Safari Plains Experience

Glamping has been on my mind for the past two years. This is the rise of the glamping era, places I would not have considered visiting are showing up for real. I wrote off camping many years ago, there is something about not having your own bathroom and toilet that does not sit well with me about camping. I have never tried camping. I know people say never say never but pitching tents in the middle of nowhere is a big NO, for me. I love being close to nature and having all the amenities that I need.

On arrival at Safari Plains, I did not know what to expect, but we received a warm welcome from the staff and after all the usual check-in stuff, indemnity forms, COVID19 questionnaire, we headed straight to lunch. The arrival in Safari Plains is a revelation in its true sense, from the well-furnished reception with an understated shelf shop, through the elaborately decorated bar with its tiger’s eye marble inserts, and then the pool that seems to go on for forever exposes itself. The pool is surrounded by dining areas and reclining chairs by the wild bushveld, which makes the toggle between eating, swimmng, and relaxing a breeze.

The Limpopo heat, the bush view, and the pool were enticing but we decided to experience the dining area, hoping that the super high thatched roof and beautiful chandeliers that drop from the ceiling, would provide a reprieve from the heat. There is a wine cellar that frames and illustrates the back of the hall from the dining area. The view from the dining area is elaborate and there are water features with cascading water giving you that serene feeling.

After lunch Jimmy, the man I can only describe as “host extraordinaire”, walked us to our tent. Keeping with our sense of discovery and amazement, our tent is very well appointed and beautiful, there is a swinging chair outside, and two large seating chairs right there and there, I could see my morning coffee, laughter, and love.

The large bed in the middle of the tent with a net that drops down from the roof ensuring a second layer of protection from mosquitos. The scattered floral cushions on the bed are nicely fluffed up with that karate chop in the middle, which creates a sense of old but reflects the modern Limpopo charm. The tent air conditioner might seem pointless, but you soon learn that it provides a welcomed relief, which is great cause Limpopo is normally hot throughout the year. In winter, it is warm during the day and gets chilly at night. There is a chandelier to glam the tent up and to assure you that for real this is glamping. Tall side lamps on either side of the bed and a couch seal the deal giving you an incredible sense of space, this place is big and there is a lot of seating area.

The solid brick wall is a surprising feature that separated the bedroom area from the bathroom and shower. This was a nice surprise since, I only expected to find one, either a bathtub or a shower, with all this you are allowed to forget you are in a tent.

After exploring and admiring our weekend lodgings, we changed and got ready for the afternoon drive, we try and be game drive appropriate most times. Our ranger Frans took us on the game drive after we observed the afternoon tea, we try not to partake in such indulgences. We were joined for the drive by an interesting old couple, sometimes it interesting to think I will be like them when the time has passed, aging gracefully still with an unquenched sense of adventure. They spoke Belgian French and functional English and have been travelling to RSA since 2010, if you ever wondered if the world cup was worth it, there it was in front of us. They were luxury travellers.

We normally research the sightings in a reserve we are visiting, and what we want to see, and thus, we have never had a bad game ranger, but that is also a sign you are in a luxury reserve, none of the rangers are incapable. Frans’s knowledge about the bush and the animals was impeccable, he answered all our questions, and we learned so much more. It is interesting that after being in the bush for quite some time you still learn something new on every game drive, he quizzed us on the collective nouns, and we aced most of the collective nouns. His first question was “What do you call a group of giraffes, he was never ready, for our answer “It depends” When they are just standing it is a “Tower” of giraffes when they are moving as they always do it is a “Journey” of giraffes. We love these collective nouns, it just sums up the fun of the bush.

