WARM AND CLOSE (TO JHB)
A weekend of winter luxury in the Pilanesberg
HEN the sun goes down on a winter’s evening and you’re in an open vehicle, winding through the dips and hills of an extinct, collapsed volcano crater, it is important to be wrapped up warmly.
I’ve learnt over the years that the quality of the supplied blankets in an open vehicle is extremely important, even if you are already swaddled in jackets, beanies and scarves.
The managers of Tshukudu Bush Lodge in the Pilanesberg clearly know this too.
Their blankets are top notch, soft and fluffy, not those grey, scratchy ones best reserved for dogs’ beds.
And before sunrise, when the cold could make you regret raising your hand for the dawn game drive, your guide may endear himself to you for life by handing out hot water bottles along with those blankets.
In the bush, two nights can feel like a week away.
A candle-lit dinner for two, served in front of the fireplace in your suite, restores romance; and daily game drives — with the promise of a great sighting round each bend — stir in some excitement.
We began shedding our stress in the vehicle that ferried us up the hills to Tshukudu, “the place of the rhino”. On that short drive we spotted elephant, zebra and impala.
On our evening drive a few hours later we notched up six cementcoloured rhinos, two spooning lions, two jousting young elephants, an assortment of lion food on the hoof and a violet-backed starling in a thorn tree.
How could I have forgotten that, only two hours out of Joburg, beyond the Mordor-esque desolation of the North West’s minebelt and next door to the garish, themed pleasures of Sun City, lies the Shangri-La of the Pilanesberg National Park, with its luxury lodge experiences?
The view was so good from our soaring, thatch-roofed suite perched on Tshukudu’s rocky cliff that we opted to defy our “fomo” (fear of missing out) and skip the first morning game drive to spend some quality time on our private deck with books and binoculars.
Bird calls and a moving panorama of plump-bellied zebra, cantering wildebeest and kneeling warthogs kept us mesmerised.
The soul soothing continued that evening and again next morning when we made the 5.30am wake-up call for our game drive.
The rising sun tinted the grey hills and valleys, a hot-air balloon rose in silhouette against the sky and bird parties rustled the bush awake. We sat in silence with silly grins.
We were so relaxed we were practically horizontal. — Clay was a guest of Legacy Hotels & Resorts