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