Sir Richard Branson’s private game reserve lives up to the hype
When you sneak up on a herd of elephants drinking from your private plunge pool and the baby in the group gives you a little squirt with his trunk just to show you who’s boss, you’d understandably feel like the high point of the weekend is passed, in the first half hour of arrival.
Not so at Ulusaba, a luxury lodge in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve which is part of Virgin Limited Edition, Sir Richard Branson’s collection of unique retreats and luxury hotels.
Ulusaba means “place of little fear” - and during a corona virus pandemic that name is significant. Though we may not realise how stressful the stay-athome orders become over months of home schooling and home working, it all starts to take its toll and getting away to a beautiful place where your attention can be focussed on what the bush will reveal next is a balm to the soul.
From the moment you step off the plane - yes we flew in a private four seater sport aircraft from Johannesburg - the Ulusaba experience starts to take effect. Driving in an open topped game driving vehicle from the runway to the lodge we came upon a mother elephant and her two small calves munching leaves from the top of a bush. They were in touching distance and totally habituated to human proximity.
Ulusaba is actually two distinct lodges: Rock Lodge, perched high above the plains where ancient Shangaan warriors had the perfect lookout point and where you breathe the same air as the eagles; and Safari Lodge, a little closer to terra firma where elephants wander from plunge pool to plunge pool cooling themselves off with a squirt over their backs.
We stayed at Safari lodge, where the accommodation is sublime. Our room looked out on to the bush where antelope and elephants roamed close to our quarters as we lay on our beds, relaxing before the afternoon game drive.
After settling down in our rooms we were ready for a sunset game drive which proved spectacular with sightings of a cheetah taking his final drink of the day at a watering hole which reflected the early evening stars. A little further away we came upon a herd of over 200 buffalo in the dark. The experience of smelling them and hearing them, but not seeing them, as they crunched along the road ahead of us in their great numbers ignited the imagination in ways that previous game drives haven’t.
At Ulusaba a typical day is divided into an early morning game drive, a spa treatment if that’s what you feel like, a swim in the pool - private or lodge pool - should you so desire, a walk to the lookout point at the watering hole, an evening game drive which includes a tour of Rock Lodge if you ’ re interested, and dinner. Of course this busy schedule is broken up by breakfast, lunch, dinner and in-between snacks that would rival any world class fine dining restaurant.
Of course the game drives in that part of the world are everything you could hope for. We saw the entire big five in one day plus little extras like crocodiles, chameleons, birds of many shapes and sizes and fantastic vegetation - our guides were able to provide fascinating facts about them all.
The Apple-leaf tree, the Knob Thorn, the Silver Cluster-leaf, the Jacalberry and the Leadwood bush willow were our own big five and never failed to appear from out of the bush whenever we were in need of a sighting.
Stand-out experiences included the great sense of humour of our guide Trevor, who also drove us right into a herd of elephant as they roamed on the plains, seeing a pair of leopards playing the mating game (all day), learning (a lot) about the trees of this particular area and, best of all, a surprise candlelight dinner in the bush in a dry river bed illuminated by hundreds of lanterns, where we were entertained with stories of the many celebrity friends of Sir Richard who had spent unforgettable times at his wild home in the bush.