A safari escape with soul

There is a quiet commotion in the darkness.

I’m standing just about as far east as you can get within the borders of SA, but dawn has yet to make it onto the banks of the Luvuvhu River. A flashlight scans the Jackalberry trees across the water, and a small crowd of travellers is gathered at the railing of the main lodge at Pafuri Camp, binoculars at the ready.

“A Pel’s,” says someone. “There was a Pel’s right there, just yesterday.”

It’s certainly a rarity, the Pel’s Fishing Owl, and the flashlight keeps sweeping the boughs in hope, but I opt to finish my coffee and head off to discover this historic, and groundbreaking corner of the Kruger National Park.

Most visitors to Kruger focus their attention on the park’s southern reaches. But with the higher concentration of wildlife comes a higher concentration of visitors, and vehicles. But that’s certainly not the case in the Makuleke concession on which Pafuri Camp is pitched.

The Makuleke has a fascinating — yet chequered — history. In the 1960s the Makuleke community, who had settled in the region in the 1800s, were evicted from their land by authorities wanting to expand the borders of the Kruger National Park and were resettled outside the park to the south of the modern-day gate at Punda Maria.

With the advent of democracy, the Makuleke community applied for land restitution and — after a lengthy court battle — in 1998 won back the rights to their ancestral land. With a caveat: the land should remain under conservation.

Fast-forward a decade or two and Pafuri Camp — privately run, but renting the land from the Makuleke community — was firmly established as one of the hidden gems of northern Kruger. With 19 under-canvas suites perched above the perennial Luvuvhu River, it’s a luxury safari with soul. A destination for travellers tired of the busier south reaches, who drive all this way north in search of a wilder, richer experience.

And that’s certainly what I found during my all-too-fleeting visit amid the chill of winter; a concession where vehicles are few and far between, and the emphasis is on soaking up the wilderness, not ticking off the big five. Elephant and buffalo are abundant here, but you’ll be lucky to see many cats unless you put in the hours. Rhinos? Sadly not.

But you’ll hardly notice their absence, as you soak up the remarkable landscapes, and smaller game, of the north. One morning it’s an hour spent amid the ethereal trunks of the largest fever tree forest I’ve ever seen. In the morning light we chuckled at the dominance display of nyalas, which is to walk as slowly as possible. That evening we do sundowners on the banks of the Limpopo, gazing across to Zimbabwe. Another morning we’re sneaking up to the border of Mozambique on the Limpopo’s sandy beds, keeping a beady eye on the crocodiles and hippos in the nearby watercourse.

“We get incredible birds here all year round,” explains my guide Cyril Baloyi, talking over his shoulder as he drove us along the gravel back roads of the 24 000ha concession. “But November to February is the best time for birding here.”

That may be the case, but my winter visit showed just why ardent twitchers love the northern reaches of the Kruger. In a single morning drive — along the banks of the Limpopo River — we ticked off Paradise Flycatchers and Brown-headed parrot, an African hawk eagle and a pair of Peregrine falcons. And as Cyril returned us to the lodge, and breakfast, six Corey bustards — “It’s the heaviest flying bird in Africa!” adds Cyril over his shoulder again — patrolled the sandy floodplains of the Luvuvhu.

Pafuri Camp offers many of the bells and whistles you’d expect from a luxury safari lodge, only here it feels like the volume is turned down. Service is warm and authentic, not overbearing and fawning. Perhaps it’s because nearly all the staff come from the Makuleke community, and feel a sense of ownership, not servitude, when it comes to welcoming guests.

“It’s because we feel this is our home, and we invite guests into our home, not just a lodge,” says Godfrey Baloyi, Pafuri Camp’s general manager, who trained as a schoolteacher before falling in love with life in the bush, and the chance to see the community’s land become a tourist drawcard. “This is such a special place; we just want to share it with as many people as we can.”

The lodge is certainly bustling on my visit, with SA accents outnumbering foreigners for a change. That doesn’t often happen in Kruger’s private lodges and is a testament to the value offering here.

And there’s something indefinable here too. A serenity that comes with the suites stretched out along the river. In the private decks fronting each suite to offer a front-row seat to the magical setting of the Luvuvhu. It’s where I spent many quiet hours, watching elephant herds sloshing their way south or kudu and nyala stepping cautiously towards the water. Bee-eaters and kingfishers filled the air around me with their calls. Somewhere out there too was that Pel’s. But that could wait for the morning. Pafuri Camp feels timeless, and I was certainly in no hurry to leave.