Our journey from Cape Town to the Ulusaba Private Game Reserve in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve required two flights, one of them onboard a 10-seat, one-propeller plane. Jason and I were a little concerned about vomiting in this small aircraft based on the accounts we’d read of frequent upchuckings. I’m pleased to report no barf bags were needed.
It is impossible for me to relay the surreality of our experience at Ulusaba. Our plane landed on a private airstrip in the middle of the reserve with the savanna pushing in on all sides. After deplaning, we were loaded into an open-top Land Rover. Coming up the rough path to the lodge in that vehicle, I felt like I was on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. That sensation only increased as the evening progressed. On our first game ride, Jason and I were awestruck. Within minutes, we met a leopard named Ravenscourt. Yes, all the leopards that roam Ulusaba have names, which seems appropriate since Ravenscourt reminded me of a big house cat. When we came across him, he was sniffing the ground, spraying movie-popcorn-smelling urine, and rolling around in the grass. Just a few minutes later, we encountered a pride of lions comprised of two lionesses, a cub, and the mane papa. They were all lounging in the grass, some on their bellies. Mind blown!
Afterward, we consumed drinks and snacks while teenagers from the local Shangaan tribe performed dances and drum music for us. I got selected to dance with them. I felt pretty silly trying to shake my legs next to their graceful quaking limbs.
Over the next few days, we went on five additional game drives, each involving hours of exploration. Drives are done around 5:30 in the morning and 4:30 in the evening because the animals are most active then. We were incredibly exhausted by the time our three days in the bush were over, since we were only sleeping about five hours every night. Still, we saw less than half of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve. Here’s a bit of what we encountered during each of these amazing outings:
Morning
- Golden orb spider, an arachnid that gets up to a couple inches in size
- Giraffes, right outside the lodge
- Zebras, including a week-old baby
- Wildebeests, hanging with the zebras
- A herd of 12 elephants, consisting of females, youngsters, and babies
- A spotted hyena
- Bee-eaters, colorful birds that really do eat bees
- Vultures
- Weaverbirds
- A hippo, popped out of a pool we didn’t even notice
- Impalas, a successful (AKA common) species
- Fungus-growing termites, our guide ate one
- A terrapin, a freshwater tortoise
Evening
- A female leopard, named Kelly Dam
- Ravenscourt the leopard, stalking impalas
- A side-striped jackal, a reclusive species most don’t get to see
- A cape buffalo
Morning
- A bush walk, covered below
- A hyena den with cubs
- Warthogs
Evening
- Lions, one of them bellowing a 50%-strength roar that vibrated our vehicle
- Waterbucks
Morning
- Hippos
- A crocodile
- Kudus
You may notice that rhinos, one of the Big Five, are not listed above. I will not discuss rhino sightings in this post. The danger of poaching is too high to make any mention of them online. We may or may not have seen some. If you are interested in that topic, talk to me in person.
As I mentioned above, one morning we went on a bush walk. A bush walk, as its name implies, entails getting out of your vehicle and walking through the bush. Your ranger carries a gun across his chest with very big bullets. It isn’t loaded; it’s really just there to make you feel better about wandering around where you could get eaten not to prevent you from being said feast. Although a bit unnerving, a bush walk is a great way to observe details you miss when you are in a vehicle. We came across dung beetles rolling butt muck, which was surprisingly cool. We saw ink mushrooms, rhinoceros beetles, millipedes a foot long, and some poisonous African butterflies. While we were walking about, our guide took the opportunity to spit some poo. Yes, locals chuck impala droppings competitively in what translates to “butt poo spitting” contests. It was gross and amusing.
The game drives were incredible, but it’s hard to adequately describe the wilds of Africa. My perspective has changed dramatically from visiting Sabi Sand. Seeing it in person, you understand the harshness and fragility of this environment. The animals aren’t anything like zoo dwellers. Even the lions we saw, the so-called kings of the savanna, looked like life had been hard on them. Although all part of the same ecosystem and close in proximity to each other, each species had its own habits and social structures. Seeing how all the pieces fit into the system was fascinating. Incidentally, the leopards were one of the few exceptions to the general dinginess. They appeared pristine, like something you’d want to pet… as long as you didn’t mind losing a hand.
Since survival in such an unforgiving environment is difficult, pretty much everything in the savanna wants to hurt you, even the plants. Thorns the size of fingers protrude menacingly from many trees and bushes. And if the vegetation doesn’t bite you, the ticks on it will. Ticks are everywhere- on animals, on grasses, on the side of the road. We even found one in our vehicle. Many creatures have legions of these leeches on them. We managed to not get bitten by these suckers, so no African tick-bite fever for us!
Between gawking at animals and gawking at the food we were stuffing in our mouths, we fit in a community tour one afternoon. It was interesting and rewarding to see the village that has a symbiotic relationship with Ulusaba. As part of the tour, we visited a school. The kids were cute and a little overwhelming. They wanted to be held, touch our light hair, and play with any technological devices we carried. We basically got smothered by this darling throng.
Speaking of Ulusaba, allow me to share a few more details about the reserve. The Ulusaba Private Game Reserve was established over 30 years ago. Because it takes decades for wildlife in a reserve to become “relaxed” around humans, animals in new reserves behave a lot more skittish and unpredictable. Those in Ulusaba were definitely relaxed; they seemed to view our presence as inconsequential. Of course, that doesn’t mean we were invisible to them. Ravenscourt, the leopard, looked right at me on multiple occasions.
Most of our meals at Ulusaba, and there were a lot of them, were eaten outside. During our evening banquets, our fancy table would be littered with beetles attracted to the warm lantern light. Our last night, we ate dinner out in the bush under a giant marula tree. A massive bonfire burned, African music filled the air, and a different set of stars twinkled down on us. It was kind of unbelievable.
Even though Ulusaba is quite posh, it is still in the middle of a wild landscape. Sometimes that landscape makes itself at home. A lizard dropped on Jason’s head while he was in our room. Monkeys came by our lodge one afternoon, cased the joint, and tried to get in. I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and found a giant wood spider flattened against the wall right next to the switch I had just flipped on. I left that light on when I went back to bed… purely for aesthetic reasons of course.
Although a completely foreign environment, the staff made us feel at ease at Ulusaba. I’ll admit, I cried a tear or two saying goodbye and getting on our plane. I haven’t teared up leaving a vacation spot pretty much ever.
I’ve rambled enough for one sitting, but I do have some safari tips I will touch on in an upcoming post. Since our trip back to Amsterdam was a beast, and I’ve covered enough animals already this time, that will be the subject for another week as well.