Rhino Ridge Safari Lodge, Hluhluwe

Coming of Age

What sets this luxury lodge apart from all others is its spectacular location on the edge of a vast valley in Hluhluwe Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. The architecture makes the most of this setting, with a dramatic, full-height glass front and wooden deck which reaches out into the view. From this vantage point, you can watch the light change as the sun rises and sets, while witnessing animals move silently below, undisturbed and protected in a pristine natural habitat.

The main lodge is upmarket, with snazzy furnishings and tasteful local fabrics. Lighting has been used to great effect to showcase a wall-length mural of wildlife. Throughout the lodge, movement has been created by photographic wall murals and I have to remind myself to close my mouth as each turn reveals a new breath-taking scene. The long pool is framed on one side with bright aloes and on the other side with nothing but open valley views.

This new lodge represents a coming of age for South African hospitality. Offering the best that local architecture, photography, décor, food and natural wildlife, the lodge is a celebration of all that this unique corner of the globe offers its privileged guests. Community-owned, the professionalism, warmth and pride of the staff marks our point in history as we transform into a developed nation. Lodge manager Sphamandla Shabalala says “It is Isibindi’s commitment to staff development that attracted me to take up the position at this lodge. I love taking staff from a basic level and growing them into competent professionals” he explains. “It is so rewarding to see people grow – it’s such a sense of achievement.”

Accommodation experience:

Despite the many amazing features of this lodge, I am most excited about waking up to this gorgeous face – a giant photograph of a warthog. I set my alarm early, even earlier than necessary to catch the morning game drive. I smile as I wake and greet my newfound best bud. I sit in bed with my coffee and notice new modern features of my suite which I had not seen the night before. I marvel as the sky turns pink, then pale blue, then ochre and I feel intensely proud to be a South African on this gentle and beautiful dawn.

Beautiful Food at Thonga Beach Lodge, Mabibi, Northern KwaZulu-Natal

Insert Before and After Selfie Here

Look there’s no need to make a complete scene, but do allow yourself a silent little weep when you encounter the heavenly food at Thonga Beach Lodge, Northern KwaZulu-Natal. How often does one find food that is truly delicious at the same time as being wholeheartedly healthy? Here you can camp out at the lunchtime buffet table, come back again for the high tea, eat every course of the glamorous dinner and start all over again with a cooked breakfast – all without self-recrimination of any kind.

The Thonga open deck lunches have all the right colours – bright green salads, red and yellow roasted peppers, orange caramelized butternut, green-black pumpkin seeds and olive coloured … well olives. You will find creamy Gorgonzola, lemon glazed chicken, glossy asparagus and fresh muscles in white wine sauce.

Dinners have creative spicing on sustainable fish, plentiful pesto super-green sauces, tender ostrich fillets and succulent pork.

If the thought of too much health makes you lose the will to live, fear not – decadent puddings and teas elevate the meals from worthy to worshipful. I meet the friends-forever kind of drunken chocolate mousse and I take a defensive stance over the red velvet muffins at the tea table (they have the good icing over which many a war has started from Mabibi to Manchester). I have a fleeting image of finding squashed cupcakes in my luggage back home, shrug and take another.

Despite these delicacies, combined with the plentiful beach activities and visits to the serene spa, you will come out of this holiday looking the healthiest, happiest version of yourself. Take a ‘selfie’ before and after photo to show the change from pudgy, pasty, stressy old you to slim, smooth, toned, shiny, happy new you – with just a hint of cream cheese icing on your nose to authenticate the image.

White Elephant Safari Lodge, Jozini

Life seems real

“It is essential to experience all the times and moods of this place.”

                                                                     Thomas Merton

Every moment at White Elephant Safari Lodge is an experience of the African bushveld of Northern KwaZulu-Natal.  From the sounds of the singing veld, to the views of the setting sun, to Bushbuck, warthog and giraffe wandering around the lodge, one feels immersed in this location and greatly privileged to be so closely connected to the land. The warm welcome by lodge hosts make one soon become an integrated local, learning the names and daily rhythms of the elephants and other family members. It is even possible to request an outing with an elephant behaviour researcher connected to the lodge and stationed at the Pongola Game Reserve.

