Murder Mystery Mirth at Mabula

Mabula Sunset

This weekend I was lucky enough to get an invite to a friends timeshare at Mabula Game Farm. It's the second time I've been there and this time was just as good as the first time we went, probably even better as we were celebrating a birthday and my last weekend in Joburg for a while!

Our game drives were conducted by Sakkie in the Entokozweni game vehicle. His smiling, cheerful face is one that you feel like you've known for years. Before our drives he would welcome us and give us a little bit of interesting information and during the drives he would stop and explain a bit about whatever animal that we were seeing, if we were seeing it for the first time. Information such as maximum weight, age and gestation period for each type of animal was given, and if the animal had any distinct markings he would point those out as well - a trademark saying of his being that the white markings on animals act as a "followme" sign. We saw less big animals and more birds this trip and I used this as an excuse to try and brush up on my bird identification skills!

Sakkie, our smiley and knowledgeable guide!

After our game drives, we were welcomed home by the delicious breakfast smells that wafted through the kitchen as Seena prepared our food. As we got off the game vehicle, there were lovely, damp scented cloths waiting for us outside so that we could clean our faces from the dust that gets kicked up during the drive. Upon walking into our rooms, the beds had been made and anything untidy-looking was made to look tidy. 

View from the veranda, where we breakfasted

One of the highlights of the weekend was playing a Murder Mystery game, organised by our host, Paul. If you've never tried out one of these games, I would suggest that you give it a try. It's a role playing game, so whatever you put in is what you get out. For a bunch of engineers and marketers, we managed to pull of a thoroughly entertaining performance - it's just a pity we didn't have an audience other than ourselves. Don't worry if you're not such a fan of role-playing. Everything is scripted and you can act it out as outrageously (or un-outrageously) as you like - I would suggest being as outrageous as possible, it makes for way better entertainment. On top of this, as we learnt at the end, the clues really are there for a reason - so pay attention when you play these games because at the end you need to use your reasoning skills to decide who you think the killer is, before the killer gets revealed to the group!

Pungent Pumpkin Processing Company
Back: Gigi Sparkle, Mavis Cheek, Investigation Panel, Clifton Curry, Professor Emmelius Bunsen, Sir Hamish Hogwash
Front: Lloyd Lunchbox, Lady "Beauty" Fading

Team Pic
Ryan, Laura, Annie, Jean, Paul, Alex, Me, Tienie