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2010-04-06 : " I saw the Big 5 in the Kruger. Last weekend I saw Africa at Tswalu"

Unfortunately the title is not my own quote but if it didn’t exist yet I would definitely have invented it!

Last weekend, I was welcomed by MSAviation at theSignature Lounge at Cape Town International Airport for a snack and some drinks before departure. A PC12 was waiting. For those who don't know much about planes: a beautiful silver plane that seats 6 passengers, beautiful interior with wood and leather. After a short safety brief, off we went for a two hour flight to our destination.

Tswalu is a 100.000 hectares large game reserved owned by the well known Oppenheimer family (De Beers Diamond Trading).

Tswalu is South Africa's largest Game Reserve AND malaria free.

The reserve has some of the most rare antilopes such as Roan, Tsessebe, Sable and lots of other amazing wildlife. There is also a stable with a range of ex-racehorses to the friendly horse that can even take someone that has never been horse riding before: a unique way of seeing the bush from a different angle! There is star gazing on offer, sleep outs, hot air ballooning and they are child friendly. If you have specific questions about what animals there are or the activities please write me an email, I'll get back to you in detail.

On our first drive through Tswalu, we went to see some rock art, the scenery at this reserve is really something else! Think "I had a farm in Africa” and the beautiful African skies.

The next morning we departed at the crack of dawn for a 2nd safari. After not even a 10 minutes drive we got awakened from our relaxing ride through the bush by an incredible roar of a lion. That roar went straight through my bones. Although I found it extremely excited, one realises this is no zoo, these are wild animals!! All of a sudden one feels quiet fragile and shoves up a bit closer to the middle of the vehicle.

Slowly but surely we turned our heads to see where to sound was coming from, we spotted a Black Maned Kalahari lion. Obviously he was on to something. He was nervously looked around, nose in the air and sniffing. Off he went quickening his pace. He stopped again, sniffed some more and this time he just went full throttle ahead into the bush!

We decided to drive ahead of him and wait to see where he would pop up, all OF COURSE at a respectable distance. The adrenalin still running through our vains we waited in silence...the only thing one could hear was my heart beating...

There he came and my goodness how the bush can camouflage! Behind a tree only about 5 meters from us in the high grass was a whole pride of lion with a kill! We backed off a little bit and watched as the Alpha male approached. I wish you were there, there was no politeness or etiquette during this little encounter!! The Alpha male chased them all away to get to the kill.

Than we saw the 4 little ones and mommy!! What a treat!
Later that day, on our afternoon game drive we bumped into the alpha lion again who by now was so lazy after all that eating, he couldn't move no more. He did treat us to the perfect picture of himself on the hill with the beautiful scenery in the background and to top it all, all this while the sun was setting! (see picture Newsletter)
On my last morning at Tswalu we went looking for the meerkats. I was told they’d disappeared since the night before. I was very disappointed after seeing the BBC documentary, that was one of the things I was very much looking forwards to. We drove to all their burrows, waited in silence until the sun was up. We were freezing because at this time of the year the Kalahari gets very cold at night and in the early morning. We looked and looked and...nothing…. I couldn't believe it! I had to remind myself what I always say to my clients: there are no guarantees, it's no zoo... small comfort that was!

Cubs

Than about an hour and a half to two hours later we saw them popping up their heads! We found them!! And how amazing they are, warming up their little bodies in the morning sun. They had 2 "guardian meerkats" on watch, one in the back and one in the front while the others played and were digging in the sand to find a little insect…

There was a pregnant one too…big round tummy, proud as ever, standing up straight with that tiny nose in the air and forearms resting on the chest. If I had a list of things to do before I die, I definitely could have ticked off one item already! What an amazing experience!

For those who like to incorporate Tswalu in an itinerary, a perfect itinerary could be a combination with Kruger and the Cape. This will give you a very diverse view of what South Africa has to offer. To top it up, the Oppenheimers are considering making one of their Learjets available for such itineraries, which would half the travelling time that it does at the moment with the PC12!

Last but not least, I want to extend a special thank you to Antoinette the manageress, Jo one of the rangers, Madeleine and the rest of the team. They really make sure that every person visiting this special place leaves with a new love for Africa, even if this means getting up at 3 am to find were those darned meerkats disappeared too..

[author: Isabelle Dechamps]

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