And the winner is…

And the winner is…
By admin


1. Admire nature's greatest show

It had to be. Predictable? Sure, but it's what we all yearn to see in South Africa. It's the adult version of hide-and-seek, where you are "it" and the wildlife of Africa is your covert objective. Your weapons of choice are a camera and binoculars. A safari in Kruger National Park delivers a thrill you will have forgotten from childhood, and a four-hour game drive ends up feeling like four minutes.  

Word crackles over the radio that there is a lion kill, so the game driver cranks the gears and makes his way to the coordinates. I can smell the kill before I see it. Three male lions take turns shredding the buffalo's flesh away from the bone; it's so ferocious it sounds like velcro being ripped. The most surprising thing is that the lions are not fazed by our presence. They barely flinch when we shine a spotlight on them. Behind our truck, hyenas sneer in the dark with a feminine gargle that belies their menacing reputation.  

At dawn and dusk even if you see the same species they will exhibit different behaviour and this unpredictability makes every safari an exclusive affair. You feel exposed in Kruger National Park as the temperature drops dramatically when travelling through dips and valleys. It makes for a very engaging interaction with the environment, a constant reminder that you are at the whim of Mother Nature.  

This is brought home after coming across a pack of five cheetahs cloaked by darkness. Our guide explains that as much as we want to see the magnificent sprinters, the spotlight cannot stay on them for longer than a minute at a time or they will be vulnerable to predators.  

This is untamed Africa and while its comfort can be increased by the hot water bottle and hooded blanket that Tinga Safari Lodge packs in the game truck, nothing can subdue the quiver and quake of the wilderness experience. It's thoroughly addictive.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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