Reserve.
After being welcomed with tea and coffee, you will depart on a
custom-made open Landcruiser for your 3-hour excursion, which includes
an exhilarating drive over sand dunes bordering the Addo Elephant
National Park, down to the sea. Stops will be made for photography.
Your experienced guide has a vast knowledge of the flora and fauna and
will give explanations of the geology of the dunes. Explore the shell
middens left behind by early man (Strandlopers) and listen to the
fascinating history of the lives they lived.
Pottery shards and primitive tools used have been found over the years
and are shown and explained.
Refreshments will be served on the beach, where you can relax and
observe the numerous sea birds that inhabit the shoreline, such as the
endangered Black Oystercatcher and Damara Terns, and be on the lookout
for dolphins and whales. Take a walk along this 50km long stretch of
desolate, unspoilt beach and take pleasure in being the only visitor for
as far as the eye can see.
You will be returned to a unique, tranquil setting, nestled in
indigenous bush surroundings, where you can indulge in a delicious
3-course lunch and specially selected wines. Sit back and relax around
the fire while you reflect on what you have experienced. Your
unforgettable day comes to an end at approximately 14h30 when you will
be returned to your vehicle.
Groups are small and trips limited to one per day to ensure minimal
impact on the environment, as well as offering a more personal and
exclusive experience. The maximum number of guests per trip is 15, using
2 vehicles, with the option of 2 additional guests sitting in the front
of the vehicles with the guides (closed cab), making a total of 17.
Activities that might upset animals or the dunes are prohibited and
guests are asked not to remove any pottery or bones from the midden
sites.
The time taken to the Reserve is approximately 45 mins from Hlosi Lodge.
See tariffs
for rates
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Dolphin and Whale Watching Trips
Morning cruises: Commence at 08.30 from the Algoa Bay Yacht Club.
Possibility to see seals, gannets, South Antarctic Skua (an gull-like
bird), terns, white chinned petrels, oyster catchers on St Croix Island,
dolphins (humpback, bottlenose and common), penguins, sharks (various
kinds) and, most importantly, whales (Bryde's whale, humpback, southern
right). If time allows we go into the newly constructed Coega harbour
too. This trip lasts approx. 3 hours.
Afternoon cruises: 1,5 hours long - go along the beach front of PE.
Starting time normally around 15.30 in winter, and a bit later during
summer.
All the cruises are weather permitting, and need a minimum amount of
people for the excursion.
Guests are encouraged to take warm clothes and also a waterproof jacket.
A fruit juice and a packet of peanuts, is served on board. We will also
pack a light picnic hamper.
All cruise tours are personally led by knowledgeable conservationists,
wildlife educators and marine safari specialists.
See tariffs
for rates
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Hlosi Historical Tours
Hlosi Game Lodge hosts a number of one and two day excursions into the
Frontier Country
of the Eastern Cape. These tours, based on the nine frontier wars fought
in the area in the
18th and 19th centuries between the Xhosa on the one hand and the
colonists and British
troops on the other, include some cultural aspects of the inhabitants of
the region. The
ancient San, the Khoi, Xhosa, Dutch and British Settlers, a diversity of
peoples and
cultures that earn the region the title of "Crucible of the Rainbow
Nation". You will also
be treated to some of the most beautiful and breathtaking scenery that
the region has to
offer.
Starting and ending at Hlosi, these tours are well researched and are
conducted by the
competent and qualified guides of Shield Tours. You will also be
accompanied by a
piper to lend atmosphere to the occasion as well as a Xhosa chief and "Ibongi"
(praise
singer) to hear both sides of the story.
TOUR 1
After an early breakfast we depart Hlosi for the quaint settler village
of Salem and visit
the church where the settlers took refuge during the war of 1834/35. On
to Grahamstown
and visits to the Settlers Monument, Fort Selwyn and Makanas Kop from
where 10 000
Xhosa warriors attacked the little town and its garrison of 330 soldiers
and civilians in
1819. This abortive attack, which, had it succeeded, could possibly have
changed the
course of the history of the region and of South Africa. The Xhosa were,
however,
repulsed leaving 2 000 dead on the battlefield.
On to Frasers Camp Tower, one of the two surviving original towers built
to facilitate
Communications during the wars. From there through typical Lower Albany
settler country
to Bathurst, another settler village, little changed since 1820 and
visits to some of the
places of interest in this peaceful rural settlement.
