You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Private side of<br />
Kruger<br />
Kruger National Park has traditionally been a selfdrive<br />
destination, where your camping gear gets<br />
its annual outing, or you stay in a no-frills Park’s<br />
Board chalet. But in recent years the opportunity<br />
to stay in a private safari lodge inside the National<br />
Park has become a reality. With annual visitors<br />
totalling around 1.3 million, you might wonder if<br />
there is enough space for luxury lodges to have<br />
their own exclusive-use concessions, but Kruger<br />
is the size of a small country and the concessions<br />
bring in much needed income and don’t impact<br />
on visitors using the huge network of public<br />
roads. Read what Derryn Lendrum and Carrie<br />
Hampton have to say about eight of the private<br />
lodges inside Kruger. Luxury comes at a price,<br />
of course, but you will find out how each one is<br />
special and unique and offers you the chance of<br />
going upmarket in SA’s favourite National Park.<br />
Three Cities Exceptional Kruger Safaris<br />
Reviewed by Derryn Lendrum<br />
One of the nine private concessions granted in Kruger National<br />
park is under the custodianship of the Three Cities group.<br />
They have camps on the concession each offering a unique<br />
experience.<br />
Hoyo Hoya Tsonga Lodge<br />
There is no mistaking that you are in Africa when you arrive at<br />
Hoyo Hoyo. This luxurious lodge has accommodation in six<br />
‘bee-hive’ huts - the design is based on the traditional Tsonga<br />
Huts. Cyndrical in shape with cooling thatched roofs and walls,<br />
they are exceptionally comfortable and the outdoor showers are<br />
essential in the heat of summer. The rooms overlook a river and<br />
the savannah, and here and in the other two camps you really<br />
feel as if you are in the wild. All fabrics, decor, and objets d’art<br />
were sourced from the local Tsonga community, and this lodge<br />
has an alluring African feel – I just loved it. Not much can beat<br />
floating in a plunge-pool, sipping champagne and watching the<br />
local wildlife wander by! You have a choice of joining guided<br />
game drives or self-driving in the park. The guides add such<br />
value to your wildlife experience, pointing out birds, trees, and<br />
animals that otherwise would escape your attention. The cuisine<br />
is world-class and is presented with African flair. Although<br />
there is no cellphone reception (what a relief), phone calls can<br />
be made by landline. Accommodating a maximum of only 12<br />
guests, your Hoyo Hoyo is wonderful place to retreat from the<br />
hustle-and-bustle of city life.<br />
W: www.hoyohoyo.com<br />
42 | Nov / Dec / Jan 2009 SAinbound SAinbound Nov / Dec / Jan 2009 | 43<br />
Selati<br />
Game Reserve<br />
Blyde Hoedspruit<br />
ZIMBABWE<br />
Acornhoek<br />
Blyde<br />
<strong>River</strong><br />
Canyon<br />
Nature<br />
Reserve<br />
Graskop<br />
Letaba White <strong>River</strong><br />
Luvuvhu<br />
Busizi<br />
581<br />
Hazyview<br />
Nelspruit<br />
Limpopo Punda<br />
Maria<br />
Mphongolo Phugwane Bateleur<br />
Letaba<br />
Ranch<br />
Phalaborwa<br />
457<br />
Thulamela<br />
600<br />
Sirheni<br />
Shimuwini<br />
Balule Klaserie<br />
Game<br />
Reserve<br />
Game Reserve<br />
Eastgate<br />
Airport<br />
Kapama<br />
<strong>Sand</strong><br />
Bushbuckridge<br />
Tsende<br />
Babalala<br />
Masorini<br />
509<br />
Timbavati<br />
Game Reserve<br />
Rhino Post<br />
Plains Camp<br />
Kruger<br />
Mpumalanga<br />
International<br />
Airport<br />
N4<br />
Pretoriuskop<br />
Afsaal<br />
525<br />
Tamboti<br />
Orpen<br />
Ship Mt<br />
662<br />
839<br />
Pafuri<br />
Shingwedzi<br />
Shingwedzi Berg-en-dal<br />
Kaapmuiden<br />
Gona-re-Zhou<br />
National Park<br />
Pafuri<br />
Border<br />
Post<br />
Kanniedood<br />
Dam<br />
Mopani<br />
Tsende<br />
