| South African safari
Anna Selby takes her nine-year-old son Christian to the Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa A safari into the African wilderness is a trip of a lifetime for anyone, and for a child it has to be the ultimate adventure. But until recently, families on safari holidays have been something of a rarity. This has not been so much because of any dangers they might encounter in the form of wild animals, but due to a much smaller African creature. The female anopheles mosquito is the one whose bite can transmit malaria, which is still the worst disease hazard for travellers in hot climates. There are, of course, anti-malarial drugs but over the last decade there have been alarming news stories about their side effects on adults, let alone children. It has emerged, however, that there are a few places in Africa where the conditions are so inhospitable for the anopheles mosquito that they remain malaria-free. The Madikwe, up in the high Transvaal close to the border with Botswana, with cold winter nights and hot summer days, is one of these. As a result, a number of lodges have opened up that combine great game viewing with comfort and family-friendly policies. Safari style That, at least, is the theory, but seeing animals in their natural surroundings is very different from visiting a zoo or an English 'safari park'. In Africa, you are on their territory and they appear or not, as they choose. As an observer, your role is to be as unobtrusive as possible. 'When you see animals,' our guide, Neil, warned, 'you don't stand up, shout or even speak. This is for your own safety and because we respect their privacy. When we leave, we shouldn't have affected the animals or their surroundings - it is as if we were never there.' That first morning, we were very lucky. We saw a family of elephants with two babies, a couple of giraffes, warthogs, a baboon and a pair of lions. It can be quite scary sitting in an open-sided, open-topped vehicle when you're just feet away from a creature that could comfortably eat you - or your nine-year-old - for breakfast. All of the rangers carry a shotgun on the dashboard but they also say they never use it and Neil reassured us that we were quite safe as long as no one made a sudden movement. The lions see the Land Rover and its inhabitants as one animal, he explains, and don't realise that individually we might be quite palatable. Your ranger looks after you from the moment you arrive at a lodge. He - or occasionally she - will take your bags to your room, drive you through the park, and be a fund of information on everything from how termites provide their mounds with air-conditioning to why lions are really big sissies. Untamed wilderness Besides the River Lodge, we stayed at the Tau Game Lodge - right on an enormous watering hole that drew lots of game every day - and Jaci's Camp, where our room had an open fire for cold winter nights and an outdoor shower for the hot winter days. Huge breakfasts or brunches are served when you return from your early morning drive and, in the evening after the second drive of the day, you have dinner under the stars either around an open fire in the 'boma' - an outside room surrounded by a bamboo palisade - or a 'braai' - a South African barbecue - out in the bush with only the fires to keep the animals at bay. Most of the time, though, you are getting as close as you can to some very wild animals indeed and having daily encounters with life and death in the African wilderness. A pack of wild dogs killed a water buck in front of our room at Tau Lodge, a family of around 30 elephants arrived at the water hole at sunset and disappeared silently into the dusk, a rhino mother showed off her ten-stone baby. Most dramatic of all was the family of nine lionesses preparing for their evening hunt. Two of them squabbled and growled over a piece of antelope skin, the matriarch chased off a lone juvenile male and they paced around our Land Rover in the twilight at times close enough to touch. Sun City This outdoor paradise is just a short walk over the Bridge of Time to the Lost City Entertainment Centre, complete with star-studded spectaculars, cinemas, glamorous casinos and games arcades. There is plenty of sport, too, from golf to horse riding and every kind of water sport. And, if you still hear the call of the wild, you can take a ten-minute shuttle bus ride to the Pilanesberg National Park, situated inside a vast, ancient - and this time, real - volcano and one of the best places in South Africa to see hippos. Health tip Information |