‘We are deep in the South African bush and anything can happen’
This is the essence of safari – a clear understanding you have left behind the known world and entered another realm, raw and timeless.
We are checking out our neighbours and sightings come thick and fast. Ace spotter Mr T and superstar driver/guide Josie of andBeyond Phinda Forest Lodge are in command of acquainting us with the denizens of Phinda Private Game Reserve, many of whom make do with a tentative peep at our approach and then skitter-scatter aside. We are outsiders in their domain, neither dangerous nor scary intruders but just there, gawking and camera-clicking and, occasionally, gasping as, say, a lioness and her cubs stroll past, so close we could reach down and touch Mum’s regal head. But we don’t, of course, as we are deep in the South African bush and anything can happen.
And this is the essence of safari, a clear understanding you have left behind the known world and entered another realm, raw and timeless. The mind is cleansed, the gaze focused, the body perpetually alert. With every snap of a twig, shuffle of sand, rustle of treetops or creak of a branch, a surge of adrenaline kicks in. “We are stopping for tea,” announces Josie late one afternoon as she bounces our open-topped 4WD towards a clearing by a waterhole where several “mad, bad” hippo are wallowing. We are about to hop out when a welcoming committee arrives. A black-chested snake eagle swoops low. There are white egrets, elephants, shaggy-coated nyala antelopes, zebra with shapely rumps clustered and nodding as if exchanging the latest parish gossip, and the “suggestion” in the bushes of a predator.
Mr T investigates this suspicious rustling before we leave the vehicle but all is fine; then he jokes about remembering to do a “head count” when we get back on board. “Siya-bonga! Thank you!” we say, trying our tongues around the basic Zulu words he has taught us. We also discover that nothing on Earth could taste as warming as mocha choca rula, a blend of hot chocolate, coffee and Amarula creamy liqueur, sipped seemingly in the middle of nowhere as the sun gently rises or abruptly sets in a fiery blaze. We worry about the accumulated kilojoules but the wide-smiling kitchen staff at andBeyond Phinda Forest Lodge mock-whip us with table napkins and tell us not to utter “diet” because it’s a four-letter swear word. We are a group of women writers, mostly meeting for the first time, thrown together in the most convivial of circumstances. We all want a story but if there’s a competitive edge, it’s not apparent. Rivalry recedes and humour takes over. Mr T soon capitulates and joins in the fun and whip-smart Josie totally “gets” us from first encounter. We chatter like monkeys, feeling cheeky and on the lam. Secrets are shared, gossip is encouraged, just our notebooks are closely guarded. Who will get the scoop?
There are myriad types of safari, from mobile migrations where tents are pitched at a new site every few nights and vehicles follow the patterns of wildlife, to a lodge-based experience whereby guests are taken out on specially adapted open 4WDs by trackers and guides pre-dawn and late afternoon when predators are on the prowl. The latter option is the case at andBeyond Phinda Forest Lodge, one of the brand’s six sister properties in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal region, on the east coast, edging up to the tail tip of Mozambique. Imagine the most convivial of ecologically minded redoubts, set snug amid a private game reserve spanning close to 29,900ha and seven distinct habitats, from one of the world’s few remaining tracts of protected sand forest and woodland to thornveld savanna and floodplain grasslands. There’s a vast range of ecosystems, waterways and lookouts, and the so-called Big Five – lion, leopard, rhino, Cape buffalo and elephant – are present and accounted for. But our one cheetah encounter is fleeting and heartbreaking. Mum is off hunting and has left her new cub behind, camouflaged in tawny vegetation. However, the tiny one has wandered and is calling for its mother. Mr T spots fresh leopard tracks and we hold our collective breath but all goes eerily quiet. Mum returns too late; her cub is no more. We will become much more aware of this interplay of life and death as the week unfolds.
Spend time in the African bush and the most surprising readjustment is appreciating how appearances by the small and often unsung creatures can be as magical as the “hero” sightings of mighty beasts. We are as thrilled by chameleons, shy and rare antelope such as suni, and flitting lilac-breasted roller birds, as we are by monkeys showing off clownish gymnastics and vast herds of wildebeest, their rocking gait sending up dusty spirals that hang in the air like gauze. The uniform palette of sage, grey and wheat is suddenly brightened by a sighting of an emerald spotted wood dove, its plumage dotted with iridescent spots as spangly as sequins. We admire the industriousness of dung beetles and gasp at the metallic blue flashes of glossy starlings.
Trees? We can name a few, including massive sycamore figs and flat-topped acacia thorns; Josie points out a mahogany in which she hid from lions when she was training as a guide. Mr T is not averse to getting out his machete to clear our way through prickly groves and we surprise a male jumbo destroying a massive bush willow tree as easily as if it were a sapling. “Things will get hectic,” warns Josie as Mr T, riding shotgun up high, ducks his head under low branches and she steers our vehicle along ever-narrowing tracks. It feels intimate and expeditionary, a different experience to the wide tawny plains of East Africa. It’s scarcely believable that the Indian Ocean is less than 30km away.