We first passed a gemsbok it was sitting nicely on the road and my husband forgot to take the lens cover off, but when it happened to our fellow traveller, laughter ripped through the game drive vehicle, moment made When we approached, it ran off into the bushes, while these two were fiddling with lens covers. The bush is quite thick and lush after the rains. After we passed the dam, we came across a herd of elephants, and the lush bush created an excellent framing for what we experienced, and we have had some grand sightings, but this was beyond measure. They were walking on the road with no aggression just a sense of confidence based on their size, these are magnificent animals, the true spirit that embodies Africa, they were not interested in going into the bush we were the intruder. They walked towards our vehicle and they would pause a bit waiting for our vehicle to move back to allow another vehicle pleasure of the sighting, this is important to us the number of vehicles per sighting tells you a lot about how the reserve care for the animals. Only two vehicles are allowed per sighting.

To travel is to learn, after years of being in the bush you learn to identify when something is out of place, we saw zebra and wildebeest, but they were very uncomfortable and started running off and we tried to see why they were running away and then there they were two cheetahs, alas we knew why the zebras and wildebeest started running away. It was because of the two cheetah brothers. They were busy grooming each other, another phenomenal sighting and after that, they stretched and strutted about for a while as we watched till they disappeared in the thick bush. Then there was a “lazy” jackal. I am saying this because this jackal just sat on the side of the road, normally these creatures shy away from the game drive vehicles and they run into the bush. This jackal was not bothered we sat and watched the jackal for a while it did not move there were a couple of zebras behind the jackal, but nothing seems to bother this jackal we eventually drove past, and it did not move at all. This is exciting, we saw a Buffalo from a distance, giraffes and other antelopes, this was a great start to our adventure-filled weekend. As we were driving returning to the lodge when we passed the dam, the sun had already set we saw elephants playing in the water making loud splashes in the water although the visual was not so good we could see that these elephants are having a ball splashing about and cooling off the day’s heat with an evening swim.

When we returned from the game drive it was time for dinner, it was a boma dinner. Few things can rival, dinner under the stars, with a fire crackling in the background. There is something enchanting about burning fire and good food that brings everyone together. The table setting was magnificent outside around the incredibly lit pool, there was a fire creating a grand footnote to a great ambiance.

As we retired for the evening our minds, were alive to our early start, 4h40 the day starts, and we get ready for the morning drive. It was a bit chilly in the morning, so it was great that we had our jackets on. First sighting a roadblock, a rhino in the middle of the road with a cute baby, when she heard the vehicle the mother stood up to protect her baby. We watched them for a while until mother decided we do not seem like a threat and she laid down in the middle of the road again. Baby rhino started suckling right there in the middle of the road, another impressive sighting. We had to turn back as we could not pass the rhinos, we had to find another route. The next sighting was three lionesses and one male lion. There was a great love interaction between the male lion and the lioness they were all loved up. It was too cute to watch “Love is a beautiful thing”. The morning coffee stop provided some needed warmth and a chance to catch up with people about their different interests. As we headed back, we spotted a hole that was freshly dug by an aardvark, but he was nowhere to be seen, we proceeded along discussing and admiring the monarch butterfly and natural insect repellent bush plant. As we were nearing the lodge, we could hear the beautiful sound of a Meyers Parrot, and out of nowhere the bird flew into the open and continued singing from there, what a moment.

Breakfast is ready when you arrive from the morning drive, it is served buffet-style, everyone must sanitize their hands first before entering the restaurant and you need to wear your mask when dishing up food, lunch and dinner changes some days it was buffet some days it was a la carte. I loved the food it was delicious. I enjoyed the fish with vegetables and salad from the lunch buffet. For dinner, we had a three-course a la carte. I was very happy with my choices, for starters I chose the creamy carrot and cumin soup. I love soup, soup is always a great option. For the main course, I had a rack of lamb with creamy mashed potatoes, broccoli puree, and glazed carrots, this was a succulent homely meal, for dessert I chose the fruit and nut chocolate stuffed pear it was yummy.

We spent most of the day relaxing by the pool drinking pink drinks. To be specific I was the one drinking pink drinks.

If you make a sale you can make a living, but if you invest in time and great service in a customer you can make a fortune, someone once said. Safari Plains has incredible staff who are there to cater to your needs, always checking if you are Ok. In as much as I will never forget Safari Plains, I will never forget the way the staff made me feel.