C R E AT UR E comfor t s
A new safari lodge set in a South African game reserve brings the outdoors into view in a rip-roaring way.
At a waterhole in South Africa’s Sabi Sand Game Reserve, an elephant the size of a Mack truck is finessing his synchronised swimming. The water turns his cracked dusty hide a sleek glossy black as he plunges in trunk first, bottom up (yes, it does look big) and then, newly buoyant, he rolls not once but three times. Clearly, his pre-breakfast dip feels good.
On a game drive from Tengile River Lodge, the newest member of the &Beyond safari lodge portfolio, it’s not just about sightings. What thrills is the immersion in the beautiful and often brutal soap opera that is life in the wild. We turn a corner and surprise a pride of lions. The two males are in a food coma, lying on their backs, legs in the air, like cats wanting their tummies rubbed. The lionesses are gnawing on leftovers.
On safari you never know what each game drive will bring. With luck the ‘big five’ – lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhinoceros – but just as bewitching are some 300 species of birds, among them the lilac-breasted roller, the red bishop, the rare saddlebill stork, and the vivid yellow African masked weaver whose mating antics could provide more than enough material for its own reality TV show. The male masked weaver fashions his intricately woven nest from plant material. It hangs like a pouch from the tree, along with dozens of others. If the female is impressed enough by a potential mate’s building skills, she lines it with feathers and soft grasses. If she doesn’t like it, the suitor might have to trash it and start again.
The masked weaver isn’t the only creature with an interest in construction. Tradesmen working on the Tengile River Lodge, which opened in December 2018, always knew when their honorary project manager had dropped by. The mystery visitor had left telltale paw prints in the wet cement of the pool outside lodge suite no. 5 and would deposit the leftovers of whatever she’d sourced for dinner under the deck of suites no. 6 or 8. She also liked to sneak up on the electricians at work, was sometimes found stretching out on the cool terrazzo floors, and was once discovered inside a rolling rubbish bin she’d fallen into while making sure its contents were up to standard.
The inquisitive creature, who would be named Tengile (which means ‘tranquil’ in the local Tsonga language) after the lodge, was born on a rocky outcrop not far from suite no. 9. By a kind of mystical osmosis, Tengile River Lodge emerged as sleek, muscular and spectacular as the young leopard herself.
Set on a scenic bend of the Sand River, Tengile River Lodge sits low in the landscape with its flat roofs finished in sand from the site. Like a leopard in long grass, the lodge is so well camouflaged that you’re almost on top of it before you see it. The nine-suite accommodation is an exercise in modern jungle glamour using stone, steel, marble, wood and leather. Each suite is 200 square metres and has a lap pool, deck, sunken lounge, huge living areas, numerous spots to sit and watch, and a well-stocked bar.
The terrazzo flooring throughout the expansive guest areas and private lodge suites is constructed of ballast from the disused Selati Railway. There’s golden slatted raw wood on the ceilings, rock-brick walls and external feature walls of metal sprayed to a rusty iridescence.
Michele Throssell, the Durban-based interior designer on the lodge project, was captivated by the site and especially its indigenous trees and aimed to bring the outside in. “My inspiration for the interiors came from these trees and the texture of their bark, and the river,” she says. “The contrast of the shadows and colours led to the palette we used.” An Indian marble, used on vanities and tabletops, in a khaki green streaked with russet suggest a rainforest river and its tributaries. Bathrooms have a feature wall of glazed tiles in varying shades made by Southern Art Ceramics in the South African village of Hermanus.
Many of the inclusions are also bespoke: artworks by South African artist Emma Nourse, curtain and upholstery fabrics hand-painted by a group of Cape Town artists, and a shimmering chandelier of green sea glass in the dining area designed and made by Michele Throssell Interiors in collaboration with Egg Designs in Durban. Each suite stocks a pair of Swarovski ‘Optik’ binoculars with which to spot the passing parade of elephants, cheeky monkeys known to raid the kitchen’s granola jars, and the rewarding night skies.
&Beyond and its associated luxury travel advisers have been designing high-end tours since 1991. The company operates in 15 African countries, four in South America and four in Asia. They own and operate 29 lodges and camps and are known for their strong commitment to land, wildlife and people in equal measure through sustainability, conservation and community initiatives that tourism helps fund.
In Africa, game drives are a huge drawcard. These operate at dawn (typically a 5.30am start) and dusk, when the animals are at their most active. Expect to be out for three to four hours on each excursion, with stops for coffee fuelled by a dash of local Amarula liqueur and sundowners of gin and tonic. Our guide, Joel, manoeuvres his Toyota Landcruiser where angels fear to tread as he and our tracker, Busani, pursue our entertainment on- and off-road.
The Sabi Sand Game Reserve is located in the south-western corner of the Kruger National Park. Covering 65,000 hectares, the reserve has one of the richest game populations in the country. Sabi Sand abuts
Kruger National Park and there is no fence between them. It’s a woodland savannah, with tall whispering feathery grasses and healthy populations of leopards, lions and elephants. On the game drives, skilled guides and trackers look for tracks, flattened grass and scratches on trees. They can identify nearby animals by the smell of their urine. The presence of dew on trails will tell them whether tracks are old or fresh. They pay attention to the mood of impala, who get edgy when under threat. Guides know whether they are tracking white or black rhino from the twig content of their droppings and the birds’ behaviour often reveal a warning of what’s lurking nearby.
One evening we become aware of a pair of lions stalking a herd of buffalo. Just as one lion gathers speed, a bird flies screeching from the tall grass alerting the buffalo who flee. The would-be hunters end up loping off with a ‘what went wrong?’ insouciance.
Over three nights at Tengile River Lodge we see rhinos, hyenas, kudus, nyalas, duikers, hippos, zebras, lanky giraffes, feasting and courting lions, and an Egyptian goose with a queue of chicks following behind. We also spotted warthogs with piglets, a jackal, a Nile crocodile, and some imposing birds of prey. Add to these, sightings of kamikaze scrub hares, giant land snails wearing fetching mahogany shells and the odd tortoise crossing the road. What we don’t find, much to our guide’s disappointment, is his favourite creature, the painted wolf. Next time.
Also abundant in the area are the dainty doe-eyed impalas, with markings on their rear ends like chargrill stripes. The guides call them “the Mcdonald’s of the bush” – fast food for the big cats.
Tengile, the lodge’s namesake leopard, is learning to hunt. We see her one night stretched out along a branch high in a marula tree, catching her breath after killing a young impala. She’s dragged it with her and attempted to secure her dinner in the fork of the tree. Twice it falls out and the inexperienced leopard has to work out how to get it back up before the competition moves in. Don’t feel sorry for Tengile, says the lodge’s general manager Brendan Streak over a lilac gin cocktail later. “She’s learned a lot tonight.” To plan an &Beyond luxury safari, contact Jones & Turner Travel Associates in Paddington, Sydney on 1800 236 667 or travelassociates.com/stores/paddington.