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AUTHENTIC | LIFE-ENRICHING | IMMERSIVE www.journeys-magazine.co.uk

NORTH WEST PASSAGEVOYAGE THROUGH THE ICE

10 AMAZING SNOWY GETAWAYS

Call of the WildSensational safaris

Winter 2015 ISSUE 8

FIESTA!Celebrate like a Texan

in San Antonio

Places travel writers really want to go15

CAMBODIARiviera revival

OMANFollow the Frankincense Trail

PLUS: KERALA, WINTER IN EUROPE, TURKEY, CHILE, NEW ENGLAND, TRAVEL PHILANTHROPY

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Game plan . It’s a long journey to Cape Town

or Johannesburg and worth some investment, and some research, to

make the most of your experience, as there are a great many game

reserves and a lot of possible ways to see them.

Smaller private reserves in the Cape, KwaZulu Natal, in or around

the massive Kruger Park – Lion Sands, Sabi Sands, Kapama, Timbavati

– offer better opportunities for close encounters of the wild kind. You

can drive yourself there by all means – most visitors to South Africa

prefer self-drive holidays – but all the lodges recommended here

provide 4X4 off-road game drives with a ranger, sundowners, guided

walks, a bush spa, exclusivity, privacy and top-notch accommodation.

Enjoy your South African safari in style

South Africa’s game reserves offer an almost bewildering choice of experiences. Local travel expert Caroline Hurry offers some top tips to managing your time

SAFARI

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Best for sleeping under the stars Go out on a limb. Tinyeleti (pictured left),

one of two ‘forest ships’ – Chalkley is also

popular – in Lion Sands, part of the vast

Kruger National Park, offers the ultimate

‘Me Tarzan, You Jane’ fantasy in Big Five

territory. Your ranger drops you off before

sunset with all your provisions and picks

you up the following day.

Become one with the savannah from

your lofty perch under a celestial canopy

as the chortle-barks of grazing hippo

and the high-pitched hoot of a Scops owl

punctuate the Sabi River’s murmuring

lullaby. A waning moon will illuminate the

naked, white torsos of knobthorns stripped

by elephants. Expect a resident genet

to help clean the last morsels from your

dinner plates.

Best for familiesFive ecosystems merge at malaria-free

Shamwari (shamwari.com) in the Eastern

Cape, favoured by families. Wildlife

specialist Dr Johan Joubert and his staff

heal injured creatures at the park before

returning them to the bush. Volunteers are

also welcome at the Born Free Foundation

here, which nurtures once-abused lions

and leopards in their natural habitat. When

not cosseting his ‘kitty cats’, animal care

manager Glen Vena teaches children

why lions must never be castrated

(“their manes fall off”) and how

to blow a kudu horn, the original

vuvuzela. Further north, Madikwe

is a popular choice for those who

don’t want to take anti-malarial

medication; there’s a good chance

of seeing the Big Five and the

reserve has a thriving population

of rare wild dogs.

Best place to see wild dogs With fewer than 3,600 in the world, you’re

more likely to encounter wild dogs in

Madikwe (madikwe.com), against South

Africa’s border with Botswana, than

anywhere else. These ‘painted dogs’ are to

be found splashing in the Marico River at

sundown, before embarking on the evening

hunt, trailed by hyena and assorted

scavengers. The owners of Jaci’s Lodge say

their child-friendly philosophy – children go

on game drives and guided nature walks

– makes them a hit with families.

Volunteering conservation projects

include rhino notching and

wild dog collaring.

Best riding safaris Ant’s Nest (pictued left) in the Waterberg

region (waterberg.net) of the Limpopo

Province offers guided rides for all ages

to allow greater access to the wildlife via

open plains to woodlands. The area is

malaria-free, so great for families. In the

Kalahari. try Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, the

country’s largest private game reserve,

with top quality horses and instruction for

all ages and levels. It’s also malaria-free.

Best (and only)place to take a night-time elephant safariCamp Jabulani, a Relais & Chateaux

camp in the Kapama Game Reserve near

the Kruger, has its own herd of rescue

elephants which take guests on safaris

to spot the Big Five (below). There’s a

wonderful sense of peace, game viewing

from the back of a gentle elephant, with

no motor noise. Evening safaris finish with

sundowners and canapes in the bush. Or

take a night elephant-back safari, the only

opportunity in the world, the camp says;

guides pick out animals with spotlights, or

switch off the lights so you can gaze at the

Milky Way. Afterwards, you can even put

your elephant to bed (campjabulani.com).

Best for luxury Kruger and Sabi Sands have the biggest

abundance of high-end lodges and camps.

Expect bush spas, private plunge pools,

hamman-sized bathrooms with outdoor

rainforest showers, gourmet food, crisp

white linen, fine silverware and guided

walks with highly knowledgeable rangers

or trackers offering superb game drives

day and night. Places to stay include

Singita (Boulders Lodge, pictured above,

and Ebony Lodge); the extraordinary Earth

Lodge at Sabi Sabi; Royal Malewane in the

Kruger, where the top suites have private

plunge pools; Ivory Lodge at Lion Sands,

or the 1933 Villa, ideal for extended family

or groups. At &Beyond’s Ngala Private

Game Reserve, stay under canvas in style

at the Ngala Tented Camp. Or live out

your Karen Blixen fantasies at Mala Mala’s

adults-only Rattray Camp, all colonial-style

leather sofas, cut-glass crystal and (a bit

less Blixen), private heated plunge pools.

