Umlani Bushcamp, South Africa
Buckle up, I’m feeling long-winded on this one!
At this point on our trip, we had already fallen in love with South Africa. But, a safari was what had truly brought us to this beautiful country. A safari has been at the top of our wish list for quite some time now, and I couldn’t believe that we were on a 6-hour van ride on our way from Johannesburg to the Umlani Bushcamp in the Timbavati Game Reserve. I could not think of a better way to celebrate my turning 50!!!
The owner of the camp, Micaela, gave us a warm welcome, a tour of their beautiful camp, and invited us to join in for a tasty lunch before it was time to depart on our first bush drive. Jeff chose Umlani because it was reviewed as a traditional bushcamp catering to smaller groups. Being on a private reserve, the guides were allowed to drive off-road. The accomodations were a lot nicer than we expected. The grounds were beautifully taken care of with several huts including private outdoor showers, a pool, bar and sitting area with a deck overlooking the bush. It was basically “glamping.” Besides an elephant wire in the air, the camp was open so animals could roam free. Therefore, staff would walk us to our huts after dark. Jeff was walking back to our hut one afternoon and was greeted by a warthog. We were assigned to a jeep and met our guide, Martin. Cabinet, was our tracker, and they both were quite patient answering our 100 questions and finding the animals on all of our drives.
Just being out in the South African country side was beautiful enough, but having a nice breeze and finding so many animals on our first drive was fortunate. We also met the nicest group of people. Hanneke and Christine, a mother and daughter from Amsterdam, and Frank and his sweet mother from Germany. We were all so happy to be there and became fast friends. Especially Christine and Zach!
When we came back to the camp, where were offered drinks around the fire and then were called in for a lovely dinner…except for all the huge crunchy bugs that decided to join our table. Zach lost his appetite quickly! I have never seen so many bugs on a table at one time! Probably caused by our late arrival following some leopards that night. None of us wanted to be rude in front of the cooks that had worked so hard on our meal, so we just tried to ignore them and made sure they did not become part of the meal. It helped that the meal was amazing!
As a big surprise, the camp’s cook baked a beautiful homemade chocolate cake for my birthday while Micaela opened bottles of champagne with a big knife. I was so lucky to share my 50th with 30 of my new friends! I will never forget it! I fell into bed with a big smile and a full heart! What a wonderful world!
We had three days to absorb all this beauty and every moment was filled with amazing creatures, kind and interesting people and the best coffee ever! South Africa has our vote for the best coffee where we’ve traveled so far. Just imagine a strong French-pressed coffee in a large stainless steel pitcher kept warm by the open fire. I’m trying to imagine how I can make that happen in the Chicago suburbs during the middle of winter!
This is how each day looked at Umlani Bushcamp…Martin, our guide, knocked on our door at 5:00 a.m. while it was still dark, so we could be ready for breakfast at 5:30 sharp! We arrived to hot french-pressed coffee and a quick cold breakfast of yogurt, muesli and fruit. Next, we hopped on our LandCruisers for our morning drives. It was still a bit chilly, but the sun would warm us up quickly and Martin and Cabinet would find what the bush wanted to show us. My favorite was the elephants, of course! I could watch them all day!
On one drive we came upon a herd of elephants and noticed one of the calves was sleeping. It looked like he was startled by something and within 10 seconds the babies were in the middle of all the adults, and the adults were protecting them in a circle facing out to protect them from whatever it was that made the little one jump. They are so nuturing and protective of their herd! One thing we learned on our drives was that you wait and watch quietly (which is a challenge for me) and observe nature.
So, we had a morning ride and then came back for hot breakfast number two. Everyone sat at the same table and talked about the amazing animals we saw! We had free time until lunch which was served family style on the deck where sometimes a friendly monkey would come visit us. Each time you could sit and meet new people.
On our afternoon rides we would stop in the bush to watch sunset where Cabinet and Martin would set up SunDowners with snacks and drinks. Jeff claims that Cabinet made the best Gin & Tonic he has ever had. Is this really happening? We all laughed and took selfies together and enjoyed the beauty of the closing of a day. Then we would ride back with full hearts and be greeted with a cold towel and a cold drink in anticipation for dinner which was always delicious!
We saw hyenas, warthogs, lions, lionesses, elephants, wildebeests impalaas, giraffes, rhinos, zebras, leopards, and I’m sure some that I missed. This experience was a gift because we never know if we’ll have another opportunity to see these things in our lifetime, and we don’t truly know if they will still exist on our planet.
Here’s is a part of my journal as we drove away from camp:
“Micaela, the owner, had to remind me that is was time to go because I wasn’t ready to leave all our new friends. We took a group photo and gave a round of hugs, and wished everyone well. What a truly great group of people!! They were so good to us and loved on Zach which meant the world to us! They also invited us to stay in their hometowns if ever we were in the area. While the animals were amazing to see and learn about, it’s also the people that experience it with you that make it extra special and memorable. I told Jeff thank you for this amazing gift, and I know we were all changed by it. The human connection is really so important, and I am convinced God made us all for community. As I’ve learned, we are more alike than we are different. Good bye Umlani Bushcamp… thank you for making us feel like party of the family for a few days!!!
BONUS ENTRY:
After our safari, we had the great opportunity to visit my dear friend Jeanetta and her husband, Gert, and son, Gary. Jeanetta and I were part of a Bible study back when I lived in Colorado. She left for Johannesburg to be a missionary, and while doing so, met her husband, Gert. Two days was not enough time to catch up on over 10 years since I’ve seen her. I was able to follow her around on her day with Mosaic, and spend a day-in-the-life of picking up Gary from school and sitting in on meetings at a local school she is working with. Gert grilled up some amazing South African food while the boys got to know one another. We drank great coffee, Zach played with Jeanetta’s sweet pups, and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. We pray it’s not so long before we will see this sweet family again! We are so thankful for the work you are doing in South Africa…what a gift it was too spend time with you!
