Return to Pafuri and Baobob Hill House

We returned to Baobob Tree House at Return Africa for the second time, third time for Ken and Tenya (and their fourth trip to Pafuri). We greatly anticipated the visit and it exceeded every expectation.

Baobob Tree at Sunrise

It was a needed break for all of us after the frenetic driving schedule on the Lebombo Trail. We would be sleeping in beds, each of us with our own shower and bathroom, and no driving required as our guide Andile would lead us on several game drives and two bush walks.

Baobob Tree House

The house is part of the greater Return Africa concession that includes traditional safari lodges and remote trail camps. For a group of 4-5 or up to 8 the house is an ideal place to stay: a dedicated guide for the stay, your own cooking team (Wendy and Pheonah have been the team there for 11 years now), a pool, and plenty of game viewing directly from the house.

Sundowner by the river

A typical day is:

• Wake about 5-5:30am
• Coffee and quick snacks (and malaria pill)
• Game drive or bush walk starting at 6:15am, returning to house around 10-11:30am
• Big English breakfast
• Relax: catch up on work, swim in the pool, nap, watch birds playing in the bath
• Quick lunch or high tea at about 2:30pm
• Afternoon game drive starting at 3:30pm, sundowner (snacks, beer, cocktails) near sunset, then a night drive back to the house looking for nocturnal critters
• Dinner at about 7pm

I love everything about the routine, but the late afternoon activities are always my favorites. The air is moving from warm to cool, we always stop at an amazing view for the sundowner, and there’s always excitement on the night drive back home.

Fever tree forest bush walk

Ken was adamant about wanting two bush walks which can be a logistical challenge - in addition to our guide (who is certified to lead a game walk) we have to have a “second rifle”. Return Africa worked it out for us and we started on our first morning with a walk through the Fever Tree forest, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

The Limpopo basin had massive flooding earlier this year, and it had a huge impact on Return Africa. Several of their riverside lodge buildings and boardwalks were washed away, and some routine roads are now impassible. There are some pleasant side effects though: the forest has significant water basins leading to substantial game and bird life wandering. The walk was magical.

We had a second walk directly from the house on our final full day, exploring the dry mopane forest and cliffs to the west and north of the house. We had done a similar hike before, but again the increased water presence made the hike much more enjoyable: buffalo, elephants, lots of antelope and birds.

Bird bath

Hanging around the house is always a joy for the birder and photographers. The giant baobob near the house is home to at least three varieties of weavers, and other birds love to come in in the late afternoon to play around in the bird bath. While taking these bird bath photos, an injured male nyala wandered into the area, walked directly by me to the bath and drank up all the water.

Vervet Monkey

The wildlife viewing was excellent as usual, and I’ll share more in some upcoming posts as I review birds and mammals of Kruger that we’ve seen. No big cats

Return Africa group shot

After a brief morning game drive on our final day we said our goodbyes, driving away to the west and north to cross into Zimbabwe for our next adventure. Our original plan was to cross into Mozambique to the east then ford the Limpopo river to enter Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe via the back door, but the Limpopo is still too flooded and we did not have certainty that a ferry would be operating. More on that in my next post.