Setting out for a walking safari at dawn into the Klaserie Big 5 reserve.
At Africa on Foot every morning begins with a walk on the Klaserie soil. Led by 2 guides with rifles, guests trek through the grassy woodlands discovering what animals have left behind the night before. Tracks and signs of the bush tell stories of fights in the night, and the territorial ownership of the land. Who prowls through the darkness leaving carefully placed footprints in the sand? Who leaves fresh dung on aged paths to and from water? When the sun rises, the guests at Africa on Foot take to these paths themselves and uncover the evidence of animal movement. Guides teach and guests take it in, enlightened, but sometimes, it’s just fun and games… Who wants to play Bok Drol Spoeg?
Safari veterans know it well, a popular game on walking safaris at Africa on Foot and elsewhere: Bok Drol Spoeg (meaning ‘buck dung spit’ in Afrikaans) requires guests line up and hurl a pellet of dry antelope dung as far as they can…using their mouths! It’s not for everyone, but it’s ‘just to say you did it’.
Action shot playing ‘bok drol spoeg’ at Africa on Foot.
Guests enjoying watching giraffe from the ground. This is Africa!
Watch this epic video of what a Big 5 walking safari at Africa on Foot is all about:
About 2 hours drive from Africa on Foot in the lush Limpopo Province, is a private community-owned Big 5 game reserve called Marakapula. Only a 25 minute drive to the Phalaborwa gate of the Kruger National Park, and located right on the Selati River, Makubu Lodge offers a diverse game viewing experience. Wonderfully African-inspired decor, a pool overlooking the river, and green-leafed fig trees towering over an arrangement of individual thatched chalets; Makubu feels like a safari retreat. This blog comes live from this very view of the Selati River, and Kevin MacLaughlin’s image of an elephant was captured as it was feeding just outside the front gate before game drive this morning.
Watch this space as Marakapula becomes the newest addition to Sun Destinations’ portfolio…
A visitor to Makubu Lodge in the Marakapula Reserve this morning.
A giraffe peers curiously through the foliage in the Marakapula Reserve.
Back in the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, at the oxbow of the Klaserie River, nDzuti Safari Camp consistently offers superb family safaris on its green-lawned plot in a Big 5 playground. Only 8 people needed to fill the lodge, you can guarantee a private, tailor-made experience. On game drive, expect to see any of the adulated game species, but keep your eyes open for the finer details and you’ll realise just how much there is to see…
A buffalo looks on warily at guests on nDzuti’s game viewer. Image by Em Gatland.
A steenbok, one of the smallest antelopes in South Africa, glances back us on game drive. Image by Em Gatland.
Red-crested korhaan captured by Em Gatland at nDzuti Safari Camp.
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