Welcomed By Wide Open Spaces

Post-lockdown bush experience underlines how foolish it was to take travel for granted before

- Lesley Stones

Soon after sunrise, I’m so awake that I spring out of bed and step onto the wooden deck outside. I breathe the scent of wild sage and hear birds squabbling raucously. Warm sun and a cool breeze tickle my skin. I taste the dusty air and look over the endless bush. I can feel all five senses reawakening, and a sixth sense reminding me that there’s an enormous difference between being alive and really living.

Months in lockdown has been a brutal, bewildering and lonely time of pure survival – a lockdown to save our lives, that’s felt like slow death anyway. Now, standing on the deck at Safari Plains lodge in Mabula Private Game Reserve in Limpopo, I feel pure joy surging through me. A new appreciation for wide open spaces, the hospitality of the lodge employees, the knowledge of the guides, and the delight of having a chef ask me what I want for breakfast, lunch and supper.

The thrill of climbing into the Land Cruiser for a game drive has me bouncing with excitement. “I won’t even take an impala for granted,” I promise Senior Safari Guide Elias Mangwane, who’s even more delighted to be back in the bush than I am.

Stimulating segments