Wildly indulgent safari aHOT DEALS€¦ · through the African bush - the wind in your hair, golden...

12 KATHERINE TIMES, WEDNESDAY JANUARY 29, 2014 www.katherinetimes.com.au

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GIVE IT A TWIRLStrictly Ballroom The Musicalplays at the Sydney LyricTheatre from March 25. MetroApartments Darling Harbour isrunning a Strictly BallroomSpecial - two nights for $219 anight Sunday to Thursday and$319 a night Friday andSaturday night - and a bottle ofwine a room. Metro is near thetheatre and has some waterviews, 32 recently renovatedone- bedroom apartments, eachwith a queen- sized bed andsofa bed, full kitchen andlaundry facilities.The offer is valid while the showis on and for two- night staysonly.❑ www.metrohotels.com.au

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SNAP IT UPGagudju Crocodile Holiday Innand Gagudju Lodge Cooinda atKakadu National Park, NorthernTerritory, is offering stays ofthree nights for the price oftwo. Two children under 12 canstay and eat (with at least onepaying adult) for free in this 3Pay 2 Package, which alsoincludes a Price Yellow WatersCruise for half price and 25 percent off Gagudju Adventuretours. The Holiday Inn has beenrecently refurbished, while the Lodge Cooinda is a bushresort. The package costs $300per room, for the three nightsand is valid for stays untilFebruary 28.❑ www.gagudju- dreaming.com

Wildly indulgent safari agreat holiday experienceHolidaying safari style is out of thisworld, writes LLouise Southerden.

‘Up rock, up rock,” says our ranger,Sean, into the two-way radio as henavigates the vehicle up a

steep driveway to our lodge atop arare hill in this north-eastern cornerof South Africa.

We could be at an exclusiveprivate residence and, in a way, weare.

Ulusaba - “place of little fear” inShangaan - is Sir Richard Branson’ssafari lodge and one of 21 privatelodges and game reserves in the65,000-hectare Sabi Sands GameReserve, whose fenceless easternboundary adjoins Kruger NationalPark.

Our domain for the week is the 5000-hectare Ulusaba Private Game Reserve aswell as several neighbouring private gamereserves in western Sabi Sands.

No sooner have we settled into our roomwith a view of the lowveld than we’re meetingour fellow guests over scones and iced tea,and climbing into the Land Rover again forour first game drive.

“Down rock, down rock,” Sean says intothe radio, which crackles to life with thevoices of rangers from other lodges calling inanimal sightings, though we also have ourown tracker, James, in the jump seat on ourvehicle’s front bumper.

Few travel experiences can beat the simplejoy of riding in an open-topped vehiclethrough the African bush - the wind in yourhair, golden morning or late afternoon lightgilding everything you see, your camera atthe ready - particularly in a game reserveclosed to day-trippers and self-drive safaris.

This is one of the best places in Africa tosafari and see leopards, the most elusive ofthe Big Five.

It’s a thrill to see them almost every day: alone male walking with silent grace throughdry grass that crunches noisily when we driveoff-road after it; a mother and cub feastingon a duiker (a small antelope); another maleup a tree with a kill as three spotted hyenaspatrol for leftovers below.

We are a wildlife documentary in motion.As we look - at giraffes, cheetahs, elephants,zebra, Cape hunting dogs - we learn.

When we find three white rhino, Sean tellsus about Sabi Sands’ pioneering anti-poaching moves, such as injecting rhinos’horns with dyes and toxins to make themworthless on the black market.

A record 704 rhinos were killed in SouthAfrica last year, up from 668 in 2012, andscientists fear that, if poaching continues,wild rhinos will be extinct within a decade.

“It’s crazy, because the horns are justkeratin, like our fingernails,” says Sean. “Theyhave no medicinal value whatsoever.”

Before we get used to the 5am wake-upcalls, the hours between morning and

evening game drives pass in a languid blur:breakfast, swim, lunch, nap.

It’d be hard to imagine a morecomfortable place to spend them thanUlusaba’s Rock Lodge, which has perfectedthe art of lived-in luxury.

Curl up with a book on a comfy couch inthe main lounge. Help yourself to drinks atthe bar.

It really does feel like someone’s home,albeit one where you are escorted back toyour room after dark in case of leopards, andwhere you shut doors and windows to guardagainst raiding baboons.

I join a morning tour of a village justoutside Sabi Sands to see schools,community centres, water pumps and healthcentres built by Ulusaba’s Pride ’n’ Purposecharity. At one primary school, the childrentake turns introducing themselves: "Myname is Neste! I am six years old! I am a girl! Iam very special! Thank you!"

Another day, we have afternoon tea atUlusaba’s other lodge. It might not have theviews and cool breezes of Rock Lodge, butSafari Lodge offers an intimate experience ofthe South African bush with its swingbridges, treehouse suites and verandahsbeside a dam frequented by hippos andelephants.

Whichever lodge you stay in (and guestsoften stay a few days in each), you’ll findluxury in details: a zebra-patterned rubberduck (a Branson trademark) on the rim ofyour bath, pre-stamped postcards (leavethem at the bar for posting), chilled towelsafter each dusty game drive.

Every night, we dine at a long communal

table on the deck, the menu exceeded onlyby the safari setting: white linen tablecloths,kerosene lamps and fleece wraps on thebacks of chairs.

One morning, on a game drive, we leavethe vehicle for an impromptu walk with Seanand his loaded rifle.

Following him in silent single file, I amsuddenly all ears, eyes and nerves.

Being on foot in a place where you’verecently seen large predators heightens thesenses like nothing else.

On our last evening drive, up a sandyriverbed, we come across a pride of lions -three males, three females and eight six-month-old cubs - devouring a buffalo they’dkilled that afternoon. Sean cuts the engine.

We are sitting in an open-sided vehiclewith no roof next to 14 lions, including amale with paws the size of saucers sprawledon the grass close enough for us to touch hisgolden mane (not that we would).

He yawns, looks right at us, flops backdown. No one speaks; I hardly dare breathe.

Cubs with bloodied faces clamber ontothe side of the buffalo. A lioness growls atthem when they get in her way.

Beautiful as its lodges are, this is the realluxury of Ulusaba: the privilege of close-upencounters with wild animals where theyhave always been, where they belong.

After what seems like hours, Sean gives usa nod, starts the engine and drives back toRock Lodge as the first stars appear in a clearAfrican sky.

❑ The writer was a guest of Virgin LimitedEdition and South African Tourism.

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