“It’s not Kruger”, someone said. “Good!” I thought to myself. While vast Kruger National Park is amazing in many respects, a needlessly crushed leopard tortoise on a very wide stretch of tar on my last visit left a bad taste.

Remote, Restricted, Restful

You won’t see that at Tembe Elephant Park, on the border of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Mozambique. There are no wide tar roads. Just deep, sandy tracks. Only 4×4’s are permitted so that strikes off a whole list of suspects, keeps the place quiet and ‘ordentlik’- Afrikaans for orderly/ decent, as it should be. 10 public vehicles are permitted at a time- higher numbers must wait until vehicles exit the reserve. Don’t worry if you don’t have a 4×4. The lodge will pick you up from the gate.

Sizing it Up

Tembe Elephant Park is a smidge over 30 000 hectares, or 300km2, of which game drives traverse 12 000. As the name suggests, Tembe is best known for its elephants- the biggest tuskers to be found anywhere- so if it is the biggest of the Big 5 you are after, they have around 250. The park also has round 35 lions (a controlled number), an undisclosed rhino population and I’ve never seen so many nyala (there are around 5000), or monkey oranges for that matter. Red and grey duiker abound and we spotted several kudu, giraffe and impala- though zebra are scarce as the dense foliage is not to their liking. If you’re lucky you’ll see the tiny, shy, rare Suni antelope.

 

Checking it Out

On our game drives with guide Khulu Khumalo we covered notably diverse terrain. Mostly dense sand forest, characterised by Lebombo wattle, and some gravelly ups and downs in a predominantly flat area. There are sections of woodland and a large, flat marshland where we shared a sunset with a buffalo herd. Some areas brought the Okavango Delta to mind, with huge termite mounds all about. Only the waterways were absent.

The diversity probably escaped the tourists, so I was glad that our guide, Khulu- Tembe’s chief birder I gather, took time to point out the prolific birdlife (there are over 340 species). We spied African goshawks; brown crowned chagra; cardinal woodpecker; bearded scrub robins; red capped char robin (Natal), golden breasted bunting; brown snake eagle; African harrier hawk, loads of cisticolas including bulbuls; wood doves; bateleur eagles; African stone chats; lilac breasted rollers and crested francolin rummaging in the elephant dung, while very smart crested guinea fowl in their dark, white spotted suits roamed the lodge.

Khulu also talked about many plants and their uses, such as spike  thorn, used for treating cataracts, highly toxic Euphorbia virosa or the Swazi (or Maputaland) ordeal tree. He amused us with the lesser ordeal meted out by his father, using cocktail ants, when a certain herd boy allowed one or two of dad’s cattle to go astray.

Checking Back In

Game drives are early morning and afternoon affairs, with a return to the lodge for late breakfast, a laze or massage, lunch and off you go again, or you could book time on the massage bed in a shaded gazebo, or chill in the open sided reading lounge.In summer there’s a pool area to cool off in. In winter it doesn’t get properly cold except at night, bearing in mind accommodation is under canvas.

Canvas does not mean a sacrifice of luxury. There are six Tusker suites- one bedroom safari tents on carpeted concrete with two single beds and space for an additional bed, six family suites with two queen beds and space for two additional single beds, and the Tembe suite, on a wooden platform, with two queen size beds. They all have a covered veranda, en-suite facilities and an outdoor shower. Pretty upmarket and Tembe is, to my knowledge, the best value for money Big 5 reserve in South Africa.

Community Spirit

Tembe doesn’t go as fancy and the dining is not haute cuisine (though the Tembe wines are not too shabby and well worth it). What is exceptional is the crew. The reserve is partly owned and fully managed by the Tembe tribe, and they are rightly, yet humbly, proud of their lodge and natural heritage. One morning, alone and out of sight in camp, I smiled at their happy banter as they went about their duties- always an excellent sign of an establishment in fine fettle.

Hiding OutI was alone ‘cos I skipped a drive to spend time alone at the main hide, Tembe’s bush IMAX. In the quiet of the hide, nature’s Groundhog Day played out- huge tuskers clacking ivories at the watering hole. Cue nyala and sundry plains game. Cue lions, with ensuing action sequences (ignored by the ellies) with accompanying ruffled feathers and monkey and bird alarms. Reset. Marvellous! The 24 hour webcam has a worldwide following and affords unusually good night time viewing too.

Call +27 (0) 78 246 3353 and visit http://tembe.co.za

Check out their special packages and, especially, the Vanishing Giants of Africa – Elephant Workshop. This annual event, hosted by Dr. Johan Marais, has become a highly anticipated experience. Dr. Marais is a leading expert on African elephants and has also gained recognition for his pioneering work in rhinoceros facial reconstructive surgery.