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South Africa Revisited

John is impressed by both guides and camps on his recent visit to South Africa

South Africa is our number one best seller, and that’s not surprising given it has a great variety of scenery, activities to suit all, the cost can be economical and it does have a superb climate. But leaving the UK for a trip to South Africa trip in June last year, I felt hesitant. Although I hadn’t been to South Africa for a while, it was high time I re-visited many of the places that clients are currently enjoying and to visit some new ones. Happily with several thousand miles of driving ahead of me, I had managed to persuade a good friend of mine, Patrick, to join me. My slight reservation towards my trip came from my passion for real safaris. This means real remote, real bush and game drives or walks with excellent guides, and not big five chasing. All things I didn’t particularly associate with safaris in South African.

With old haunts and new ones on the agenda the Kruger area in Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces beckoned with its exceptional number of super luxurious camps. Big game, five star food, plunge pools and exquisite personal service are the criteria met by them all, but they don’t come cheap. These are normally just the sort of lodges I am rather rude about so I felt a bit of a hypocrite as I really enjoyed the super posh Royal Malewane, with its serious opulence and strong designer overtones. Its six very regal suites could not be bettered for a few days rest and relaxation. The high staff-to-guest ratio means that nothing is too much trouble, but the service is not over attentive. Your personal guide discusses your game viewing wishes with you and walking is actively encouraged. Don’t tell anybody but I would like to go back there with my wife.

Another favourite and more in the mid price range is still Tanda Tula, which is in the Timbavati Reserve of the Kruger. It’s a comfortable tented camp with a well established feel which has recently undergone extensive renovation. The twelve tents are well spaced out, each with a view over the dry river bed below. Eco-friendly walls are made of mud and straw and sit alongside roll top baths and outdoor showers. Game drives take a maximum of six clients and walking is again encouraged. Each morning they produce a bush breakfast and the general quality of food and wine is superb. With good game and comfortable surroundings this is an excellent camp with a really nice personable feel.

Nottens is a good value Kruger Camp and is in the renowned Sabi Sand Reserve. It has great game viewing and provides comfortable accommodation with an unpretentious but a very relaxed feel. They encourage families and take children from eight years old, with a dedicated family room.

An exciting newcomer to the area is Plains Camp, for a real on foot safari experience. Newly established within the Kruger Park itself north of Skukuza, the bush around Plains Camp is particularly good for rhino. Picking up fresh rhino spoor one morning was really exciting, and we then followed the tracks at a well-paced walk. The camp itself is a very small classic tented camp more like those found in more remote parts of Africa. It has a 1920’s feel rather like Jack’s Camp in Botswana. It would combine really well with any of the camps I’ve mentioned earlier for the more adventurous client.

We then left Kruger and flew south east to the Ndumo Game Reserve, which is located just south of the Mozambique border in Maputaland. An area of mainly wetland, it includes pans on the Pongola and Usutu floodplains, both of which are surrounded by the distinctive yellow-stemmed fever trees. The area was simply phenomenal. It felt very remote, and quite akin to being in parts of the Okavango Delta or one of the river valleys in Zambia. It felt a million miles from the more traditional tourist areas of South Africa and must be one of the least visited gems South Africa has to offer. With a good selection of game and over 400 species of bird, the naturalist or those just seeking peace and tranquillity will be in heaven. The couple who run it are true bush enthusiasts and the guides were superb. Accommodation is in traditional large safari tents with en-suite facilities set high on platforms overlooking the lagoon. We were sadly only here for a very brief visit. I didn’t want to leave.

Our beach stop was Rocktail Bay Lodge, a place that many of our clients have visited and loved. More safari camp than beach lodge, it has a very chilled feeling and the miles of undeveloped coastline are a tremendous feature. The birding is great, the location wild and beautiful, the diving was superb and the snorkelling excellent. I can’t wait to go back on a private holiday.

We drove many miles and visited many other areas and camps, too many to mention in this piece. However one more place we visited deserves a specific mention. The location is not actually in South Africa, but easily accessible from Johannesburg by car or plane. The Mashatu Game Reserve is in Botswana, just over the Pontdrift Border Post. This visit was on the insistence of Jane, who worked here during the 1980s. The reserve has a vast, remote and rugged feel, it’s real bush with woodland, rocky outcrops, riverine and plains areas with superb elephant, excellent predators and very good general game. We stayed at the Tented Camp, which takes a maximum of fourteen clients in simple but comfortable tented accommodation. For value for money and for a real bush experience you just cannot get any better than here, particularly as you can do walking with fly camping, mountain biking, horse riding and archaeological trips all within the Reserve. You could easily spend a week here or more for the same cost as a few nights in the Okavango Delta.

After driving and flying over fifteen hundred miles in two weeks, my views on South Africa had changed. You simply cannot fault the country for its sheer diversity of scenery, its beaches, its bush and mountains, its boutique style hotels, its hospitality, the warm and genuine welcome it gives to visitors, the food and wine and its safaris.

I came back from my trip in June hugely impressed with a large number of the safari guides we met during our trip. Indeed they were some of the most professional I have seen in years. I had started reservations, but I was proved wrong. Is there anywhere better in the world for all that South Africa has to offer? I would say that there is not.



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