Johannesburg

After your time in Cape Town go north to Johannesburg. It is here where the game reserves are plenty and Kruger National Park waits.

Before venturing out to "the bush" just hours from Johannesburg spend a few days in the city where the best place to stay is The Saxon Hotel. The Saxon sits on six acres and is located in the exclusive Sandhurst suburb of Jo’burg (as locals refer to the city). You will immediately recognize that the understated class and design is one of African elegance with a feeling of home.

In fact, this was Nelson Mandela’s home for a time after he was released from prison. He wrote his autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom" within these walls so while visiting Johannesburg this is the best way you will find to become a part of the city’s history.

Jo’burg is a city of contrasts and while many tourists feel the city is just too dangerous to venture out in, don’t let this deter you. Sure, the mansions in the lush green suburbs are protected behind walls and the shanty towns are intimidating, but with the right driver the experience of Jo’burg can also be mystical.

Johannesburg is not the sort of city where tourist sites are around every corner, in fact a few days here should suffice before you move toward Cape Town. However, the history and energy of this dynamic city will leave your mind and senses open for more.

Don’t miss Gold Reef City, a major landmark and a good starting point for the tourist wanting to know what the city was like at the turn of the last century. Museums and theatres are also a part of this city with the South African National Museum of Military History near the Johannesburg Zoo, the James Hall Museum of Transport in La Rochelle, South Africa National Railway & Steam Museum, Bernard Price Institute Paleontology Museum and the Barnberg Fashion Museum.

Going on Safari

Johannesburg will be the jumping off point to any kind of safari you can imagine. Spend at least a few days in Kruger National Park (malaria pills required). Also remember that one of the best parts of experiencing a safari is getting there. For me, I flew from game lodge to game lodge on planes that seated anywhere from 20 to two people and all the runways were dirt. There is nothing quite like landing in the middle of nowhere with an elephant uprooting a tree in the distance and a giraffe coming your way to investigate the noise. Always there is some sort of grand table set up on the private airstrip with drinks awaiting consisting of everything from martinis to wine to cold water and your house boy and ranger there to welcome you with a smile.

For the most lavish experience in Kruger National Park stay at Singhita Lebombo Lodge located on the Mozambique border. Singhita means miracle and you’ll believe it’s true as you experience the suites at Singhita Lebombo Lodge perched like eagle’s nests built on the side of cliffs with sweeping 180 degree views of the Lebombo Mountain Range and the Sweni and Nwanetsi rivers. Windows from ceiling to floor and are made of glass and with only 15 suites you can bet the service and privacy are of utmost importance as is the ability to experience nature outside and all around. You can even sleep out on the deck and drift off to the sound of the hippos snorting and grunting far below.

All the lodges you visit will find you as close to nature as possible and you can be sure that a ranger will always come to collect you in the morning (forget about sleeping in) and deliver you safely to your room at night, the threat of lions and other wildlife always lurks in the African bush.

The most important activity at any game lodge will, of course, be the game drives. Early in the morning and a few hours before dark each night you will be taken on a drive with your ranger and a tracker. The time spent on my game drives at Singhita was some of the most thrilling experiences of my life. Several of the lionesses had baby cubs and as we drove into the bush one afternoon the first thing we found were 13 curious babies come to greet us. They had as much fun as we did trying to figure us out and it wasn’t until several of the mothers and the male lion appeared that the babies would even consider tearing themselves away from us, new strangers in their home.

The following morning we found a partial group of these same lionesses and babies eating a Zebra that the mothers had killed during the night. Circling the kill was a hungry jackal and overhead several vultures were eyeing the fresh kill. Both lionesses kept a watchful eye on these less significant predators and it was clear that each one of the lions would be getting their fill of food before anything else was allowed to move in.

No matter what game lodge you visit you will almost certainly experience a sighting of elephants, rhinos, hippos, baboons, zebras, giraffes and a variety of birds too countless to name. It’s not so much about the animals that you see (because you will see them), but about the experience that these sighting effect in you. Your favorite time will be what is known in the bush as sundowners. This is just before sunset when your ranger stops the land rover and you have a drink, watch the sun set low in the sky and listen to the animals tuck in for the evening. Driving back to the lodge in the dark is a great time to experience the stars in all the glory an African night sky can offer, remember to look for the Southern Cross.

At Tintswala, which means intangible feeling of warmth in the Shangaan language, I experienced not only baboons everywhere (one even stole a bottle of Jack Daniels from the bar), but also elephants right behind my suite at my plunge pool eating and playing in the dry riverbed that wasn’t dry the next morning after a severe downpour. In fact, as I ate breakfast after a scraped game drive (too much lighting) I watched the banks of the Nwaswitsontso River become quite raging much to the delight of the hippo and much to the chagrin of the two bush buck momentarily caught in the middle of the land mass on each side of the flood.

Spas are common at many game lodges in South Africa and at Singhita you can enjoy the use of a spa and gym or shop at the African Trading Store between lunch and afternoon tea. Tintswala too has a spa, the Elan Vital Clarins Spa looking out on animals lazing away in the sun.

While Singhita and Tintswala were both part of South Africa’s malaria zone, my final bush experience at Makweti was in the malaria-free area of the Welgevonden Private Game Reserve in the Limpopo Province.

Makweti’s main lodge hangs over the Makweti Gorge and the five stone and thatch chalets offer not only a personal experience for the visitor, but also comforts such as a fire place in each room and indoor/outdoor showers. The water hole just in front of the main lodge is popular with many animals, most notably the zebras who seem to really enjoy time spent there.

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