South Africa’s becoming popular with Brits and the best bit – no jet lag
Alan Edwards took the eleven hour flight and visited three destinations including Johannesburg, the Panorama Route and completed a safari on the edge of Kruger National Park
SOUTH Africa has shrugged off its difficult past and is becoming a popular destination with Brits.
It shares the same time zone as the UK – so although the flight there takes more than 11 hours, there’s no jet lag.
ALAN EDWARDS took in a three-centre trip in the country’s north east, including its largest city, Johannesburg, the picturesque Panorama Route centred on the town of Hazyview, and a safari on the edge of Kruger National Park.
Whatever you do, don’t run if an elephant charges . . . just stand still and face it.
Our game reserve ranger’s advice at dinner wasn’t a joke. Apparently you’re less of a target to Jumbo that way, and the trick is to duck out of its path at the last minute.
Sounds implausible. But of course we’ll never have to put that to the test, will we?
Fast forward to the very next morning as we leave the comfort of our safari Jeep for a gentle nature walk through the South African bush.
Suddenly there’s a noise in the trees less than 100ft away. Then crashing through the branches comes first one elephant, then another.
Our ranger, Joe, grabs his rifle a bit tighter and whispers loudly: “Stop now. Get down and keep still!” There’s no fear.
Just mouths open in wonder at these magnificent five-ton beasts crossing the dusty path right in front of us.
Until, that is, two baby elephants appear from the woods behind their mums. A look of concern spreads across Joe’s face and he acts immediately.
He hisses: “Right, they can be very dangerous if they have youngsters with them. So stand up and walk very, very quickly back to the vehicle. And whatever you do, don’t run!”
What a highlight of a very special stay at one of South Africa’s oldest and best private game reserves, Mala Mala.
On the banks of the Sable River, it shares a fenceless border with the famous million-acre Kruger National Park in the north-east of the country.
The wildlife is bucket-list spectacular. We spent two days there, enjoying a four-hour game drive each morning and afternoon, coming within touching distance of magnificent animals you normally only hope to see in a zoo or on a David Attenborough documentary.
On our very first venture into the bush we saw herds of elephants, endangered white rhino, giraffes and magnificent golden-maned lions.
At one point our ranger stopped and turned off the engine. “Listen. Hear that? The monkeys are chattering in the trees and getting very agitated. That usually means there’s a leopard about.”
We powered off-road through shrubs, across a dry riverbed and down an impossibly steep bank. And there he was, sitting regally beneath a tree, bathed in the burnt-orange glow of a bush sunset.
It was a young male, less than three years old, who had survived against the odds after his mother died when he was young.
Completely unfazed by our presence, he got up and strolled, whiskers in the air, all round our Jeep . . . close enough to rub fur against metal.
The very next morning we found a pack of 20 hyenas feeding, along with a huge flock of vultures, on the fresh corpse of a giraffe.
A couple of the animals even broke off to come and sniff at us as we sat close enough to hear them crunching bones and ripping flesh from their long-necked feast.
The following day we chanced upon a pride of lionesses and their cubs lazing on a path as the sun rose, before they loped off to find shade under a tree.
Oh, and did I mention the wildebeest, the zebras, the impala, the bush babies, the waterbuck?
Among all this wildlife we were expecting certain smaller creatures to want to feast on us . . . mosquitoes.
The reserve is in a malaria zone and we were there at the beginning of the rainy season so we popped pills, covered ourselves in insect repellant and prepared for the worst.
But we didn’t get bitten once. Didn’t see a single mozzie, in fact.
That’s because the reserve regularly fogs all the buildings and standing water with insecticide and say they’ve never had a case of a guest getting malaria. Days at Mala Mala are flexible but usually start with a game drive at 5am or 6am.
You stop for coffee spiked with a slug of Amarula (African Baileys) before heading back to the lodge for a magnificent breakfast.
Free time in the middle of the day includes a lunch on the camp’s verandah.
Then it’s off on the evening game drive — breaking for a sundowner cocktail at dusk — before going back to the camp, grabbing a quick shower and having dinner.
All food, drink and animal drives are included in the cost of your stay. No, it’s not cheap, but this is very much a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
Each Jeep-load of guests has its own experienced ranger who is with them through most of the day, including breakfast, drinks and dinner.