The accommodation in authentic canvas safari tents further connects one to the African surrounds, though glamping this is for sure. The white linen is offset by rich oranges and red, softened again by a misty mosquito net. A glorious freestanding Victorian bath is set up against the back of the tent such that you may lift the sides to feel as if you are outdoors. If this is still not enough contact with African blue skies, an outdoor shower under a kindly Acacia tree will complete your fantasy.

Accommodation Experience

Having been to many game reserves and luxury lodges in Africa, I somehow still find myself captivated by this one. Perhaps it is the openness of this lodge which allows a free flow of animals, and that one is intimately connected to this environment by being in a tent. Or it may be the unique feature of this lodge that it overlooks the vast Jozini Dam and this combination of African bushveld next to a vast water source is an unusual and luxurious one. This allows one to choose between game drives, an outing with the elephant research station staff, water activities on the dam, or simply lazing in the lodge swimming pool while the animals move gently around you, all of which is perfect for this hot and sunny part of the world.

Gin and tonic in hand, I sigh with happiness as I sit on my deck appreciating the sun setting, creating pink light over the Jozini Dam. It is a hot day, the whole country being gripped in a heat wave. Nonetheless my hair is still damp from having just showered outdoors and I feel cooled simply being close to water. One quickly becomes integrated into the rhythms of this place, which mirror the movement of the fauna and flora of this environment. Above all, here there is a sense of great belonging, a oneness with the land and locals. I am reminded of the words of Thomas Merton in his journal, written in a very different climate and time, yet reaching into this time and this sense of integration with a natural place and its natural daily rhythms:

“How full the days are, full of quiet, ordered, occupied (sawing wood, sweeping, reading, taking notes, meditating, praying, tending to the fire, or just looking at the valley). Only here do I feel fully human. And only what is authentically human is fit to be offered to God ... Life seems real.”                                                                                                                       Thomas Merton

Wildspan Guest Farm, Campbell, Northern Cape

Release that Inner Cowgirl

Set free your inner cowgirl at this Kudu ranch in the middle of nowhere, complete with windmills, royal blue skies and golden grasses. Restless of spirit, I come across this place while traversing the Northern Cape one dark winter’s night.

We travel too late and feel unsettled to arrive in this unusual environment. The owner meets us on the road with a torch and points out the white stoney ground, which he says is lit up by a full moon such that you can see without torchlight. He says we need not lock doors and should not fear the sounds of hooves around the cottage as the Kudu roam freely about.

He leads us into the stone cottage, where a large open fireplace in the kitchen, cozy bedrooms and warm wooden furniture complement the ranch setting. We light the fire, make strong cups of tea and the cottage feels instantly our home even though the landscape is as different as one could imagine.

Accommodation Experience:

I sleep deeply and wake feeling unusually peaceful. It is quiet here, with a stillness that softens even my dragon-slaying edges. 

I head out in the chilly dawn, blanket wrapped, to take photographs of the windmill, cacti, Kudu horns and stone walls. The golden morning light is kindly and blesses my efforts. The sky paradoxically turns from bright blue to a pale powder light as the sun rises higher.

The urgent questions I came here with have fallen away and I even struggle to remember what they are. This otherworldly landscape has drawn me into its time warp and confuses my restlessness such that I may find myself staying, becoming ever more peaceful and restful until I relinquish my searching to find what I was looking for all along, right here and now.

Lake Naverone, Drakensberg

Healing Waters

There is something about being close to water which is good for the soul, and these stone cottages are about as close as it gets to the waters of Lake Naverone in KwaZulu-Natal. Three of the cottages even have decks which reach out over the lake, underneath which eerily enormous Grass Carp silently pass.

