When was the last time your dinner was delayed due to a lion pride? Stephanie Holmes experiences all manner of animals - and once-in-a-lifetime moments - on safari in Sabi Sands Game Reserve.
After three days on safari in South Africa, I’m starting to think it’s time to buy a lottery ticket because my luck is definitely in.
Before every game drive – sunrise and sunset – the guides ask me, “What do you want to see today?” And somehow, even though we’re on a 63-hectare private reserve, with an open boundary between here and the two million hectares of next-door Kruger National Park, they’ve managed to find every animal on my wish list.
Over my three-night stay at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, I’ll see all my favourite animals (lions, elephants, giraffes), as well as many I’ve never heard of before (spotted genet, nyala, duiker). In between game drives, I’ll enjoy five-star luxury, fine food and the pure, unadulterated peace of South Africa’s wild landscapes.
Before leaving home, many people told me that my first visit to the African continent would change me in some way. I was sceptical, but there’s something about the space, the air, the light, the peace, that quickly gets under my skin. For three days at least, the real world shrinks to just a speck in my peripheral vision, and the only thing in front of my mind is this wild, untamed world where animals are king.
Sabi Sabi’s first lodge, Bush Camp, opened in 1979, followed by three more over the years – Little Bush Camp, Selati Camp and Earth Lodge.
Each is themed around South Africa’s past, present and future, or yesterday, “reflecting the romance of safaris past”, today, “offering a contemporary bush experience”, and tomorrow, “the dawning of an African Renaissance”.
All four are situated in the Sabie Game Reserve in the area known as the Sabi Sands, part of the Greater Kruger Protected Area. The area shares a 50km unfenced border with Kruger National Park, giving wildlife a mass of space within which to roam free.
I spend my first night at Selati Camp – themed for yesterday and inspired by the 19th-century Selati railway line that once passed through the area carrying gold to and from Mozambique.
With only seven suites, it’s one of the smallest of the four in Sabi Sabi’s collection. Bush Lodge (themed “today”) is the largest, with 25 suites, and the only one that allows children. Little Bush Camp (also “today”) has only six suites, and Earth Lodge (”tomorrow”) has 12.
My presidential suite is romantic and beautiful. Vintage safari memorabilia adorn the walls, there’s a four-poster bed, comfortable lounge area, and an outside terrace that looks out to the wilderness beyond. The bathroom has a free-standing bath and rain-head shower, or there’s an outdoor shower if you feel like being even more at one with nature.
The private plunge pool is cool and inviting in the heat of the day. I dangle my feet in while drinking a glass of Champagne and take in my surroundings – the bushveld beyond, the rustle in the trees of vervet monkeys and a stork flying overhead, circling gracefully as if performing a welcome fly-by.
There aren’t many decisions to make on a luxury safari because the lodge staff have everything so fantastically planned for you.
The day’s schedule is set, with pre-sunrise wake-up calls, light breakfasts, morning game drives, full second breakfasts, lunch, high tea, an afternoon safari, then dinner. Free time can be spent lazing by the pool, using the gym, visiting the spa, taking an excursion to a local community, or simply sitting back and enjoying your beautiful accommodation.
There are few rules, but one is essential to obey – don’t walk alone after dark, not even the few short metres back to your room. The lodges have been built in the animals’ natural habitat and they will go where they choose – it’s not unusual to find a monkey peering through your windows, a leopard curled up on your deck, or an elephant drinking from your plunge pool.
The main lodge buildings are dotted around the camp, with views out to a large waterhole, where at any point of the day you might see herds of elephants, Cape buffalo or lions taking a drinks break. The dining room, breakfast area and main lounge are all open-sided, allowing the breeze to pass through – at night they’re wrapped with an electric fence to stop hyenas chewing on the furniture.
Ahead of my first game drive, guide Will asks me what I want to see, and I tell him it would be nice to see lions and elephants, but I’m not worried, I’m just happy to be here.
