A family adventure in South Africa: exploring wildlife and culture

Some adventures are the once in a lifetime kind, Kahu de Beer and her family take to South Africa on a family holiday.  

Words + Photography: Kahu de Beer

It had been 10 years since we’d travelled back to my husband’s home country of South Africa. Only one of our three girls had met their extended family, and she’d been just a baby at the time. We were well overdue a visit and it was one I know we’ll remember forever. Having spent their childhood in the picture-perfect neighbourhoods of Mount Maunganui, a trip to Africa was about as eye-opening an experience as it gets. For so long I’d wanted my kids to experience how other cultures live, to broaden their little minds and to give them the gift of travel. Although the motivation behind our trip was to spend time with family, South Africa was right up there on my list of places to go as a family. During our time there we sought out a few experiences that we knew would be memorable, and that were unique to this country.

Like most kids, ours have always been totally obsessed with animals. We’ve done many a trip to the zoo, read every book in the library’s mammals, reptiles, and amphibians collections, and watched animal rescue videos on repeat over our years of parenting. We knew we couldn’t go to South Africa without doing a safari. And let me just say, there is nothing in this world like it. We looked into a number of different game lodges; we wanted to go somewhere that had a large selection of animals and felt like a proper ‘wild’ experience. We also wanted somewhere within driving distance of Cape Town where we were based.

We decided on Kariega Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, a family-owned and operated Big 5 private safari reserve. We loved that it was on a huge property (11,500 hectares), practised responsible tourism and catered well for children. They boast five lodges ranging from four to five star, each with their own special charm. We were also able to tie in seeing the renowned Garden Route on our drive up to Kariega; taking a few days either side and staying in some lovely little towns we’d been wanting to explore.

I’ll never forget how, when we first arrived at the game reserve, we took the turn off along a dusty gravel road and came to a set of gates that had signs warning us to stay in our car at all times, and huge fences either side, it felt as if we were about to enter Jurassic Park. Almost immediately upon driving in we saw a warthog run across the road in front of us and that was the moment we realised we were inside the actual reserve itself – for some reason I had thought we would park our car outside and be escorted in, but no, here we were with nothing between our tiny rental car and huge wild animals. Moments later we rounded a corner and came face to face with a herd of rhino and suddenly felt extremely small and vulnerable. It didn’t help that my husband, who was driving, had recently watched a video on Instagram of a woman’s car being crushed by a rhino as it stepped right on top of it! We were all very happy to see another (much larger) car approach behind us and quickly offered for them to go ahead. The stand-off between the rhino and the cars lasted several minutes before they began walking directly towards us and both vehicles started reversing at lightning speed. The rhinos soon decided they’d had their fun and veered off to greener pastures, while we took a moment to calm our nerves. Safe to say it was a very exciting start to our stay. Upon meeting our ranger shortly afterwards at the river, he assured us we had not been in any danger and we all felt relieved, and a little silly.

The next stage of the journey to get to our lodge was a boat ride up Bushman’s River, which the kids thought was by far the coolest mode of transport (until they saw the Land Cruisers). We felt like real African explorers, off on our big adventure. At last our lodge was within view, tucked into the hillside and surrounded by bush. We could see the collection of nine tented suites that overlooked the river. It felt as though we’d left the rest of the world behind and entered a very special place. For the final part of the journey our guide, Talent, went from skipper to driver in a very James Bond fashion. We piled into our Land Cruiser and the girls very quickly decided this was their dream car: and as we found out, there was nowhere that vehicle couldn’t go. As we pulled up to Settler’s Drift we were greeted by smiling hosts offering drinks and hot face cloths to refresh us after our journey – a wonderful welcome.

Our three night stay comprised delicious food, an African Boma night, where we were treated to traditional African cuisine and a performance from the beautiful staff, two game drives a day, swimming in the infinity pool and relaxing in our luxury tented suites. It was one of those experiences where you can’t quite believe it’s real. We’d be sitting having breakfast, and one of the girls would say ‘Look Mum I can see a giraffe’ and we’d gather on the deck with the other guests and take turns with the binoculars, spotting all sorts of animals. We were in their territory and it was such a privilege to get to share it with them for those few days. 

For a first safari experience, Kariega set the bar very high. One of the biggest highlights for me was seeing the joy and wonder on the girls’ faces as we got up close to some of the most incredible animals in the world, ones they’d only ever read about or seen in zoos, and now here they were, large as life in their African hues, and more incredible than we could have ever imagined. It was truly an awe-inspiring experience.

The girls were especially taken by the story of Thandi, one of the rhinos at Kariega who survived a poaching attack in 2012, and who we were lucky enough to meet. Kariega now has a large anti-poaching unit and works hard at creating awareness around this issue. They also started the Kariega Foundation, a non-profit trust that helps to protect and preserve the Kariega wilderness and uplift the people and communities that live in and around the reserve. All adult guests staying at Kariega pay a small levy in addition to accommodation and other costs and these funds are invested directly into their community and conservation projects.

Once we were back in Cape Town, and with a renewed interest in animals inspired by the safari, the girls were keen to check out Two Oceans Aquarium to see some underwater wildlife. We met the cousins there and spent a few fun hours learning about all forms of ocean life, many of them species from the local area. This sparked the girls to want to go and see more of these creatures in the wild. Boulders Beach is famous for its African Penguins, so we spent a day there, swimming around the idyllic bay. The granite boulders made for a stunning outlook and perfect rock jumping opportunities. Here we got to hang out with the friendly penguins who came right up to us. Because Cape Town is surrounded by ocean there are so many stunning beaches to enjoy: on one side there’s the Indian Ocean, which is a similar temperature to ours here in Mount Maunganui, and on the other is the Atlantic Ocean, which is perfect if you like a polar plunge!

Going up Table Mountain was a must-do on our trip. We had intentions of hiking one direction (down, ideally) and getting the cable car the other way, but the day we chose just happened to be one of the hottest of the trip, and we knew it would end with meltdowns so we bought a return trip. It turned out to be a good call as we did plenty of walking and exploring at the top. The views out over the city and along the coastlines were spectacular and made us feel like we were on top of the world. We did a little history lesson at the top, reading about how the mountain is amongst the oldest in the world, and is included as one of the seven wonders of nature.  

Our trip to Cape Town also coincided with my 40th birthday, which was really special as I got to spend it with our South African family. I wanted to do something that everyone could be a part of. I’d heard a lot about a place called Babylonstoren and had been desperate to see it. Babylonstoren is one of the oldest Cape Dutch farms, set in the Franschhoek wine valley, just over an hour from Cape Town. The working farm is a wonderland of all kinds of animals, orchards, olive groves, veggie gardens, and fields of lavender that look like they’re straight out of Provence. There’s a vineyard, a number of restaurants, a hotel and spa, and their very own farm shop that sells almost everything you can imagine. We enjoyed a long lunch under the trees, surrounded by gardens; it was one of my best birthdays and also a hit with the children, with so many amazing areas to explore.

The warmth and diversity of the people we met in Cape Town was one of the most magical things about our trip; there's a vibrancy there that I haven’t experienced anywhere else. It also happens to be some of the most dramatic scenery in the world, with vast mountains dropping straight down into sparkling blue oceans. It’s a place that is alive with beauty and culture and we know we’ll be back again soon.

SHOUT-OUT TO:
Kariega Game Reserve kariega.co.za.