Olifants Mooiplaas<br />
Letaba<br />
Timbavati Talamati<br />
Manyeleti<br />
Game Reserve<br />
Sabie <strong>Sand</strong><br />
Game Reserve<br />
Pafuri Camp<br />
Ripape<br />
Biyamiti<br />
482<br />
Skukuza<br />
Rio Singuedxi Makhadzi<br />
Engelhard<br />
Dam<br />
Letaba<br />
Tshokwane<br />
Nwatimhiri<br />
Olifants<br />
Nkuhlu<br />
Sabie<br />
Balule<br />
Satara<br />
Sweni Lower Sabie<br />
Nwanetsi<br />
Orpen<br />
Dam<br />
Mlondozi<br />
Dam<br />
Crocodile<br />
Bridge<br />
Rio Limpopo Mapai<br />
Limpopo National Park<br />
Komatipoort<br />
N4<br />
Crocodile Mwenezi<br />
Great Limpopo<br />
Transfrontier Park<br />
Giriyondo<br />
Border Post<br />
Kruger<br />
National Park<br />
Jock’s<br />
Border Post<br />
Chicualacuala<br />
MOZAMBIQUE<br />
Massingire<br />
Dam<br />
W<br />
R o d<br />
i<br />
N<br />
S<br />
0 20 40 60<br />
Massintonto St Jorge<br />
de Limpopo<br />
Gaxe<br />
Massingire<br />
Mapulanguene<br />
R o<br />
i S abie<br />
Macavene<br />
Kilometres<br />
Mazimechopes<br />
Hoyo Hoyo Tsonga<br />
Imbali Lodge<br />
Hamilton’s<br />
Game Lodge Reviews<br />
o<br />
i<br />
R<br />
n<br />
I<br />
c<br />
as Elefantes<br />
Rio Uanetza o<br />
m<br />
a<br />
t<br />
i<br />
E<br />
Singita Lebombo<br />
Maalamba<br />
Map by Michael Brett
Game Lodge Reviews<br />
Imbali Safari Lodge<br />
Imbali Safari Lodge has been carefully designed to have minimal<br />
impact on the natural environment. Twenty-four guests can look<br />
forward to five-star luxury suites, each with their own private<br />
Jacuzzi! Design is contemporary and this lodge has both kingsized<br />
bed and twin beds. Activities include guided walks – which<br />
are a thrilling experience, especially if you have not walked in<br />
the African bush before. The sense of being ‘in the wild’ here is<br />
strong – I made sure to have a guide accompany me back to my<br />
room after the superb dinners! For the romantics, private dining<br />
or picnics can be arranged. For me, spending time in at the lodge<br />
is as important as going on a game drive. As everyone cruises off<br />
on their game viewing vehicles, it is fantastically satisfying to gaze<br />
out of your bedroom window and watch the wildlife wandering<br />
over the savannah. However, if you go on enough game drives<br />
(and stay a while) the knowledgeable rangers will introduce you to<br />
the 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and<br />
147 mammals that are Kruger.<br />
W: www.imbali.com<br />
Hamiltons Tented Camp<br />
On arrival you could be mistaken for thinking that you had walked onto the set of Out of<br />
Africa. This is colonial style ‘camping’ at its best. Six magnificent canvas tents, complete with<br />
teak floorboards, king-sized beds and outdoor showers, are linked to the main lodge by raised<br />
timber walkways. Once installed in a comfy chair, drink in hand (it is almost compulsory to<br />
have at least one G&T), in the lounge or on the veranda overlooking the Nwatsitsonto <strong>River</strong>,<br />
you can be forgiven for finding it difficult to get yourself up again! This is a romantics’ heaven<br />
with the added benefit of game-viewing from your private verandas. The silver-service dinner<br />
is served on the deck overlooking the river. One night during dinner we heard lions roaring<br />
(it felt as though they were right at the entrance), so off we dashed with the ever-enthusiastic<br />
rangers to see if we could find them. Listening and ‘feeling’ the roaring lions is an unforgettable<br />
experience. Activities include game drives and Nomadic African Spa treatments. Personal<br />
butlers, fine rangers and trackers will ensure your experience here is memorable.<br />
W: www.hamiltonstentedcamp.com<br />
Singita Lebombo Lodge<br />
Reviewed by Derryn Lendrum<br />
Modern, contemporary design meets the bush! Set high<br />
up on a hill, the lodge commands sweeping views over the<br />