Leaving the camp, we stop almost as soon as we’ve started – Will’s spotted a saddle-billed stork next to a small waterhole, a bird at least four feet tall, with a long, red, yellow and black spear-like beak.
Ten minutes later, our tracker – nicknamed Lucky – points off to the distance and we veer off-road. Vehicles are only allowed to drive off-track to get close to one of the Big Five, so my senses prickle. Suddenly, we’re in front of four white rhinos – a mother and calf, and two sub-adults – resting in a clearing, with a flock of red-billed oxpecker birds perched on their backs. We get within metres of them, yet the rhinos carry on their business, undeterred by our presence.
This is one of the benefits of staying at a private nature reserve like Sabi Sabi – the wildlife has spent the last 40-plus years living naturally alongside human visitors, yet facing no threat from their presence. They have become accustomed to being observed by humans in safari trucks, which means the expert guides and trackers can get you closer than you could ever imagine.
The rhino sighting feels like a good sign for what’s to come but as we continue our drive, the rest of the animals seem to be in hiding.
It becomes clear that a safari is an exercise in patience and surrender - you can’t control what you see, or when you see it. You can drive for an hour and come across not much at all, then within the space of 10 minutes, find three of the Big Five. But it’s not like a David Attenborough TV show - you won’t see one thing after the other, you might not see it up close, and you might need to resign yourself to the fact that on this occasion, it’s time to give up.
Instead, we stop for our first sundowner. Will and Lucky set up a very impressive bar on the bonnet of the jeep and serve up gin and tonics and canapes while we watch the sun dropping low. It’s like no sunset I’ve seen before, the sun a perfect orb glowing the colour of a Cosmopolitan cocktail against a fading grey-blue sky.
But as we drive back to camp in the dimming light, it seems there’s a second show for us this evening.
Some of the other guides have spotted a female leopard close to camp, so we all move together to find her. In the dark, and with the camp surrounded by bush, it seems like a needle-in-a-haystack search. But suddenly there’s a clue – a spotted hyena following the leopard’s path so it can steal whatever she kills.
We track them both and suddenly, the leopard is there, moving elegantly through the scrub towards us. She sidles past our truck, so close I could reach out and pat her (I don’t), then carries on her way.
The hyena is clearly annoying her – she lies down, trying to shake him off. They get within a metre of each other – a rare sight to see, Will tells us in a whisper – and the leopard snarls, threatening to pounce. The hyena runs away, tail between his legs, and the leopard drops to the ground for a rest.
We take the hint and leave her be, heading back to camp for dinner around the boma.
It’s an elaborate three-course affair courtesy of Chef Gift, a circular woman with a beaming gold-plated smile. There’s impala carpaccio or tomato soup, beef, duck or fish for main, creme caramel, icecream or cheese for dessert, accompanied by free-flowing wine, and the constant chorus of frogs soundtracking our evening under the stars.
I’m more specific the next morning when Will asks me what animals I want to see. “Lions,” I tell him, emphatically. “And elephants.”
And would you believe it, we find them, along with the rest of the Big Five – Cape Buffalo asleep not far from the lodge, more rhinos, the same leopard, this time gnawing on an impala leg, a herd of elephants enjoying a feast around a cluster of trees, and four female lions, asleep in a clearing while they digest whatever unfortunate creatures they hunted in the night. They’re stretched out like house cats, resting paws as big as dinner plates on fallen branches, occasionally flicking their tails, their faces stained red with the blood of their prey.
One of them wakes, stretches and looks me dead in the eyes. You’d think it would be terrifying to be face to face with such a deadly creature but somehow it feels more of a calm, spiritual experience – a moment of understanding between two mammals.
Or perhaps she’s deciding if she has the energy to eat me.
After breakfast, Will drives me over to Earth Lodge, where I’ll spend the next two nights. Representing “tomorrow”, it’s the most futuristic of the four lodges, with modernist architectural design, accentuated with contemporary African decor and art.
