'Unspoiled nature' in a game reserve doesn't mean 'without luxury'. The accommodation and facilities in SA's game reserves range from modern to ultra-modern.
In this post you will spend a day in Dikhololo Game Reserve near Brits in the Northern Province of SA. Only two hours by car from Johannesburg, it offers the ideal break-away for thousands of locals as well as foreigners.
Of course, it is not the only game reserve in the region, but only the first of many we have decided to explore. What attracted us the most is the fact that visitors can enjoy long walks inside the reserve without fearing an attack from a dangerous wild animal.
A morning at Dikhololo Game Reserve
At Dikhololo too many trees and bushes obstruct one's view on the horizon, so you have to trot to the nearest observation-lapa situated on top of a rocky hill called klipkoppie (klip (rock) + koppie (small cup) - all of them formed hundreds of millions of years ago during volcanic eruptions. (A lapa is a structure that consists of a thatched roof supported by wooden poles.)
Whether you are going to have time for a cup of coffee depends on your determination to see the sunrise and the distance you are from the nearest observation point. Better to prepare a flask of coffee in time just to be grabbed with some rusks and cookies on your way out.
Now is the time for a long walk in the veld
Before starting your walk, you'll have to get a bottle of water, your hat, sunglasses and binoculars, and perhaps some sandwiches and fruit. You also have to apply adequate sunscreen to your face and all exposed skin, as even the morning sun causes sunburn you will not want to suffer.
First to surprise you are some small animals running around where humans could have left something edible. They are all over - monkeys, dassies, mongoose, squirrels, and as the sun climbs the ladder of time, lizards of all sorts.
You were told never to leave the doors of your chalet open when you are going for a swim or a walk, as you may find them looting what lies around upon your return. You may even find an antelope eating whatever you have left on the table.
Taking pictures is easier at the feeding points where antelopes of all sorts gather during the day to enjoy their additional feeding. Sadly, due to acts of God and man their natural source of food is never adequate.
You ponder the issues about hunting, realizing (again) man's responsibility to prevent overpopulation and deaths due to hunger and thirsts. Instead of allowing lions and leopards to control the numbers of antelopes, hunters are giving the opportunity to shoot for the pot like it was done from the year dot. You know the rule! If you want to eat the delicious meat of a wild animal you have to hunt it, or pay someone else to hunt it on your behalf, strictly according to the many laws that protect wild animals.
Surprise!
The patriarch is Johannes Jacobus Kloppers (1861-1940). Right next to him rests his wife, Anna Catharina Kloppers born Marx (1865-1945). The graves of their children who didn't have the opportunity to live longer than a year or three remind you to be grateful for living in the 21st Century. You ponder about the millions of babies and children who had died because medicinal herbs, homemade remedies despite caring mothers who were not able to keep them safe.
You see memorial tablets against a brick wall, pinned by loving relatives.
"Thank you, dear Grandpa, for all the wonderful holidays here at Dikhololo, and for everything you have taught us about the bush..."
When the white noise produced by cicadas becomes deafening, you remember people and events you thought you had forgotten.
Time for a swim
Brunch time
Still pondering, you bump into a group of giraffes munching on trees growing behind your accommodation. If you were not afraid of being kicked into a hospital, or even worse, into a morgue, you would approach the nearest giraffe to touch his beautiful, perfectly-designed body.
"Did you know giraffes chew and swallow thorns," you ask your companion as you enter a cool, cleaned-by-an angel, chalet. "Do you know their saliva is thick and sticky, able to cocoon the thorns?"
"What can you teach a man who grew up in the bushveld?" he asks with a smile in his eyes.
"Maybe you'll discover that today?" Nobody can ever know all there is to know about the bush and its dwellers.
Indoors
Because you are hungry enough to eat a horse, you allow yourself a double-sized breakfast.
And now there is only one thing left to do before anything else: Take a nap.
You not only deserve it, you need it!
Don't feel guilty!
You are on holiday and supposed to rest!
Sleep!
Ready to enjoy the afternoon
"Yes, I am curious and spoiled. Give me a treat, but don't touch me!" they tell you in no uncertain terms.
Dinner on the veranda
Thanks to insect-repellent the mosquitoes don't bother you.
Although you are not going to ponder about anything that may destroy your inner peace and joy, you realize that you are extremely fortunate, sitting safely under the stars, listening to the sounds of the night provided by frogs, crickets and insects of all kinds, and enjoying the company of your best friend.
With the distinct aroma of meat roasting on an open fire fills the air, you can't help but wonder how many people are hungry with no hope for a meal.
"If it is a wild animal light will reflect green in his eyes," your partner tells you something you didn't know.
And yes, it is indeed a jackal and not a dog, now staring at you as hard as you stare at him.
"Let me scare him away before he scares us away," says your partner, and his noisy moves send the jackal fleeing into the darkness of the bush.
On the other side of the camp, in the dusk between the light of a spotlight and the blackness of the night, roams a group of glowing creatures with shining green eyes.
"Impalas," whispers your partner, and you remember the last time he went hunting, he shot three of them. Two for the pot and one for the money, as selling one covered his expenses. You enjoyed every steak and chop of that meat! So, why do you suddenly hate that you are a carnivore?
On your way back to the chalet you partner takes off his shoes and shirt and dives into the swimming pool. You follow suit because nobody is around.
Tomorrow you will explore another corner of the reserve, and maybe you will have enough energy left to enjoy a few slides in the supper-tube.
Until tomorrow.... err... next week, | CallOuts |