Africa lives in us
If earth is the mother of humanity, then Africa is her womb. Sublime, serene and surreal, the Waterberg Mountain Range in Limpopo Province, South Africa appears as an expansive canvas of insurmountable terrain of orange and green bushes when approaching it from a distance. Just a three-hour drive from Johannesburg Airport where our luxurious Thai Airways plane landed, the Waterberg is a secret treasure that ought to be discovered. The crimson orb of the sun gently recedes in the horizon as thousands of birds fly against the silhouetted drama. Simply poetry in motion, one is awed by this aura of majestic splendor.
The Waterberg is one of the major mountain ranges, the other two being the Soutpansberg and the Drakensberg. Not born of violence, but rather of a gentle and gradual process of formation over eons of time, this expansive region covers a series of spectacular curved and folded buttresses, steep ravines with thickly wooded bushveldts and cliffs. The topography of the range and its escarpments is soft and rounded with some towering peaks high above. With an area of 14,500 kms, it is about 80 percent the size of Kruger National Park.
In this region that is almost half as old as the earth itself, my traveling group and I embarked on an amazing safari experience during most of the day and stargazing through the ebony night. The Big 5 animals (rhinoceros, elephant, leopard, buffalo and lion) came up-close and personal as well as other game like impalas, wildebeest, orox, rock rabbit and varieties of birds. There are several private reserves one may choose from for game sightings and successful breeding programs such as Welgeronden, Shambala, Touchstone, Entabeni, Shilanti and Rhinolands. One must exhibit extreme patience in searching for the animals, bearing in mind that these are not zoos but rather expansive reserves.
This captivating and magical part of South Africa, the Waterberg, in a sense, is both a very old, yet a very new place, too. It is rich in human history, wildlife, character and natural beauty and yet it is still off the beaten track of the everyday tourist. The Waterberg is set to become one of the biggest conservation areas in South Africa. It will only not accommodate a large population of the game animals but also important prehistoric and historic sites in this unspoiled wilderness. The Waterberg majestically stands like an inverted saucer, at its highest towering to 2,085 meters above sea level with its bulwarks rising up to 500 meters above the surrounding plains.
From Ka Lingo game reserve where our efficient guide Filemon drove the army-green land rover safari truck with our cooler of drinks, thick blankets and binoculars, we traversed the thicket terrain like Sherlock Holmes eager to solve a mystery. As the icy wind bit into our cheeks, our sturdy 4x4 rattled along the dirt roads in the savannah. The gauzy dimmer of dawn heralded a new day of interesting finds and our rambunctious group was determined to see them all. With collective prayers to the Creator of all, we securely took our seats and our secret wishes for top choices for individual sightings among the Big Five.
The vehicle scrunched through the dry grass as the sun hovered in the horizon turning the sky into a wash of lilac, pink, orange. It was incredible to feel, in this wilderness, an interaction with nature, its finest treasures. Here, one actually felt connected to something far greater than oneself. The true vibrancy of nature’s garb exploded beneath our breath as we tried to contain our excitement as a pair of big gray rhinoceroses drinking by the waterhole pranced in front of us and hurriedly scampered away. Filemon told us they could smell us and hear us but could hardly see us.
As we proceeded towards the river, a family of buffalos greeted us by the side of the vehicle. Filemon explained the difference among the horns of the male and female as an orox with its elegant horns posed before us and a flock of birds took flight over us. “This is like the Garden of Eden,” he said, and we all agreed.
As we passed around chilled bottles of lemonade, apple and grape spritzer and sweet chili Doritos, we could not help but be impressed by the size of the home of these animals, 8,000 hectares of sprawling terrain that could actually fit over a million human families. This is Africa, we reminded ourselves, where animals are left to their natural habitat to roam and reproduce as they have since time immemorial. This is their land and we are the trespassers. To them, we are the intruders; thus we must respect their place and peace.
In the middle of the safari, Josh, our other guide, murmured with great anticipation: “Elephant.” With bated breath we listened and heard the pachyderm snort and then it began lumbering down the hill, moving with so much élan and grace. Josh pointed to what was left of an impala and wildebeest — by the time lions, hyenas and vultures had had their fill, only the skulls and horns were left. Everything else was devoured — the hyenas crunched up the bones while the eagles relished the eyeballs. Nothing was wasted.
After another half an hour, we spotted a troop of ba-boons from the riverine scrub, shrieking as they scam-pered away. A herd of pumbas or warthogs appeared swiftly with agile leaps and bounds.
We were reminded to be silent as we spotted a huge leopard cleaning its paws up a leafless tree. We stood around 200 meters from this elegant feline. It was a moment to cherish.
The realization of confronting an animal that could actually kill us was humbling rather than alarming. As if that wasn’t enough, a far distance later, there was a lioness with her two cubs. We could not get near for obvious reasons but knowing they were just there satisfied us all as we basked in this connectivity. Content with the successful sighting of the Big Five, we ventured back to our luxurious lodge adjacent to the reserve — the five-star Dinkweng Safari Camp managed by gracious Hettie de Lange and her loving husband Tian. Our home away from home is a fully serviced bushveldt lodge perched upon a secluded valley ridge overlooking the Waterberg mountain range. The posh lodge resembling a luxury haven in Aspen, Colorado has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a huge living area, private pool, an outside leisure area and its own six-seater Polaris 4x4 ranger game viewer vehicle. On our way back, we took the shortcut from Ka Lingo through rugged roads by the ravine. It was a natural rollercoaster ride, the sense of thrill and adventure eliciting shrieks upon the sudden turns and peals of laughter as we shifted from one side of the vehicle to another.
I will never forget how our able guides turned off all the lights of the vehicle and asked us to look up at the most amazing star-strewn sky ever in the Dinkweng Camp replete with indigenous game, plant, bird and animal life as well. We looked at the brightest object in the sky, Venus, the amazing Milky Way galaxy with its transparent misty, creamy tail below and other constellations like the Big Dipper, Small Dipper, Orion’s Belt, Cassiopeia and so much more. When one lives in the city, one is unable to appreciate such beauty and grace. Here, in the African bush, it seemed like the dome of the sky was like our own private planetarium.
There was so much comfort and serenity being enveloped by a canopy of brilliant stars. One could truly feel God’s mighty Hand.
I am convinced we may not live in Africa, but Africa lives in us.
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For more information about Dinkweng Safari Camp, e-mail Hettie de Lange at hetti@zorgvliet.com.
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E-mail the author at miladay.star@gmail.com.