Best for safari and city From Cape Town, hire a car. View the

Atlantic and Indian Oceans from the

Rhodes Memorial, Table Mountain or

Cape Point. Smell the roses in

Kirstenbosch Gardens or swim with the

penguins at Boulders Beach before

winding up the Garden Route via the

Cape winelands to enjoy a Big Five safari

at Kariega Game Reserve, with two rivers

and rich biodiversity.

Alternatively, head up the whale

coast for Hermanus, Overburg, Walker

Bay, and Gansbaai, the best places for

viewing Southern Right whales and

jagged-toothed sharks.

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Your first encounter with a Mountain Gorilla can be a pretty life-changing experience. Our peaceful primate relatives touch deep into the soul, making the trek to see them worth every last step.��Rwanda is remarkable not just because of its wildlife, but also due to the amazing birds, breathtaking and varied scenery, plus its unique culture and fascinating history. Rwanda also provides an uplifting view of Africa’s potential future. ��Plan your remarkable journey full of life-changing experiences.�

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Best place to see leopards Riverine luxuriance at Londolozi

(Londolozi.com), a private reserve

bordering the vast Kruger National Park,

lends itself to libidinous leopards that

enchant with their seductive beauty. Here, I

saw two mating within metres of a basking

crocodile and three lion demolishing a kudu

carcass. You don’t get wilder than that.

This 15,000-hectare Sabi Sands reserve,

with the highest concentration of leopards

in Africa, harks back to the colonial 1920s

– when co-founder Charles Varty hacked

through buffalo thorn, hunted lion, skinned

kudu, and dispatched puff adders – but

with all today’s mod cons, obviously. Stay

at Tree Camp, cradled by 1,000-year-old

leadwoods overlooking the Sand River.

Best for the Big Five In KwaZulu-Natal, Phinda’s proximity to

stunning coastal reserves makes it the

perfect place to mix beach and bush. The

Varty family restored this 56,800-acre

reserve into a living tapestry of woodland,

grassland, wetland, and rare sand forest,

home to cheetah, black rhino, and 415

species of bird. On guided walks, you’ll

learn which plants you can use as a

toothbrush, and what to do should you

meet a lion. (Hint: Don’t run, or you’re

dinner.) There are numerous volunteering

opportunities here: rhino tracking,

elephant population monitoring and

hyena research. Or for almost guaranteed

sightings, Mala Mala, bordering the Kruger,

offers miles of pristine lowveld wilderness

and a rich concentration of game (pictured

above; malamala.com).

Best for prehistoric relics Walk over rocky dinosaur footprints up

to the only known Bushman painting of a

cheetah at Samara (samara.co.za) in the

Karoo, where you can fondle the vertebrae

of a 250 million-year-old dicynodont or

get up close with two of nine cheetah.

At Bushman’s Kloof in the Cedarberg

Mountains, there are daily tours to see the

rock art left by bushmen who lived here

for millennia and used painting as a way of

expressing their spiritual culture.

Best for self driveOwned by the Zulu Royal family until its

establishment in 1895, Hluhluwe–iMfolozi,

within easy reach of Durban, is Africa’s

oldest game park, famous for single-

handedly bringing the white rhino from

the brink of extinction. This is one place

you can explore easily by hire car, but

keep an eye open for dung beetles and

potholes. Volunteer opportunities involve

surveys of wild dog, cheetah and leopard

and activities include night safaris (with a

driver and guide) and photographic safaris.

Aardvark Safaris 020 8150 7216 / Aardvarksafaris.com; Abercrombie & Kent 01242 858 133 / abercrombiekent.com; Bushbaby Travel 0845 1244455 / Bushbaby.travel; Cazenove & Lloyd 020 3740 1393 / cazlloyd.com; Definitive Africa 0161 929 5151 / definitive-africa.com; Expert Africa 020 8232 9777 / expertafrica.com; Destination South Africa 01509 618 800 / ItisSouthAfrica.co.uk; Jacada Travel 020 3131 5279 / jacadatravel.com; Real Africa 01603 283 517 / realafrica.co.uk; Rainbow Tours 020 7666 1250 / rainbowtours.co.uk; Safari Consultants 01787 888 590 / safari-consultants.com; Wildlife & Wilderness 0845 00 44 599 / wildlifewilderness.com; Wildlife Worldwide 01962 302 086 / wildlifeworldwide.com

WAY TO gO

wildlifeworldwide.com01962 302 088 sales@wildlifeworldwide.com

Over 22 years experience in creating exceptional wildlife holidays worldwide

Whether you yearn to see lion and leopard in South Africa, experience a walking safari in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley, witness the great migration in Tanzania, explore Lake Malawi or visit Namibia’s legendary red sand dunes we offer something for everyone.

Our collection of our small group holidays are led by expert naturalist guides and for the independent traveller we create tailor-made holidays to ensure the fi nest wildlife encounters.

The natural choice for wildlife holidays

Experts in SAFARIS

SOUTH AFRICANo trip to South Africa is complete without a safari to see the diversity and abundance of wild animals roaming through their natural habitats.

memory of a South African Safari will stay with you forever.

THE INDEPENDENTTRAVELLERWe are your source for all the good things South Africa has and have

travelling and discovering this stunning country. If you want to experience the best of South Africa, look no further.

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JOURNEYS ADS ISSUE 8_J8.00 26/11/2014 10:15 Page 93