After lunch at the "Pig 'n Whistle" we return to Hlosi via the holiday
resort of Port
Alfred and Alexandria.
TOUR 2
This tour takes us via Grahamstown through Ecca Pass, built in the
1840's by Andrew
Geddes Baine, to Fort Brown and Fort Double Drift in the Greater Fish
River Nature
Reserve. These forts, now silent, bear witness to those grim days of
conflict but one can
easily imagine the shouted orders, the rattle of arms and accoutrements
and the snorting
of the cavalry mounts as the soldiers went about their daily business of
securing the
frontier.
Our journey takes us through typical rugged valley bush with magnificent
views of the
Great Fish River from Adams Krans. We stop for a short picnic lunch on
the banks of
the river or in the shadow of one of the forts and enjoy the solitude
that is so typical
of the African bush, broken only by the abundant birdlife and the sight
of the many
animals on the reserve.
We return to Hlosi via Bothas Post, where evidence of hunter-gatherer
occupation has
been found dating to the early to late stone age.
TOUR 3
An early start takes us from Hlosi via Alexandria and Port Alfred to the
mouth of the
Great Fish River, site of a large logistics base during the seventh
frontier war where
supplies were landed by sea, for the forts and their garrisons inland.
We then head North
to Fort Peddie, scene of an attack by 8 000 Xhosa warriors in May 1846
and visit the
graves and monument to those who were killed in the fighting in the area
during the War
of the Axe and later conflicts.
On to the Mgwangwe River where a large body of Xhosa were caught in the
open
and subjected to a cavalry charge by the 7th Dragoons, leaving 600 dead
on the
battlefield. On to Committees Drift on the \Fish River where Col Henry
Sommerset,
hastening to the relief of the besieged Fort Peddie with sorely needed
supplies, was
ambushed and fought a running battle lasting eleven hours.
We enjoy a picnic lunch somewhere "en route" and return to Hlosi via
Ecca Pass,
Grahamstown and the Settler Village of Salem.
TOUR 4
This excursion takes us to Grahamstown with visits to the Settlers
Monument and Fort
Selwyn and a glimpse of some of the Victorian architecture of the "City
of Saints".
We relive the Battle of Grahamstown of 1819 where 2 000 Xhosa fell to
the muskets and
cannon of the tiny garrison before heading north.
The next three to four hours are spent in the "Valley of Ancient Voices"
where we are
hosted by Barry and Karen Podesta and are shown the relics and rock art
of the ancient
San people who inhabited this rugged valley so long ago.
A picnic lunch is enjoyed next to a deep rock pool in an area abounding
in wildlife and
flora before returning to Hlosi.
TOUR 5
This is a two day excursion, taking in Grahamstown and the Valley of
Ancient Voices
before heading further inland via Bedford and Adelaide to Fort Fordyce
passing through
dense indigenous forests on the slopes of the Kroomie Heights to the
plateau above, with
magnificent views all around.
This area was the scene of bitter fighting during the Eighth Frontier
War or War of
Emlanjeni, a conflict that lasted twenty seven months and cost many
lives on both sides.
This area, known as the Waterkloof, sorely tested British military
prowess and it took a
full fourteen months before the cunning guerilla fighter, Maqoma, was
finally forced
from the area.
You will be shown the places where the heaviest fighting took place,
including the site
where the commander of the 74 th Highlanders, Lt Col Fordyce was
mortally wounded.
We overnight in this beautiful setting, which is now a nature reserve
and listen to the
stories and anecdotes of those long ago days around a camp fire before
retiring to basic
but comfortable quarters for the night.
The next morning takes us back down the mountain to Sipton Manor, a
fortified farm of
that period where we will witness a live firing demonstration of the
weapons in use at the
time by a local black powder enthusiast. We visit Fort Beaufort's local
museum with its
colorful curator, Moose van Rensburg, and the Mortello Tower, the only
one of two in
South Africa and the only one in the world not built on the coast.
We return to Hlosi via the Axe Grave, Fort Brown and Ecca Pass, enjoying
a light lunch
"en route". That evening we relive the experience at the "home base",
Hlosi, around a
camp fire.
GENERAL
Any combination of two or more of the one day tours can be readily
accommodated, overnighting at Hlosi. Interesting firesides tales are
told around the fire in the boma.
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