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Today will be the third and final part in my three-part series about our visit to the Tala Collection Game Reserve on New Year's Day.
You can read the other posts here:
Market Friday - Tala Collection Game Reserve, Enjoying Nature and Wildlife the Way it Should Be.
Market Friday - Tala Collection Game Reserve: Enjoying Wildlife the Way it Should Be (Part 2)
In today's post, I will focus on:
Accommodation in the Tala Collection Game Reserve and the cost involved.
Landscapes in nature that can be seen in the Tala Collection Game Reserve...including some final shots of smaller animals in some of the photos.
Accommodation.
The Tala Collection Game Reserve is part of the DREAM HOTELS & RESORTS family.
According to the website of DREAM HOTELS & RESORTS, they cater to a variety of ways to enjoy your holiday:
Dream Hotels & Resorts offers our guests numerous, hassle-free ways to explore South Africa. Whether you are looking for a spontaneous beach breakaway with friends or looking to own your family holiday every year, we’ve created a diverse portfolio of holiday options for you to choose from.
Our flexible holiday options include:
- Hotels, resorts, lodges, and game reserves for the perfect breakaway
- Exclusive Ownership opportunities
- Various Membership options
- Dream Rewards Loyalty Programme
You can book your next holiday through them, or you might even consider ownership opportunities or become a club member if you want. For more information in this regard, you can visit their website by clicking on the link above.
As you drive through the game reserve, the last thing on your mind is luxurious accommodation...well, for me anyway...lol.
Yet, as you slowly navigate around the next bend in the road, a beautiful thatched roof starts making its appearance from behind the bushes.
This was the second time for the day that we passed some holiday accommodation while driving around. This one is called Leadwood Manor.
I decided to pull over and see if I could take some photos to share with you.
This photo was taken while approaching on foot from the road. I didn't want to drive right up to the manor, as I didn't know if it was occupied or not.
Just as well...because as I got closer I started hearing voices and the joyful voices of children playing.
The people were clearly having a relaxed time around the pool outside. There was no way that I would go any further and possibly intrude on their privacy, so I took one more shot from there and returned to the car. I hope it will give you a good enough idea of the setup.
Looking at the brochure, I found that Leadwood Manor House has a standard room, which is available from R2810.00 ($165.59) per room per night (Friday/Saturday) including bed & breakfast, or R2190.00 ($129.05) per night from Sunday to Thursday.
It also has a Presidential suite, which is available from R3330.00 ($196.23) per night per room (Friday/Saturday) including bed & breakfast, or R2590.00 ($152.62) per night from Sunday to Thursday.
To give you an idea of the rates for accommodation and what you can expect for your money, I took a snapshot with my cell phone of the accommodation brochure, showing the various forms of accommodation and the rates applicable.
Landscape Scenes and Some Scenes of Nature.
Over the past two weeks, I shared some photos with you, featuring some typical wildlife scenes. But sometimes you have to do some driving, spending time to find the animals.
But even while driving around, there is never a dull moment.
The next two photos are examples of typical South African landscapes when you are out in nature.
The next photo shows the road stretching out ahead of us, taking us through some beautiful sceneries while searching for animals. Way ahead of us you can spot another vehicle, also slowly cruising along this route... Can you see the other vehicle?
Most of the time, you don't even see other humans...it's only you, nature, and utter silence. The only sound you hear is the car's wheel rolling over the gravel. But when you stop...silence.
Then we got reminded that there must be some humans around when we saw this warning sign: "CAUTION! DIFFICULT TERRAIN. The warning was followed by a recommendation: "4WD Recommended. All other vehicles may be damaged or recovered at the owner's expense.
Looking further ahead, it didn't look like there would be space to turn around. So, if things would start to get rough, you would either risk damage to your car or reverse for who knows how far... And having seen the warning, it was an easy choice to make.
I found a space where I could turn around. The next photo is looking back in the direction of where we came from (while in the process of turning around). We were about to go back the same way (rather than suffering damage to our vehicle...lol).
The next photo was taken a while later. Even though there were no animals in this area, I just liked the scenery.
Let's add some animals to the scene again...
We often had to be on the lookout for "pedestrians"...😅.
Conclusion.
We've had an unforgettable experience and we will definitely return to this venue at some time.
I have also set a goal to work toward one or maybe two bigger projects this year.
I would like to start covering more projects such as this one, but it might start taking us further away from home and we might even end up spending a night or two at such a venue too.
Yes, currently we'll only have weekends to do this, but such an outing should provide me with a lot of good-quality content to share with you.
The idea is to then obviously share such an adventure here with you.
In the meantime, I'll continue with our weekly outings and adventures, while preparing for the bigger adventure/s.
Would you enjoy that? Let me know in the comment section.
And that's it for today, folks.
Thank you for reading my post. I do appreciate it!
Note:
To stay consistent, I used the same exchange rate for USD/ZAR as I used in my first post in this series, which was R16.97 for $1.00. This was the rate on January 1, 2023, the day of our visit to the game reserve.