Coast and countryside

Enjoy the best of both the beach and the bush

As a proud Gautenger and Kruger Park junkie, the first thing you notice about Makhasa Game Reserve is the sea sand. The diversity of habitats that make up the 2 000-hectare reserve is undoubtedly one of the reserve’s biggest drawcards for locals and visitors alike. There’s the lushness of the lala palms, acacia thornveld, broadleaf woodland areas, sand thicket habitats and a pristine sand forest area, reminding bush lovers of just how close they are to the ocean and making for easier animal tracking because the soft sand retains tracks for longer.

Each of these five habitats ensure that the daily bush drives are the furthest thing from monotonous, and they are also all home to different animals and game. Ironically for a reserve situated within the iSimangaliso Wetland

Park on KwaZulu-Natal’s beautiful Elephant Coast, Makhasa boasts three of the Big Five (white rhino, buffalo and leopard) but no elephants or lions.

Not that you miss these two animals much, mind you. Game rangers James and Corné enthusiastically traversed the entire reserve for us, letting us triumphantly tick off buffalo, giraffes and rhinos just a few hours after first pulling up to the lodge in our Ford Fiesta 1.6 Sport.

And speaking of ticking things off your list, there are over 380 bird species in the reserve (including the African Broadbill and Pinkthroated Twinspot) and many visitors descending upon Makhasa come for these little creatures alone. Rosy-throated Longclaws and Eastern Nicators aside, however, the major advantage that I see twitchers having is that they can do some of their spotting from the comfort of the shady wooden desks surrounding their chalets, because frankly, any excuse to retreat back to the luxury and comfort of the chalets is a welcome one.

There are only six private thatch roof chalets in the entire reserve, all of them well hidden from one another and accessed via a private path and thick leafy canopy overhead. Understated elegance greets you at the door and follows you

throughout the airy high-ceilinged chalet. The first element of the chalet

that caught my attention was the shower, which is partly indoors (the

top half is open air) and boasts a beautiful rain shower head that literally

sprouts out of a gnarly piece of wood.

This kind of natural detail is echoed throughout, in the beautiful bright colours of the linen and the African animals embroidered on the cushions, for example.

With the glass sliding doors wide open, your feet stretched out across the crisp bed linen and the chance of seeing a red duiker or nyala ambling past your window, an afternoon nap suddenly seems like a waste of good game viewing opportunities.

Should you need to revive your senses however, a lingering shower and kerosene lamp guided path that leads to a three-course boma bush dinner should do just the trick. The exclusivity of the accommodation at Makhasa (and the limited numbers of guests that can stay there, even at full capacity) makes

for a thoroughly personal experience, complete with educational game rides (and the option of going rhino tracking on foot with one of the rangers) and stories of incredible sightings around the fire at night.

Reluctance to leave the place is rather inevitable, but take heart in the fact that a feeling of utter relaxation will accompany you home.

This article first appeared in CitiVibe in The Citizen on Friday 30 September 2011.

Enjoy Makhasa Game Reserve and Lodge (Hluhluwe) and Coral Divers (Sodwana Bay) for the ultimate bush-beach escape.

■ The Bush & Beach full package includes six nights, six meals, five dives and three game drives for only R2 100 per person (save R2 490).

■ From Thursday to Saturday, stay at Makhasa Game Reserve and Lodge for three nights, six meals (dinner, bed and breakfast) and three game drives

for only R500 per person per night.

■ Offers valid until December 16, 2011.

■ For more information contact the central booking office on 033-345-6531, email info@makhasa.co.za or visit www.coraldivers.co.za/www.makhasa.co.za.