Suites are spacious and luxurious, without being ostentatious. They’re very private, with secluded terraces, plunge pools and sun loungers, outdoor showers, and a bushveld outlook.
It’s really in the midst of nature. An impala is tiptoeing through my neighbour’s garden as I walk to lunch and a group of waterbuck, part of the antelope family, are grazing outside the front of my suite as I’m escorted back for dinner.
There are thoughtful touches everywhere in my suite – game drive guidebooks, a sketch pad, oil paints and pastels, numerous areas for lounging and relaxing, stunning bathrooms with sunken baths looking out to the view.
The food is modern and plentiful. Think multi-course dinners featuring sous vides and confits, sorbet palate cleansers, freshly baked breads, handmade pastas, gluten-free and vegan options. Whatever you want, you’re likely to find it, all you need to do is ask.
Staff with names like Goodness, Blessing, Mercy, Prince and Perfect take care of everything you need. Most come from rural villages in local communities, fulfilling part of Sabi Sabi’s commitment to sustainable, eco-tourism. As well as providing unbeatable luxury safari experiences, Sabi Sabi has its own foundation focusing on community-based projects that benefit staff and their families. This is seen not only in employment at the lodges but also through education, conservation and improving infrastructure, like the establishment of a stable, fresh water supply in nearby Huntington Village, where many of the lodge staff live.
Eric, my Earth Lodge tracker, has been with Sabi Sabi for 27 years. There are others who have worked with the lodge since the beginning. They know every inch of this land, have seen it change and grow, and followed generations of animals through their circle of life.
Sitting on a jump seat on the front of the jeep, Eric coolly points a stick this way and that when he spots something. Each time it takes me a while to see what he’s indicating but, sure enough, he’s always spot on, finding even the most well-camouflaged of animals with ease.
Over the three days, we see the animals I’d expected to see on safari – lions, giraffes, zebra, impalas, hippos, ostrich, warthogs and wildebeest – plus a whole range of unexpected creatures that surprise and delight, like the lilac-breasted roller, a stunningly beautiful bird with 11 different colours making up its feathers; a southern tree agama, a lizard with a bright blue head; and three southern ground hornbills, large carnivorous birds that look like a cross between a turkey, a crow and a vulture, and listed as one of the “Big Six” bird species to find in South Africa.
All too soon, my final night arrives and, after a last sundowner we’re driving back to the lodge after a relatively uneventful game drive. I’m feeling content though – it’s been a fulfilling three days, and I’m grateful to have seen so much.
But more fool me if I think it’s over. Just ahead of our path are the four lionesses we saw sleeping at Selati, but this time they’re awake and on the move.
We follow them as they pad steadily west, moving towards Little Bush Camp. They’re hunting, looking for food. Every now and then they stop still, listening, sniffing, sensing what’s out there. For a while, they stop to chew on a patch of grass. “It was all a hoax,” guide Macs jokes. “Lions are actually vegetarians.”
They walk through Little Bush Camp and Macs is immediately on the radio to warn staff, who are getting ready to set up dinner around the boma. It’s too dangerous for anyone to be walking around outside until the lions have gone – nature runs to its own schedule; dinner will have to wait.
Emerging on the other side of the camp, we follow them further down the road, the Southern Cross bright in the sky overhead. One lion, slightly injured and slower than her sisters, walks so close beside the jeep I can hear the pad of her footsteps as they hit the sand road.
I hold my breath and wonder if she can feel the vibration of my heart, and the rush of adrenaline coursing through my body.
We get to a patch of dense bush and, just like that, they’re gone, disappearing among the trees as if they were never there at all. But the memory will remain forever etched on my brain. How can you ever forget the trip of a lifetime?
Checklist
SABI SABI
GETTING THERE
Singapore Airlines flies from Auckland and Christchurch to Cape Town, via Singapore. singaporeair.com
DETAILS
For a tailored South Africa itinerary, talk to the experts at Adventure World. adventureworld.co.nz
For more, see sabisabi.com