N’wanetsi <strong>River</strong> and grasslands - this is one of the premier<br />
safari destinations. The rooms are spectacular, and if you<br />
enjoy contemporary design you are likely to love them.<br />
They feature lots of glass as well as steel and wood. It is<br />
as though you are floating above the bush – it is a magical<br />
feeling. The beds are dressed with Egyptian cotton and<br />
mosquito nets. After an early morning game drive and<br />
sumptuous breakfast you can work off some of the food<br />
in the lap pool that lines the dining area. The open-plan<br />
lounge has a library and Internet facilities, and I loved the<br />
‘help-yourself’ fridges, sweet and cookie jars. Perched on<br />
what feels like the top of the world, you can simply relax<br />
or indulge in a spa therapy. This lodge is on the upper<br />
end of the scale and is more of a boutique hotel than a<br />
traditional lodge. Service and quality is impeccable and it<br />
is impossible to be disappointed.<br />
W: www.singita.com<br />
TAU<br />
Advertorial<br />
44 | Nov / Dec / Jan 2009 SAinbound<br />
SAinbound Nov / Dec / Jan 2009 | 45
Game Lodge Reviews<br />
Jock Safari Lodge<br />
by Carrie Hampton<br />
There is something inspiring about Jock - the little Staffie - whose loyalty and<br />
courage epitomises the pioneering spirit of the 1880s. I haven’t read Percy<br />
Fitzpatrick’s famous book Jock of the Bushveld, nor seen the film, but Jock<br />
Safari Lodge has more than enough memorabilia to illustrate the story.<br />
The lodge sets the scene of a gold prospector’s life in those days, with a<br />
pristine ox wagon and beaten metal fire braziers throwing shadows through<br />
the boughs of the enormous Jackalberry trees. Atmospheric lanterns light the<br />
pathways and reed-enclosed dining boma. In such a rustic environment, in<br />
the oldest private concession in the deep south of Kruger, the accommodation<br />
is contrastingly sophisticated and stylish. There are plump, sink-into sofas<br />
and a huge bed in a luxurious room, where the tones of the decor reflect the<br />
hues of the bush.<br />
I was tempted to stay put in my enclave - not only did my suite have its<br />
own outdoor shower and dip pool, but I enjoyed playing hide and seek<br />
with the vervet monkeys on the walkway leading to my sala. The wooden<br />
path led to my very own private hideaway, perched over the dry riverbed,<br />
giving me a bird’s-eye view of elephant feeding in the wetland. But game<br />
drives and walks are always too enticing to pass up, and the rangers look<br />
disappointed if you say you might forego their company for one morning.<br />
Most are Shangaan and they live and breathe the bush – their knowledge of<br />
African nature is their heritage.<br />
Jock Safari Lodge also has ‘Little Jock’ - a three-suite lodge that can be<br />
booked as a private safari camp for a small group or large family.<br />
W: www.jocksafarilodge.com<br />
Pafuri Camp<br />
by Carrie Hampton<br />
I go on safari a lot (if you’re wondering who carries my<br />
bags, there’s quite a queue), and sometimes I can’t face<br />
another bumpy game drive. This is why Pafuri Camp,<br />
in the extreme north of Kruger, is such a joy. You<br />
don’t even have to move from the viewing deck to see<br />
buffalo and elephant, nyala and eland grazing on the<br />
banks of Luvuvhu <strong>River</strong>. Even better, you can be in the<br />
swimming pool, dining area or lounge and still remain<br />
a silent observer to the ever-changing wildlife show.<br />
This is a very special part of Kruger, not just for the<br />
diversity of terrain, fascinating palaeoanthropological<br />
history with rock paintings and artefacts, a<br />
preponderance of rare birds and paucity of visitors,<br />
but because this land belongs to the Makuleke. In a<br />
groundbreaking land restitution, this ancestral territory<br />