Phinda Private Game Reserve is fully fenced and adjoins Kruger National Park; 9085ha of land acquired in the early 1990s was returned to the original tribal owners in 2007 as part of an ongoing community initiative. Kenyan-born Joss Kent, andBeyond CEO, and formerly of his family-owned tour operator Abercrombie & Kent, has initiated rewilding projects, especially of cheetah, and instituted a program of safe removal of horns from black and white rhino, a drastic but necessary move to stop poaching, which inevitably equates to death. Kent says there has been a 96 per cent reduction in poaching since the measure was instituted in 2016.
Base camp seems too slight a description for Phinda Forest Lodge’s fresh new look, a makeover of the original 1993 infrastructure. A small wellness spa sits in a satellite enclave. There’s an excellent gift shop, art gallery, library lounge and two-tiered pool, and all main facilities are linked by raised timber boardwalks regularly patrolled by skittering monkeys. Meals are generous and homely, served under awnings or semi-al fresco, and might also be taken on certain evenings in an open-air boma enclosure shielded by screens and lit by hurricane lamps to a likely chorus of piercing bush calls. The cocktail bar with chic woven stools and a line-up of coloured syrups could have been uplifted from NYC’s trendiest boroughs.
Sixteen guest habitats, radiating off raised wooden walkways and sandy paths canopied by torchwood trees that look as old as time, are spaced comfortably apart. These spacious bowers feel buoyant and airy, with full-length windows, air-conditioning, and covered veranda facing leafy views and the antics of vervet monkeys, the local larrikins in these parts. Sunbirds flit and hyenas howl in the wee hours. Elephants are kept at bay by two rings of electric fences. The layout is streamlined and relatively uncluttered. A bit Zulu-meets-Zen, if you like. Olive green and khaki coloured decor is highlighted with woven and beaded trimmings, grass-cloth wall coverings, and singular artefacts such as handmade pottery. Deep bathtubs invite hippo-worthy wallowing. Coffee machines, tea selections and minibars are to hand; beds dressed in soft linen are ridiculously comfortable. Josie and her fellow guides ring their parties of guests with early wake-up calls for safari drives but most mornings I am eagerly ready, coffee in hand, alert to stirrings in the trees. African broadbills could be up and about, their calls so curious and pulsing it’s said they sing with their wings.
One memorable evening we are taken to a remote and elevated location for an overnight Roar and Snore experience involving sofa-like beds with squashy doonas set in a semi-circle beyond a campfire. We summon long-ago girl-scout skills to toast marshmallows. There’s a chef, waiter, armed security guard, plus a hut with a long-drop loo, and things that really do squeal, scurry and shriek in the night. Once wrapped on our couches under mosquito nets that drape like bridal trains, few of us sleep even a wink, thanks to the barking pronouncements of baboons, but agree it’s a once-in-a-lifetime privilege. Back at the lodge just after our sunrise drive, aptly named Happy plies us with an enormous breakfast. “Welcome home,” she laughs, removing twigs from my ponytail.
We enjoy all such tender attention from the staff and almost bathe in their sunbeam smiles as we tuck into a daily succession of homely dishes, fresh salads, warm pastries and tempting puddings. There is fragrant indulgence, too. The spa manager’s name is Angel. She uses Healing Earth bush botanical products (local, sustainably sourced) and her ministrations to tight muscles and sore shoulders are appropriately divine.
To discover more about philanthropic involvement with local communities, we do a half-day trip beyond our camp’s border with the company’s socio-economic affiliate Africa Foundation to visit a traditional Zulu sangoma doctor, and chat to locals who grow organic vegetables and herbs to sell, along with free-range eggs and flowers.
We sit in circles and sing and learn, and buy handmade homewares, beaded Zulu jewellery and artefacts from the community-run Mbhedula Craft Market. On the final night, as I think of all we’ve seen and discovered, the flourishing community involvement, the kindness and generosity, the fragility and fortitude of such a precious environment, I know Africa has stolen my heart. Again.
In the know
Scheduled flights between the Phinda airstrip and Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport connect with carriers such as Airlink from Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport. The andBeyond options in Phinda Private Game Reserve cover Phinda Mountain Lodge, Phinda Rock Lodge, Phinda Zuka Lodge, Phinda Vlei Lodge, Phinda Homestead and the newly refurbished Phinda Forest Lodge. Packages typically include local flights and transfers. Lodge rates cover all meals, laundry and most ranger-led activities.
The andBeyond group also offers nature-based experiences in Asia, Indian Ocean islands and South America. Check for seasonal offers at Phinda Forest Lodge; its inventory includes a two-bedroom option for families (babysitters available) or couples travelling together. Average rate for January 2025, from ZAR16,000 ($1328) a person a night, twin-share, including airstrip transfers, all meals, selected beverages, twice-daily safari drives and local community visit.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of andBeyond.
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