The cottages have everything one requires for a stay in the Drakensberg – thatched roofs, textured stone walls, fireplaces and wing-back chairs. The open plan design allows for a flow between indoor catering, sitting at the fire in the lounge and outdoor braaing.

This place is all about those vast and spectacular views and from every aspect of the cottages one looks onto that magical combination of mountains and waters. They will call to your soul and you will find your blanket-wrapped, coffee-carrying self heading out at first light even on the frostiest of mornings.

Accommodation Experience:

We stay at Lake Naverone with a grieving friend and it is a good place for it. We spend our time alternating between looking through old photographs, going for walks around the lake, reading our lost beloved’s poems, floating on the boats and gazing at the ever-changing view. Sometimes it is dark and brooding as the intense Drakensberg storms roll in with their purple cloaks and zap their lightening fingers part randomly and other times seeming to target specific locations with unconcerned malice. However they quickly pass and other times we are spellbound by the irreconcilably delicate rainbows. In the early mornings the water is as still as a mirror and the frosted jettys look treacherously beautiful.

It’s a lot to take in and my heart feels strained but very alive, especially now as I look across at my grieving friend rhythmically fly-fishing at the edge of the lake, at the end of an era and at the beginning of something new.

Blackwood Log Cabin, Hout Bay

Wordless prayer

This is one of those places where I walked in and the view simply took my breath away. I moved spellbound towards the deck, while the poor hostess bounced in front of me trying to catch my attention to explain various practicalities. I waved her away with a glazed smile, and opened every one of the glass doors to let the cool forest breeze and astounding mountain views in.

As I walked out onto the deck I breathed deeply, remembering why I have always loved Hout Bay. It is a thickly forested green haven, close to Cape Town, with a pretty, winding, tall-tree-lined road into town. It has easy access to beautiful beaches like Llandudno, Camps Bay, Noordhoek and the spectacular Chapman’s Peak drive. But best of all, it is surrounded by towering mountains, with two perfectly-placed gaps between the mountains – one allowing fresh morning sunlight to spill over the back of Table Mountain, the other parting from the sea side allows late golden light to shine up the valley, where long evenings may be spent enjoying sundowners on the deck while many other parts of Cape Town are already in the shadow of the mountain.

And within this pristine setting I find the perfect Hout Bay accommodation – Blackwood Log Cabin Mountain Retreat. A glamorous yet natural wooden house set high up a hill in the thick forest setting, the house has been designed to maximize the views on every front. The lounge is conservatory style, with surround glass doors opening onto the deck which faces in three directions. Even the bedrooms have ceiling-to-floor glass all round. And of course one of my favourite things – a freestanding bath set up against a bank of windows with forest and mountain views and cool breezes to offset the warm water.

The cabin is a freestanding villa, with a well fitted, full scale kitchen, open plan dining and lounge area. The lounge is decorated with a natural, organic touch, including woven lamps, baskets and hanging rows of flat, pearly shells on the walls. The look is not too earthy-crunchy though, and it is sophisticated and modern, with a clean-lined grey couch and a Kelim rug. There are two private bedrooms and two full bathrooms, one with bath and one with shower. There is an indoor fireplace and outdoor barbeque area, with 3 lovely outdoor seating areas, and a hammock. The lodge has its own private swimming pool.

Accommodation Experience:

I was supposed to be working on a big report which was due at the end of the month. But when a colleague phoned to ask about my progress, my reply was simple – “It’s too beautiful.” She chuckled and left me in peace.

I lay on the hammock on the deck, perfectly shaded from the hot afternoon sun, a cool breeze blowing across me. I wanted to pray, but, like Mary Oliver, "I have not forgotten the Way, but, a little, the way to the Way". My prayer came out in a wordless combination of request and gratitude – a silent and deep thanks for this place and moment, all that had come before and all that was yet to come and for the hope and certainty of a life well lived.