They even walk guests back to their rooms at the end of the evening.
You can also opt for them to cook you breakfast out in the bush.
I expected a bit of scrambled egg, but got the full works — bacon, sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes, all cooked on a wood fire.
Mala Mala is split into three areas. The Main Camp has 20 top-class rooms, built in the style of a traditional African village. Linked to it is the smaller but slightly more upmarket Sable Camp.
We were lucky enough stay at luxurious Rattray’s, just a mile or so along the banks of the river.
It has eight giant bungalows, each with his and hers bathrooms, living area, dining table, plunge pool, outdoor shower and a huge verandah where you can sit and see the wildlife at the river.
On my final morning there I’m sitting on the edge of my pool, watching possibly the same elephants we encountered on our walk, when a HIPPOPOTAMUS comes to join them.
The phone rings and I pick up. “Sorry, can’t talk. Got to go, there’s a hippo in my back garden.”
GO: SOUTH AFRICA
GETTING THERE: South African Airways flies year-round from London to Johannesburg with prices from £713 return. See
STAYING THERE: Mala Mala has all-inclusive safari stays from £600 per day. See malamala.com. The Hallmark House Hotel in Maboneng, Jo’burg has rooms from £100 a night. See . For the Panorama Route, a night at the Protea Hotel by Marriott in Hazyview is from £80. See marriott.com.
MORE INFO: See
TOUR ROUND TOWNSHIP WILL LIFT YOUR SPIRITS
WE are standing in a group astride our cycles by the side of a road on the edge of Soweto, singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
As you do.
Then, to raise the level of weird even higher, a silver Mercedes stops and a beaming woman joins in with a perfect harmony at full volume.
Welcome to this once-notorious township.
And farewell to any fears I had that it is still a dangerous place for white faces to visit.
It’s now a thriving city of three million people, where smiling children jockey to high-five you every few yards.
Yes, there are areas of rundown shacks. But there are also luxurious, well-kept houses. And plenty of small, brick-built homes in between.
And yes, you can even have a cycle tour of Soweto. Although our guide Zigi and her sidekick named Brilliant insisted we sang the famous hit, which is apparently based on a South African tribal song.
Just ten miles away, Johannesburg itself is a bustling, lively metropolis worth a weekend’s visit.
We stayed in the up-and-coming Maboneng area, which has gone from being a hotbed of crime and squalid squats to a trendy hotspot of art, swish bars and hip youngsters.
Our hotel, Hallmark House, has 46 upmarket, industrial-chic rooms – plus a rooftop bar – set in the shadow of Ellis Park Stadium, where Nelson Mandela famously presented the Rugby World Cup to the victorious South African squad in 1995.
A ROUGH RIDE OVER BEAUTIFUL BLYDE
NEVER been too sure about helicopters.
We once did a trip in the Grand Canyon . . . and two days later a chopper from the same firm crashed and burst into flames.
Then we took a flight over Manhattan, only for one to ditch in the Hudson the following week.
But on a helicopter jaunt to Blyde River Canyon – the highlight of our tour of South Africa’s Panorama Route – I thought my luck had run out.
Bad weather swept in and the communications failed between passengers in the back and the pilot up front.
Then, as we banked to return back to base, the door I was leaning on flew open.
I can’t describe the fear, or the bad language, as I struggled to get it shut again while fastened to my seat by only a single lap belt.
But we landed safely. And the following day I swallowed a big cup of man-up to complete an hour-long aerial tour – different chopper, different pilot – of the stunning countryside and its improbably named landmarks.
MOST READ IN TRAVEL
Later, we retraced our route by road, taking in dramatic scenery at God’s Window, Bourke’s Luck Potholes and Lone Creek Waterfall.
Our base for the Panorama Route was Hazyview, a lush, sub-tropical farming town in Mpumalanga, renowned for its large banana and macadamia nut industries.
Hazyview is a 50-minute flight or five-hour drive from Johannesburg and we stayed at the reasonably priced Protea Hotel by Marriott, which has 87 massive guest rooms and a pool with views across the countryside.
A great area to spend a couple of days en route to your safari.