Elephants fart a lot, but they have a much better suspension than a horse. I came to this conclusion while riding through the Limpopo bushveld on a 3m-high pachyderm. From my perch I could see far and over the treetops.
When our elephant-back safari passed less than 10m from a pair of prone lions, I leaned down to one of our foot-mounted guides and asked whether he wouldn’t feel safer hopping into the saddle with me.
“Nah,” he said, “the lions never come near us with the elephants around.”
Well, perhaps they haven’t yet, but I could see his point: if you need jungle bodyguards, a herd of elephants will probably do the trick.
If you like elephants, or the prospect of game viewing with more of an adventurous spin, add Camp Jabulani near Hoedspruit to your list. With no shortage of luxury game lodges competing for tourists’ attention, Jabulani’s selling point is its elephant-back safaris. Guests get to do their game viewing from atop a trained pachyderm. It’s all about plodding through picturesque pastures on popping pachyderms. (Popping? Refer to the opening sentence).
Among Camp Jabulani’s four-legged giants are a couple of celebrities. One is the elephant starring in the Amarula Cream TV ad, while the other is the elephant after whom the lodge was named.
The camp boasts that it runs the only night elephant safaris in the world. While I didn’t really get the appeal of cruising through the bush in the dark when there’s nothing to see, I enjoyed the late afternoon elephant safari which ends with sundowners at a scenic waterhole (make mine a G&T, thank you).
Camp Jabulani’s expensive at R8 000 a night sharing (or R12 000 single), but it’s pitched as a place for the spare-no-expense contingent who wish to see the “real” Africa without any of the discomfort.
Most of the guests are American, with European visitors making up the bulk of the rest.
The camp is situated in the private Kapama game reserve in Limpopo next to the Kruger National Park. It has a Relais & Chateaux accreditation which means first class accommodation, cuisine and personalised service.
The essence of Relais & Chateaux lies in its five Cs: charm, courtesy, character, cuisine, and calm – and these certainly apply here. There are six suites accommodating a maximum of 12 people, so it’s a guaranteed quiet getaway bereft of noise or crowds. On our visit there were never more than eight guests in the shared lounge/dining room area – sometimes my wife and I were the only two there. The staff, who outnumber the guests by about three to one, are discreet but attentive, and well trained in dealing with well-heeled clientele.
The rooms are situated in thick bush overlooking a dry riverbed. The luxurious and spacious air-conditioned units have a fireplace, a giant free-standing bath and an outside glassed-off shower. There’s an elevated wooden deck with a plunge pool overlooking the river bed, where you can chill out and sip cocktails while you watch for animals. No critters made an appearance on our watch, but at night we were awoken by a lion roaring just a few metres away.
Spa treatments are available in an outdoor therapy lapa and there’s also a gym, all tucked away in nooks in the dense bush. And yes, if you insist on taking your stresses with you, there is cellphone as well as wi-fi reception.
We didn’t quite match the 200-250kg of food that elephants consume each day, but the gastronomy on offer ensured my wife and I put on a couple of kilos over the weekend we spent there. When we spotted the young and slim female chef our suspicions were aroused – I was brought up to never trust a chef who wasn’t chubby – but the lean lass served up some culinary delights. The food was typical South African fare like bobotie and venison, served with a nouvelle cuisine spin.
The highlight of our stay was the surfeit of animals we saw. I’ve previously been on game drives where I’ve seen little more than two impalas and a sparrow after bouncing around in a Land Rover for three hours, but at Jabulani I sometimes felt like I was in the Lion King movie. The large reserve is well stocked and on our game drives (on elephant and in Land Rover) we spotted lion, buffalo, wild elephant, rhino, a monitor lizard, and hippo, along with the usual jungle extras like zebra, antelope, warthog and giraffe. Birdlife is plentiful too and among others we saw vultures, maribou stork and owls.
The leopard was the only one of the Big Five that proved elusive, but we made up for that by meeting the cheetahs at the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre.
Run by the same owners as Camp Jabulani and a short drive from the camp, the centre is home to several breeding cheetahs as well as other endangered species, including wild dogs.
Opened to the public in 1990, the centre’s main aim is to introduce new bloodlines into southern Africa’s endangered cheetah stock and prevent in-breeding, and it also treats and rehabilitates orphaned or injured animals – Jabulani the elephant being its most famous graduate. It’s well worth a visit (for more info, see www.hesc.co.za). - Saturday Star
If You Go...
l SAA offers daily flights from OR Tambo to Eastgate airport in Hoedspruit, with Jabulani Lodge offering transfers to and from Eastgate. Or take a five-hour drive from Joburg via Middelburg, Dullstroom, Lydenburg and Ohrigstad (but mind the potholes from Dullstroom onwards).
For more information call 012 460 5605 or visit the www.campjabulani.com website.