Bush Camps, South Africa Days 3 - 6

Etosha National Park

Day 3: Leave from Johannesburg on a morning bush flight to Ngala Bush Camp, a private reserve connected to Kruger National Park.
 
Day 4: Ngala Bush Camp.
 
Day 5: Leave Ngala for Exeter River Bush Camp, Sabi Sands Nature Preserve.
 
Day 6: Exeter River Bush Camp.
 
SA Bush Camps: There are many private reserve bush camps to choose from throughout Africa, they are all expensive (from $800.00 to several thousand $$$ per person per day) but many are also all inclusive, meals, drinks, safari drives, etc. Let your fingers do the walking when making a choice, personal recommendations are the best references. The two camps we stayed at were arranged by And Beyond Africa.
 
We chose private reserve camps for several reasons. The public nature preserves like Kruger (SA) and Etosha (Namibia) are available to anybody who pays the entrance fee and can drive through the park on their own. There are also guided tours provided by park rangers in safari vehicles, buses or vans. Regardless of who is driving, it is not permitted to leave the main roads in the public parks and you cannot get out of your vehicle. Often there are big traffic backups as people stop to take pictures. The private preserves, on the other hand, offer a more exclusive, personalized safari experience. The drives take you off road into the bush with well trained, seasoned guides and rangers who are also expert trackers. Traffic within these preserves is limited to one, two or three vehicles from the same camp, communication between the guides is usually provided by radio to track the animals so you rarely encounter the other vehicles. You often travel off road where you are more likely to see and experience the wonders of African animal life (large and small, although many people come to see the “big five”, Lion, Leopard, Cape Buffalo, Rhinoceros and Elephant…we saw them all) as well as the incredible flora, bird, reptile and insect life. You receive individualized attention as you are assigned your own ranger and tracker as well as your own “butler” who attends to your every personal need during your stay. Some of the camps are over the top in regard to luxuriousness and amenities (massages, spa treatments, candlelit dinners served in the privacy of your own room, moonlight drives to follow the hunt, evening braziers, outside torch lit banquets featuring entertainment, African dance and music performed by members of the staff, swimming pools, natural waterfalls, etc) and they have the price tags to match. Many attempt to recreate the old world African big game safari atmosphere in their décor which mixes expatriate Colonial European style with an African color scheme accented by indigenous artisanal crafts. Many of the lodges are quite impressive in their rustic elegance, although most of them make a concerted effort to blend harmoniously into the environment using natural, indigenous building materials; they take great pride in being conservation minded and eco-friendly. The meals are also sumptuous and plentiful, be prepared to put on a few lbs!
 
The daily routine is pretty much the same in all the camps. Wake up call is around 5:30 am, 6:00 am gathering for coffee, tea and light fare in the main lodge before setting off on a two or three hour safari drive which includes a stop for hot beverages and snacks, return to lodge greeted by cold drink and cold washcloth, 9:00 am full breakfast in the main lodge (the smaller camps feel much more intimate especially at meal times), an hour hike with guide mid-morning, full lunch between 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm, afternoon is free to luxuriate near the pool, in the main lodge or in your own room, 4:00 pm afternoon “sundowner” safari drive which includes a stop for cocktails and hors d’ouevres in the field, arrive back at the lodge at around 7:30/8:00 pm, greeted once again by staff serving a cold drink and wash cloth, full dinner is served between 8:00 and 8:30 pm (often a special themed banquet is featured)….cocktails or wine is available pretty much all day if so desired.
 
The private camps, especially the high end ones (ours were mid-range), are a completely decadent indulgence, like stuffing yourself at a dessert buffet for hours and hours. And like a sumptuous, very expensive dessert, it is an experience worth treating yourself to once in a lifetime with the understanding that a little of such sybaritic self-indulgence goes a very long way and you may never pass that way again.
 
 I will say that the most spectacular aspect to all the camps we stayed in was the drama and the intimacy of our total immersion in the natural environment. The power and the majesty, the unparalleled beauty of Africa is elemental, and in the bush camps miles and miles from civilization, the experience of the great outdoors is very primal. We were completely at one with the flora and the fauna; we were surrounded by stunning natural landscapes full of dramatic topographical features, night skies full of stars undiminished by ambient light, daylight skies uncontaminated by air pollution filled with ever changing colors and cloud formations sharply silhouetted against a deep blue background, stunning sunrises and sunsets. The absolute absence of any human presence other than our own, no towns, no buildings, no traffic, no factories, no industry, no markets, no noise other than the wind in the grasses, the chorus of birds, the animals calling to one another or making their way through the bush, the insects humming, water flowing, all natural sights and sounds, was an extraordinary, spiritually restorative experience. 

 Lyell Franke 2012