Off-script in South Africa: A safari beyond the Big Five

Across South Africa, new safaris are reshaping the meaning of luxury – smaller camps, deeper connections with place, and experiences that reveal life beyond the Big Five

I’m a nose hair from a rhino’s whisker, contemplating if says yes, the hand hovers, but peer pressure forces the decision. In I go. The morning game drive on Mabula Private Game Reserve, two hours north of Johannesburg, has turned into a veterinary intervention after our ranger hears that a limping rhino has been darted, is anaesthetised and is ready for a ‘house call’. Suddenly, we’re vet students. We’re out of the vehicle taking blood samples and swabs for DNA testing, watching the team treat an abscess on the rhino’s foot. I’m wrist-deep in our patient’s slimy, toothless mouth, thrilled by the experience but juggling the emotion of examining her dental cavity without an appointment. This isn’t the safari of glossy brochures – it’s raw, rare and unforgettable.

I’m on a 10-day trip between multiple lodges with The Africa Safari Co, a Sydney-based travel agency that has been nguiding guests across the continent for 28 years. Owner Susie Potter’s cheeky smile hints this safari will tick every box – inside and out.

While you’re here

Makapansgat (Makapan Valley) is a World Heritage-listed archaeological site with one of the greatest palaeontological records of human evolution. There are 72 caves, where thousands of fossils have been discovered, some more than four million years old. To the north, Nylsvley Nature Reserve is famous for birdwatching – a 4,000-hectare RAMSAR site with nearly 400 species of birds and a wetland of international importance.

A different kind of South Africa safari

The first surprise happens in Johannesburg. I lose a breath walking into Sanctuary Mandela, the former home of South Africa’s beloved former president Nelson Mandela, following his release from prison. The treat in this now boutique hotel is dinner, prepared by Mandela’s personal chef of 22 years, Xoliswa Ndoyiya. Her menu is stacked with Mandela’s favourites: braised oxtail, biltong, samp, milk tart and koeksister (fried dough infused with syrup). But I cross the border and order Lesotho trout. Lesotho – the landlocked kingdom encircled by South Africa – farms trout in its pristine mountain dams, exporting the premium catch to discerning markets worldwide. My catch sits on garlicy new potatoes and smashed peas, topped with a pickled fennel salsa. Nelson Mandela loved the smell of a rose (there’s one named after him). I love the smell of Nyodiya’s food.

Luxury lodges and wild places in the Waterberg Biosphere

A one-hour flight north, we’re in Mandela territory again at Marataba Safari Lodge, a privately-owned slice of Marakele National Park, one of South Africa’s greatest reserves. Marataba exists thanks to a collaboration between Mandela and Dutch philanthropist Paul van Vlissingen, who worked together to secure pockets of South African wilderness from encroaching iron-ore mines and farmland. Again, I’m breathless. The towering mountains and sheer escarpments are the home-made sculptures of the Waterberg Biosphere, a 150-kilometre-long arc of sandstone buttresses, rivers and wetlands. Like biosphere reserves around the world, this one is crucial for protecting and promoting biodiversity, conservation and the sustainability of natural resources and the human communities who live here.

The ‘Big Five’ are abundant, but my eyes are trained skyward for a glimpse of the Cape vulture. While they’re not the prettiest bird on the planet, the Waterberg Biosphere is home to one of the world’s largest colonies: some 800 breeding pairs. With a wingspan stretching up to 2.6 metres, they are a mighty sight.

“Do not use the outside shower after dark, or you will be the cleanest food ever eaten here.” That’s our Marataba welcome message. I dare to live dangerously and have a quick rinse at sunset, my ears detecting the occasional snort of a rogue warthog. I know to be worried only if I smell popcorn – the aroma of leopard urine. Come morning, a sounder of warthogs grazing by the lodge pool stares me down, as if I’ve done something naughty. Humans should master the warthog stare – it’s terrifying, harmless, and, I can testify, very effective.

From bush tucker to Phinda Reserve indulgence

The breakfast in andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve is bush-buffet heaven, and it’s served with a first: a rifle-armed ranger at my table. I don’t usually drink coffee – but then, this isn’t your usual day. So, I reach for a double-shot espresso with Amarula, South Africa’s creamy liqueur from the marula tree. It’s crème caramel, fig, allspice and gingerbread all in one sip and makes coffee worth drinking. I don’t linger, though, knowing I should get to my sizzling bacon and eggs before any other creature.

There is also high tea at Safari Plains Mabula, sunset drinks at Phinda Forest Lodge and the strangest, most delicious pit stop at a bush track intersection: hotcakes with whipped cream, chocolate, maple syrup and fresh fruit. Our 10-day safari is also a smorgasbord of luxury accommodation: glamorous tents with private plunge pools (chlorinated water is Evian to elephants), ensuites large enough to live in, deep baths, fully-stocked bars with full-size bottles, hand-crafted local furnishings and decks that frame the wilderness – andBeyond Phinda Mountain Lodge has lashings of it all. TheKingfisher Villa Suites on Mabula Game Reserve, too, stop me in my tracks. It’s luxury at full volume.

And for ocean lovers feeling their gills dry out, there’s the option to game drive in the morning at Phinda, then ‘hang ten’ in the afternoon on the Maputaland coast – surf, dive, snorkel or beachcomb. ‘Safari to surf’ in a single day is a South African favourite.

I’m wrist-deep in our patient’s slimy, toothless mouth, thrilled by the experience but juggling the emotion of examining her dental cavity without an appointment. This isn’t the safari of glossy brochures – it’s raw, rare and unforgettable.

Sunrises, sunsets and soulful moments

I’m not sure what I love most about South Africa – the cool pastel sunrises or the roaringly red sunsets. Both arrest my heart and, mysteriously, delete memories of any dawn or dusk I have loved before. Back at Mabula, I’m handed a syringe to inject into our rhino’s ear – the drug that will return her to consciousness after the veterinary intervention. She’s up within a minute, steadies herself, and strolls into the long grass. The limp is gone, and after my two minutes as a vet nurse, I’m quietly confident that her dental health is perfectly fine. No, this isn’t the picture-perfect safari I expected. It’s far better in every way.

Journey notes

The Africa Safari Co offers both scheduled and tailor-made safaris to Southern Africa, starting from $3,250 for 15 days.
www.africasafarico.com.au