was returned to the Makuleke and they decreed it<br />
should remain within Kruger Park, yet benefit the<br />
community through conservation and tourism. Thus,<br />
Pafuri Camp was born.<br />
Managed by Wilderness Safaris – masters at the art<br />
of running remote bush camps – there are twenty<br />
walk-in luxury tents that bear no resemblance to the<br />
dome tents of my youth. All are connected by elevated<br />
wooden walkways leading to the main hub. And this<br />
is where you’ll find me, parked off with a cold drink,<br />
binoculars in hand. I won’t be jealous if you return<br />
from a game drive with stories of outstanding views<br />
and leopard sightings, for I will have seen hippo and<br />
crocs and elusive sable, and ticked off Pel’s fishing owl<br />
and wattle-eyed flycatcher.<br />
Pafuri Camp is very family-friendly taking children<br />
from age six.<br />
W: www.wilderness-safaris.com<br />
46 | Nov / Dec / Jan 2009 SAinbound SAinbound Nov / Dec / Jan 2009 | 47
Game Lodge Reviews<br />
Rhino Post Safari Lodge<br />
By Carrie Hampton<br />
The private concession that Rhino Post Camp inhabits is very close to Skukuza, yet it feels a<br />
million miles away. The track has a severe NO ENTRY sign, and since few self-drivers venture<br />
where they shouldn’t, it means that guests of Rhino Post have a very desirable patch of Kruger all to<br />
themselves.<br />
It’s quiet and peaceful in these riverine woods beside the Mutlumuvi <strong>River</strong>, and Rhino Post is intent<br />
on keeping it that way. There are no air-conditioners drowning out the noises of the bush, and when<br />
it gets hot there’s always a cooling outdoor shower or restorative dip in the swimming pool that<br />
overlooks a waterhole in the dry, sandy riverbed.<br />
I saw a leopard creep up and take a drink one night, and all the other animals who visited while I<br />
slumbered left their spoor clearly imprinted in the sand for us to see the next morning. Following in<br />
these animal’s footprints is a very pleasant way to spend the morning and is actively encouraged at<br />
Rhino Walking Safaris (with a guide of course).<br />
Rhino Post cannot be labelled as a tented camp or a solid lodge. It has facets of both, with strong<br />
canvas walls and wooden-framed sliding doors giving a more solid feel. But what’s ecologically special<br />
is that the lodge is built with no concrete, uses battery power for lighting and an indigenous reedbed<br />
system for processing bathroom waste. That’s more than just doing lip service to being eco-friendly,<br />
and according to a UK survey, it’s this kind of ethos that modern day tourists are seeking.<br />
W: www.isibindiafrica.co.za<br />
Plains Camp And Platform Sleepout<br />
by Carrie Hampton<br />
Walking in big game country sounds more fearsome than it is. You forget that you<br />
could bump into elephant or lion, until your guide signals to keep quiet and stay<br />
put. This is when you remember that this is not just any old walk in the park - this is<br />
Kruger National Park.<br />
Plains Camp only offers walking and is perfect for safari traditionalists. It is the<br />
embodiment of an East African colonial base camp straight from a scene in Out of<br />
Africa, right down to white linen, leather sofas, pith helmet, ancient gramophone and<br />
canvas chairs overlooking a broad savannah. It is intimate and personal with guests all<br />
dining together at the mess tent.<br />
Their intention is to get you treading the African earth, so I decided to do the guided<br />
walk to their multi-level tree platform, stay overnight and hike the mere two and a<br />
half hours back the next day. Platforms is a giant tree house with wooden walkways<br />
leading to individual sleeping ledges about eight metres above the ground and yes,<br />
there are toilets. This is an interactive experience, so while the ranger prepared a<br />
