East London - Ahhhh, the joys of camping: nights out under the stars, revelling in the sounds of the bush while a campfire crackles merrily and meat sizzles on the grid; clammy, cramped sleeping bags in tents that sweat condensation in steady streams down their sides to pool under your bum; the soothing whine of mosquitoes and cheerful pitter-patter of assorted creepy-crawlies around you.
Waking up – not that you slept much – to greasy utensils and only cold water with which to clean them before you even think of making your first cup of coffee.
I am blessed with good memory. I recall clearly that the unpleasant camping memories of my younger days far outnumber the good ones and I refuse to glorify the tenting experience on the basis of “things were better then, more real”.
In fact, just about my only positive camping recollections revolve around the hours spent outside the damned tent itself.
Your living space is generally cramped and uncomfortable – unless you possess a gargantuan vehicle-trailer combination to lug the myriad necessities and odd luxury – while cleaning and ablution facilities are more often inadequate than not.
Nonetheless, there is something inherently romantic about being “on safari”, of sleeping under canvas without the downside of having to do it in wet and squirming discomfort. There’s even a word for it: “glamping”.
A very good word it is, too, when applied to a place such as Gorah Elephant Camp, a private concession and camp located within the Addo Elephant Park.
Another good word would be “sumptuous” with the fine accommodation and dining touches putting many five-star hotels to shame.
Gorah’s also the only place I’ve been where, late-night brandy snifter in hand, I’ve stood on the lodge stoep with the head ranger watching a herd of buffalos drinking at the adjacent waterhole (unlit because of the late hour) being displaced by several rhinos. Then, ss we watched, entranced, another five great grey ghostly shapes materialised from the darkness just a few metres away; it is no bushveld myth that elephants can move incredibly silently.
It was the perfect end to a perfect day: earlier, head ranger Mikey Mouton had heard me talk about my “talisman” animal, the caracal. Thinking he’d spotted one, he hopped off the open-topped Toyota and waded into the bush to have a better look. He found nothing and turned back towards the vehicle.
The caracal – quite commonly called the lynx – erupted from the grass at his feet and rocketed off.
But only for a few metres. It stopped in a shady clearing and lay down while I clicked away. I could have shot a hundred pictures but the animal got bored and strolled off into the thick undergrowth.
Early the next morning, right at the start of a game drive, Mouton again stopped the Toyota and alighted to show us a hollowed-out kudu horn. As he began his spiel, I interrupted him softly.
“Uh, Mikey...” and I slid my eyes to his left to where a pair of lionesses had emerged from a nearby thicket. Two seconds later, he was back behind the wheel.
They padded amiably past us and headed across the plain towards the lodge where they paused to claw at the base of a palm tree while a few guests who had decided not to go on the drive watched agog. Why shiver and bounce around on rutted roads when the animals come to your table, right?
And they do – foreigners think they’re cute but vervet monkeys are pesky varmints when they’re trying to steal the delightful, freshly baked pastries off your plate.
It’s a total misnomer calling the accommodation facilities at Gorah “tents”. Yes, they’re made of canvas but I’ve lived in houses that are considerably smaller. The finishing touches were impeccable – primarily because they could have been gauche and OTT but they weren’t. Guests also find small, locally carved soapstone animal figurine gifts on arriving at their tents.
Gorah Elephant Lodge is a member of the Hunter Hotels group as well as Relais et Chateaux, and rates range from R4 450 to R6 700 a person depending on season. This includes full board and game drives but excludes alcoholic beverages and the R50 Addo park entry fee.
If that’s a bit steep for you, head up the N2 to Amakhala Game Reserve near Kirkwood where you’ll find Quatermain’s 1920s Safari Camp, several notches more rustic than Gorah but with facilities pegged at a good four-star level.
Quatermain’s is a more authentic camping experience with much smaller but far from rudimentary tents and bathing facilities. I really liked the gas-heated shower (adjacent to the sleeping quarters) which featured a galvanised-iron bucket.
Don’t expect fine-dining; hearty fare (and lots of it) prepared in the camp kitchen or over the fire in the lapa is the order of day and night.
If you haven’t yet experienced the Eastern Cape, be aware that it is almost impossible to sleep beyond sunup; birdsong is to the bush what police sirens are to urban Gauteng. The birdlife is incredibly diverse and it takes a dedicated “twitcher” to identify even a fraction of the sounds emanating from the trees and scrub.
Quatermain owner Riaan Brand specialises in guiding birding tours but also holds trail and tracking qualifications.
“I spent several years as a freelance guide, mainly for four- and five-star lodges here in the Eastern Cape,” said the burly 37-year-old, “and, naturally, I got to talk to guests a lot.
“I found a common thread going through those conversations... especially with people who were on their first ‘safaris’.”
That thread, he said, was that while they loved the lodges – the luxury, the spa baths, wireless internet and big-screen TV, haute cuisine – it was not what they’d expected from safari.
“I must have heard the phrase Out of Africa a thousand times,” he said. “It was clear that a significant portion of the market wanted an authentic African bush experience.
“I believe that all the amenities of the luxury lodges actually detract from the bush experience.”
Quatermain’s benefits from a growing trend in the Eastern Cape, the nature conservancy, where individual reserves – many of which are aggregations of former cattle farms – allow strictly controlled rights of mutual traverse. Thus, Quartermain’s guests go on game drives on Shamwari and Amakhala at no extra cost.
While getting close to lions, elephants and closely guarded rhinos in an open-topped vehicle was wonderful, the highlight of my visit was almost stumbling over a 1m-long water monitor and watching it scurry clumsily to a limpid pool where it transformed itself into a creature of exceptional grace.
Finally, there was the DIY safari.
Spekboom tented camp in the Addo Elephant National Park requires guests to be in self-drive vehicles and to lug along all they require to make their stay as comfortable as they choose.
This generally entails food, drink and ancillary camping / braaing appliances since the five (recently upgraded) two-person tents come with bedding that is replaced daily and a box containing basic crockery and cutlery.
Each tent is isolated from the others – though you can clearly hear your neighbours’ conversations in the still of night, especially when the booze flows after a hard day’s game-viewing – by walls of scrub which house half-tame red-necked francolin and field mice.
Drop or leave anything edible out in the open and it will be gone before you know it.
The camp is serviced by reserve personnel and consequently it and the communal facilities (there’s a communal gas stove, fridge and showers with ample hot water) were spotless.
I like Spekboom as a one-day “goofing off” option where you don’t actually have to see anyone for much of the day.
Get up early to make the most of the animals coming to drink at the adjacent waterhole – for the exclusive use of Spekboom guests – before settling back to enjoy the avian invasion by sunbirds, mousebirds, bush-shrikes, bokmakieries and larks. And stay there.
That way the beer stays cold all day.
If You Go...
l Contact details
Gorah Elephant Camp: Addo Elephant National Park
042 235 1123 or central res 044 501 1111
www.gorah.hunterhotels.com
Quatermain’s1920s Safari Camp: Amakhala Game Reserve
Tel: 083 – 565 2870
www.quatermainscamp.co.za
Spekboom tented rest camp: Addo Elephant National Park
Tel: 042 – 233 8600
www.sanparks.co.za/parks/addo/camps/spekboom
Saturday Star