A walking safari in South Africa
Sue Jolly gets closers than she’d ever
imagined to the big five in the Kruger National Park
Trekking happily but cautiously through the
shimmering grasslands of the African bush, suddenly my armed guard whispers
there’s a rhino ahead. ‘Hide behind a tree if he makes a rush at us.’ I look at
the rhino. It resembles a small, grey mountain. And it’s a small, grey mountain
that’s beginning to move – our way. I look at the tree. Mighty oak it isn’t.
More like an overgrown bush. I think I may be whimpering – but I’m not sure as
I can’t hear over the noise my feet are making as I pound safely away.
Kruger
National Park is the largest game reserve in South Africa
Here I am in the Kruger National Park, the
second largest reserve in Africa, on a ‘walking with rhinos’ safari. A few days
in, I’ve already had idyllic moments watching animals from a safe distance. But
now I’m out here in the wilderness on foot and it’s an incredible experience –
the highlight of a short break that packs in the most amazing sights, sounds
and even, ahem, smells.
I’m in one of the very best parts of the
Kruger; a private concession, Isibindi, managed by husband and wife Gervit and
Nikki Meyer, who combine luxury accommodation with a desire to conserve the
natural environment. They offer three different types of accommodation within
the park: I spend one night at the base camp 16-bed Rhino Post-Safari Lodge –
and it’s from here that I’m walking when I bump into the rhino ‘mountain’. The
lodge is safari luxury, with electricity, hair dryers and even outdoor showers
– bliss. I also stay one night at their Plains Camp, which has four huge,
luxurious tents and is done out all 19th century naturalist
‘colonial-style’, full of the antique furniture.
the
base camp 16-bed Rhino Post-Safari Lodge
But it’s their third location I’m keenest
to try. The Sleep-Out camp offers a real outdoor experience – a night under the
stars in the middle of nowhere. Just four tents and an eating platform on
stilts above the honey – colored bush, where I eat a delicious barbecued meal
cooked by my guides Colin and Daniel, then clamber up to my ‘tent’ (actually
just netting to keep the insects out) and fall asleep looking at the stars. Out
here they really do twinkle, just like the rhyme says.
But I quickly realise that in all my
excitement about coming here, I forgot to prepare for the South African winter.
While I’m there (August – their equivalent of January), most days are T-shirt
warm. But when it gets dark, it’s as if the freezer door has been opened. I
find myself wearing gloves, warm trousers, a T-shirt, blouse, fleece, jacket,
fleece poncho, windproof poncho and cuddling a hot water bottle for our
early-morning safari drives in an open-topped vehicle. I can hardly move.
The discomfort barely registers, though.
During my three days in the park, I see lions, elephants, rhinos, giraffes,
buffaloes, more antelope than I can count, a mongoose, monkeys, an eagle owl,
baboons, hyenas, hippos and leopards (one is stalking warthogs and I’m secretly
relieved when it doesn’t make a kill).
Lions
in Kruger National Park
And anyway, I’m warm as toast each night –
even at the Sleep-Out camp, where I shuffle down into a thick sleeping bag.
Cleverly, the camp has been built on stilts so the animals can wander about
underneath. Colin and Daniel take turns in keeping watch – I can’t believe it
when they tell me elephants passed by in the night.
Rhinos
in Kruger National Park
All in all, the trip has been exhilarating,
fascinating and everything I could have wished for. Out of Africa? I’d be in
again like a shot.
Sue
and co explore the wilderness on foot