traditional South African braai (borewors of course), I delved into a large chest to<br />
find my bedding; thick fold-up mattress, sleeping bag, sheets and pillows. There is<br />
also a beam over which you throw a tent-shaped flyscreen to keep bugs out of your<br />
bed. It’s ingenious. You don’t really need to be that intrepid to do this, but it certainly<br />
brings out the 19 th century explorer in you, making you feel right at home when you<br />
get back to Plains Camp.<br />
Plains Camp is the sister lodge to Rhino Post on the same concession, and between<br />
them they offer a good value luxury safari with game drives, guided walks and a<br />
sleepout option.<br />
W: www.isibindiafrica.co.za<br />
48 | Nov / Dec / Jan 2009 SAinbound SAinbound Nov / Dec / Jan 2009 | 49
50 | Nov / Dec / Jan 2009 SAinbound<br />
Pristine<br />
Wilderness<br />
According to the Pro-Poor Tourism Partnership,<br />
some 40 percent of global travel now takes place<br />
in developing countries. Tourism into sub-Saharan<br />
Africa is a massively valuable and rapidly growing<br />
industry. Namibia, for example, saw its highestever<br />
tourism numbers in 2007 - around 600,000<br />
international guests traveling from all corners of<br />
the globe , including Europe, China and India,<br />
to experience a continent that fully deserves its<br />
reputation for being steeped in mystery and filled<br />
with a richness and diversity that leaves even the<br />
most cynical and experienced traveler awed.<br />
However, as travelers do become more experienced, visiting Africa repeatedly<br />
and traveling through a circuit of lodges within an area that could potentially<br />
offer something very similar on a functional level, the focus of the savvy<br />
contenders within the hospitality industry is shifting away from offering<br />
guests a chance to tick off the big five on a sightings list, to offering the<br />
opportunity for guests to have experience that encompasses small and<br />
surprising details that allow them to connect with Africa on a level that goes<br />
far beyond the superficial.<br />
Islands in Africa, a group of owner run lodges located in north eastern<br />
Namibia, have made facilitating this connection a central part of their ethos.<br />
Energy, attention to detail and an unwavering passion for Africa and all of its<br />
inhabitants are the core values of these lodges and those that staff them, and<br />
this passion ripples outwards to resonate with the people who visit Impalila<br />
Island Lodge, Susuwe Island Lodge, Ntwala Island Lodge and Epupa Falls<br />
Lodge.<br />
An integral part of creating a powerful guest experience, where Islands in<br />
Africa is concerned, is allowing guests the opportunity to interact with local<br />
communities, and being able to see firsthand, the effect that Island’s various<br />
community development programs are having. Often, guests will then get<br />
involved on a much larger scale, donating money and various items, and<br />
remaining in contact with lodge management in order to be kept up to date<br />
on developments within the community. Impalila Island Lodge recently had<br />
the pleasure of receiving a donation of soccer boots from a generous guest<br />
which allowed the lodge management to create a soccer tournament for the<br />
locals, commencing with a touching handover ceremony where the boots<br />
were given to the players in the various teams. Photographs were sent to the<br />
benefactor, and no doubt she will be returning soon in order to see for herself<br />
the impact she had made.<br />
This is an effective example of what Islands in Africa is trying to achieve<br />
– <strong>Guest</strong>s who leave their lodges, not only well fed, rested and titillated by<br />
sightings of elephants, crocodiles or hippos, but who have also had their eyes<br />
opened to the wonders of these destinations that no guide book could ever<br />
adequately describe.<br />
Restaurants