One of the things I love about the African savannah, or “the bush” as we like to call it locally, is the dichotomous nature of the place. To put it simply, it’s a beast with two faces.
In summer it’s green and lush, with an air of abundance and prosperity. Young impala lambs, brought into the world en-masse during November, bounce gaily in between the browsing adults, testing their long, spindly legs; village weaver colonies hum with activity, with males carrying strands of grass back to their nesting tree and displaying loudly whenever a curious female turns up; foam-nest frogs gather on warm evenings on branches overhanging pans and puddles, with a female and a group of eager males entering a slippery orgy to create a snowball-like nest in which they lay the yellow, pea-sized eggs; and crickets and other insects fill the night air with a chorus of chirps and chortles.
By late winter and spring, the other face of the savannah has been unmasked. The earth hasn’t felt rain for months and green grass is virtually non-existent; a few trees carry green foliage but summer hues have been replaced by brown and yellow; pans and puddles have long been bone dry and only a few of the larger waterholes hold soupy brown water in their bellies, where the thick, deep mud becomes a trap for thirsty animals.
October is an extra cruel month, with the berg winds ahead of a cold front blowing with the heat and intensity of a blast furnace, sucking every last bit of moisture from the grass. On top of this, electrically-charged “dry” storms ride in on these fronts, bringing intense lightning but no rain and sometimes igniting frightening bush fires which turn the night sky into an orange hell.
True, this is the best time for game viewing, when animals congregate around water, but you’re then witness to a world under stress, even if you’re enjoying it somewhat voyeuristically from the deck beside the sparkling “infinity” swimming pool while sipping from a long, cold drink.
It’s at times like these, when animals are scrabbling over the last remaining pool of muddy water and it seems like the rain switch has been turned off, that I cringe at the thought of filling up the chest-deep bath in my chalet or having long showers before and after each game drive. The fact is that your holiday in the bush has an impact – on the immediate environment in terms of your water usage and on the broader environment in terms of electricity consumption and non- direct carbon production.
As an environmentally-conscious traveller you have to ask yourself about your impact and either minimise it by forgoing the bath in favour of a quick shower, putting up with a bit of dust, taking it easy with the air-conditioner (how many people leave it on the whole day when they are spending most of their time out on drives anyway?) or visiting a low-impact lodge like nThambo Tree Camp.
nThambo tree Camp in the Klaserie Game Reserve is fairly new and comprises five elevated canvas and wood chalets, each with a view over the surrounding bush and the majestic northern arm of the Drakensberg in the distance, as well as a communal dining room and lounge area, with a small plunge pool to cool off in on hot summer days. The remarkable thing about this is it’s the epitome of “light” construction and if it were to close down it could be removed fairly easily without leaving any trace that a camp had once been there. They wouldn’t even have to roll up the carpets because there aren’t any – the floors of the communal area are simply raked river sand over the existing earth.
Good home-cooked meals are served at a communal table, where strangers turn into friends and it’s easy to stay up too late over a good bottle of South African red wine, forgetting about the dawn start the following day. There’s also a fire in the boma area, a must for winter evenings, and if you think this is somewhat contradictory to the eco-ethos then you’ll be right in a way. A log fire is one of the essentials to any safari lodge experience, but in nThambo’s case, it’s a “reasonable” fire with the logs pushed in from the ends rather than dumped on top, as you do when starting your braai, and by dousing the fire as soon as everyone retires for the night.
When you do retire you’ll find that the elevated chalets are comfortable and have everything you need. There’s a large double bed, simple bathroom (who really needs an apartment-sized “his and hers” bathroom with two of everything except the porcelain seat) with gas-heated water. As they are canvas you have to bear in mind that they are not well insulated and you’re going to be more exposed to the ambient temperature, so you need to have the appropriate clothing (contrary to what many first-timers think, it does get cold in the bush). The lighting is solar-powered, and the camp runs on solar and paraffin with a small generator for the kitchen, so the power consumption profile is pretty low.
The lodge has access to a large portion of the Klaserie Game Reserve, the largest of the privately owned reserves that are open to the neighbouring Kruger National Park, and offers the Big Five plus cheetah, spotted hyena and a wealth of herbivores and smaller mammals.
nThambo is spot-on in offering an authentic safari experience without all the superfluities that have come to characterise the luxury safari lodge.
Of course, there are those who want the spa treatments and heated towel rails, so for them nThambo may not be the right lodge.
But for those who want to shave off the trimmings and get the meat of the matter, as well as a leaner price tag (no proper safari lodge is going to be cheap, but this one is more affordable than many others) and to minimise the impact of their visit, nThambo Tree Camp is a good choice. - Saturday Star