THE LUXURY TRAVEL
MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT
TRAVELLERS

The French have their joie de vivre (loosely translated as ‘joy of life’). Here in South Africa we have a joie de bush, the joy of the bush. It’s a feeling you get when you’re bumping along a dirt track on an open 4x4, through untamed wilderness on both sides, looking for game. There’s nothing quite like it to bring you firmly into the present moment – all thoughts of work, real life and responsibilities seem a thousand miles away.

Of course, most game drives end back in rustic accommodation which, although well-suited to the environment, isn’t particularly comfortable and luxurious. Not so at andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, an ideal mix of five-star style and natural surroundings. The thatched wood and glass houses on stilts at the Vlei Lodge melted so seamlessly into the surroundings, in fact, that even the animals were fooled – nyala grazed on our doorstep and wildebeest right in front of our deck. With comfortable loungers and a private plunge pool on your wooden deck, you might be tempted to sit in your own back yard and game watch, but then you’d be missing out on the game drives.

Game drives at Phinda are something to remember. Not only are the game rangers and trackers extremely well trained and very confident, but the game itself lives up to the hype. We were at Phinda for two days, which meant three game drives and a boat ride, and on our drives we saw a herd of elephant taking sand baths, a white rhino and her baby, a black rhino marking his territory, a journey of giraffe having lunch, a grazing herd of buffalo, a shy leopard, a cheetah mother with her three adolescent cubs, too many dazzles of zebra to count, and of course the usual buck, impala and nyala. A truly impressive display of wildlife, due partly to the fact that although Phinda is only 23,000 hectares of land, it has an unusual variety of habitats – seven, in all, including the rare (and very beautiful) sand forest.

Another thing that sets Phinda apart is their sharing policy (as soon as any of the rangers spot a really good sighting they radio through to the other rangers) and the length of their drives – 3 to 4 hours. If this sounds too long, never fear – time slips by without you noticing, as your eyes scan the bush for a flicker of movement that could be some graceful wild animal pausing briefly to say hello. The drives are also broken up by the ‘coffee shop’ as Dumi, our ranger, called the morning break for tea or coffee (with Amarula Cream), rusks and biscuits; and the ‘bar’, our mid-evening break of sundowners, biltong and nuts. Nothing like pulling off into a secluded spot of the wilderness for a freshly mixed gin and tonic to make you feel colonial!

Back at camp the pampering continues ... as does the eating. Whether it’s the delicious platter of fresh fruit, dried fruit and preserves, yoghurt, meat, cheese and muffins (followed by a full English breakfast) served out on the deck when you get back from your morning game drive, or the 3 course lunch (soup, salad and mains) a few hours later, or the tea and cupcakes that follows that, food is clearly a top priority for game viewers. Dinner is served in a different place each night – out in the vlei surrounded by oil lamps, inside the main lounge area where it’s a little cosier, or privately on the deck of your cabin. But wherever you eat you’ll be treated to exceptionally friendly service, and delicious food (think a soup starter followed by rack of lamb or fresh dorado, with apple pie and ice-cream to follow). It’s simple food, well-prepared, and my only complaint was that many of the sauces were a bit too sugary for me – easy enough to rectify by asking for sauce on the side.

You get the feeling at Phinda, that nothing is too difficult to organise. The staff are so friendly and so on top of things that it almost doesn’t feel as if they are staff, simply as if they’ve spent so much time at the lodge that they know how things work and can make it as easy as possible for you. In fact, the whole experience is a friendly, sociable one – from early morning coffee and tea before the game drive, to pre-dinner drinks, and surprise guests at your dinner table (Dumi, our ranger, joined us on the first night, and the two ladies we’d been on the game drives with joined us on the second). With a common goal of seeing as much game as possible while still having a luxury holiday, everyone works together to create a memorable experience for you.

And memorable it most certainly is. The staff at Vlei Lodge did everything they could to make our days with them special, even going so far as to set up a surprise sundowners table in the middle of the bush, surrounded by oil lamps and with a delectable spread of snacks on offer, so that when we rounded the corner it appeared in front of us – magical and glowing in the early evening dusk. When we returned to our cabin that night, they had set up another surprise: a chocolate fondue with our favourite fresh fruits (strawberries, kiwis and granadilla – how did they know?), a bottle of chilled champagne, a bubble bath and candles lit in every corner. Truly magical.

There are no phones, computers or televisions at Vlei Lodge, so there’s really no option but to settle into the rhythm of the bush – going to bed early in the giant beds (ours happened to be very creaky, one of my only complaints), waking up at 6am for the early morning game drive, coming back for breakfast and then perhaps taking a nap, or lying in the sun on your deck, or spending some time surveying the stillness in the few hours free before lunch.

If you stay long enough, you might want to spend an afternoon game-watching from your deck in the dappled sunlight, but the lure of the game drive, or the other options – a boat ride or canoeing on the river, an hour’s nature walk through the bush – will probably tempt you away, no matter how comfortable it looks. We took a morning boat ride, and were treated not only to the calm serenity of the river waking up for the day, but up-close views of crocodiles, monitor lizards, and all kinds of birds. Another magical experience.

If all of this sounds too sociable for your liking, you could always opt for the two private villas on offer – Zuka Lodge and Phinda Homestead. The Homestead was built as a show house for those who kept asking to ‘own a piece of Africa’, but at present it’s being used as a lodge (the price in dollars being slightly too high for a world in recession). It’s a spacious, beautifully designed, extremely comfortable home, one you might just fall in love with.