The perfect safari experience
I stay at Rhino Post Safari Lodge with a friend who is a serious meditator. Half way through our stay I inquire how her meditation sessions are going and am surprised when she replies “Terribly!” I ask why and she explains “It’s just too beautiful here. I can’t bear to close my eyes.”
This
sums up my experience too. I practice my own form of mindfulness bathing in the
luxurious bath overlooking the dry river bed and reflect that this is
one of the most beautiful accommodation spaces which the Kruger National Park
has to offer. Each thatched suite faces onto the river bed, with wooden
walkways all behind the rooms for maximal privacy. The front of the full length
of the suite is completely open, and this open design allows the cool breeze to
flow in from every side. A deck with two comfortable Morris chairs and footrest
futons creates your own private outdoor lounge from which you can view game all
day long.
The
spacious bed has an African-style cover and patterned cushions. The cool white
linen and mosquito net mean you can sleep with all the sides of your suite
open, with a feeling of being in a treehouse. The sound of wildlife can be
heard all night and you are fully aware of being in the wilds of Africa.
Glamorous
double basins, a freestanding bath and outdoor shower means you view high
definition screens onto your own private wildlife reality show from every
direction.
Accommodation
Experience
We
gather at the Rhino Post Safari Lodge bar for pre-dinner drinks and snacks,
full of enthusiastic stories about our earlier game drive and sightings. The
amuse bouche are delicious, carpaccio of crocodile, avocado and asparagus,
nuts, dried Mango, and a South African Kruger National Park favourite –
biltong, which is dried, salted game meat. A high powered lawyer from Chile is
secretly collecting the biltong to leave a trail of leopard bait to the door of
her suite for an extra late-night sighting. We notice that she orders her
Ostrich fillet rare.
A
German guest asks Joey, our guide, “How is the traffic looking behind us?”
meaning the flow of animals to the water hole just beyond the deck of the lodge
bar. Joey is ever watchful (listenful and smellful) and quickly alerts us to
any action. We see a mother warthog with her two tiny babies coming nervously
down to the waterhole to drink on bended knees. Suddenly a herd of elephant parade
right past the lodge to drink at the water hole and we all hold our breath as a
baby elephant falls into the water and it takes the mother elephant a few
seconds to pull the baby out.
We
watch the elephants move past, I count 24 in all. Finally we decide to move
through to the dining room and there is a buzz of excitement as we chase out a
hyena which has been sniffing around for scraps. As we settle in the foreign guests remark how despite the excitement of the African bushveld, how peaceful they have found traveling in South Africa. Our
conversation turns to our late father, Nelson Mandela, and with misty eyes we
discuss the miracle of peaceful transformation which we owe to this great
leader. Our other local heroes, Mahatma Ghandi and Archbishop Demond Tutu also
receive honourable mention. I am bursting with pride to be a South African
tonight, reinforced when the international guests are blown away by the quality
of Chef Brian’s food.
Towards the end of the meal we have some intense discussions about what time we should set out for our
morning drive. Joey asks us what type of animals we would like to see. The
Chilean lawyer says philosophically “Whatever God provides for us to see.” We
nod meaningfully and see that Joey appreciates this answer. But I can’t sustain
the pretence and blurt out my very specific African fantasy of seeing a large
male lion doing his morning marking rounds. Joey plays hardball and says in
that case we need to wake at 5.30am, ready to leave at 6am. As South African
“Kruger nerds” we are thrilled at this suggestion, but notice the Germans
blanche. The brave Chilean lawyer, travelling alone on business, needs some
convincing and we sense that she could go either way as first she says “Yes –
we can sleep for the rest of our lives – this is a once in a lifetime
opportunity!” but then she backtracks, saying “Then again if we are still fast
asleep we won’t even remember what we saw.” We try to “play it cool” and let
the Germans decide. They are, after all, on holiday, and may appreciate a
chance to sleep in when they are not fighting morning subway traffic. Our committed
guide Joey gives them a little nudge off the cliff, nonchalantly saying “Of
course the game drive is completely voluntary and you should feel free to take
the morning off.” That settles it and we all agree on the following compromise:
If it is raining, poor (now awake) Joey will not give us a wake-up call and
will let us sleep in. But if the weather is clear, he should call us at 5.30am.
The ever shrewd Chilean lawyer spots a technical loophole. “You can’t actually
call us all at once can you? Can you call my room last?” She has outsmarted us
again.
At
exactly 5.30am the next morning we get our wake-up call from Joey, our
dedicated guide. The suite is so beautiful with the dawn light just coming in
over the trees on the other side of the river bed, that it is difficult to
break the mesmerising spell. But we feel responsible for everyone’s early
wake-up and force ourselves moving. It is a warm and clear morning.
We
head to the open bar and deck, meeting place and the “happening spot” at the
lodge. The Chilean lawyer is already there, quieter than usual and clearly
still waking up. Soon everyone has arrived and we gulp down the last of our
coffee and head out to the high, open game vehicle. There is the usual mental
calculation from the foreigners about where to sit to maximise both safety and
viewing and information from the guide. The shrewd Chilean lawyer, who is also
the most nervous amongst us, seats herself squarely in the middle of the vehicle.
Exactly on schedule at 6am we are off, faces full into the dawn breeze, the
smell of dew and animal activity in our noses and our cheeks flushed with the
excitement of what we may see.
I
simply love going on safari with international guests who have never before
been in Africa, let alone on safari. Every critter is a wonder and I find
myself rediscovering their unlikely beauty through the eyes of the spellbound
foreigners. We pass a giraffe, zebra and waterbuck, back-lit by the rising sun.
You can sense that the foreigners would be happy to spend an hour at each of these
sightings, but Joey is a man with a plan, and knows we can come back to these
sightings later in the day. We head straight out towards Jones’ Dam North of
Skukuza.
We
do not have long to wait until we are even more rewarded. As we drive into
Jones’ Dam we are distracted by a yawning hippo in the water. But we quickly
realise that he is not alone and to our right we see a band of four lion
brothers who are already asleep next to the dam. We drive right up to them and
they reward us with grumpy yawns and morning hair. Their dark manes are just
growing out and they look like awkward students trying to impress by growing
out their hair and a beard. One blesses us with a spectacularly stinky scat
right next to the car, payback for having been woken. Seeing these boys in
their natural state is an amazing privilege and we are elated about the
experience.
However
the morning drive does not end there and we have an unbelievably lucky outing.
We come across a huge gathering of vultures, including the pink faced Lappet Vulture,
eating on a carcass. We drive right through a herd of buffalo and come up close
to a parade of elephants with tiny babies. We feel fully satisfied with our
morning, but even as we head back towards the lodge we come across three slim
cheetah walking in parallel through the grass, and finally the cherry on the
top – we see a large male leopard who is behaving strangely and is unafraid of
the vehicle and heading towards us. Joey figures out that he is smelling the
trail of a female leopard in heat.
We
arrive back at the lodge on a high, too excited to speak. Sophia, from
reception, asks us whether it was worth getting up so early. The German banker
nods thoughtfully and says “I think so, ja.” We realise this is German-speak
for “Oh wow yes absolutely – it was awesome!” Sophia asks “Why, what did you
see?” “Well,” replies the German still soberly, “…everything.”
To book for a stay at Rhino Post Safari Lodge, visit www.isibindi.co.za
To book for a stay at Rhino Post Safari Lodge, visit www.isibindi.co.za
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