Are you ready to experience “wild” Africa? If so, you’ve come to the right place. The crew at Transfrontier Africa’s Paradise Camp are the perfect people to guide you through a once in a lifetime (or maybe twice in a lifetime if you’re lucky) opportunity. I’ve only returned from my visit just over a week ago and though my time at camp was short, I stayed 3 nights; I’m trying to figure out how to get back there again and to stay longer.
My visit was filled with so many memorable experiences it’s hard to pick a favorite. There’s nothing like pulling up alongside 4 bull elephants doing what they do best – eating. It had been days, if not weeks, since the crew had seen this particular herd and it was an important find because the giant grey creatures had been playing a great game of hide and seek and a hole was beginning to grow in the data. It would be the only elephant sighting during my short trip but it was amazing. I managed to check off 3 of the Big 5 – elephants, water buffalo and my personal favorite the rhino. We tried our best to find some lions, following their tracks and even hearing them in the distance one night but they didn’t want to come out and play though I hear they made an appearance in the days after I left camp.
Originally I had wanted to stay inside Kruger proper at one of the official camps but they were completely booked during the time I could visit. This turned out to be such a blessing in disguise. I firmly believe staying within the Balule Nature Reserve and at Paradise Camp was a more authentic experience than I ever would have had at an “official” camp. The authenticity began the moment I got off the tiny prop plane in Hoedspruit and Stefan loaded us into his 30+-year-old Land Rover (or maybe it’s a Range Rover?) aka “The Ark.” Safari green of course. Upon our arrival at the reserve we transferred to the open-air vehicle “Spartacus.” What can I say about Spartacus? He’s special. It took about 20-30 minutes to arrive at camp from the gate. We quickly learned that the baboons had had their way with our toilet earlier in the day and there was now a leaking toilet and a shortage of water. It was fantastic. No, seriously, it was. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I’d hear the sentence “baboons broke the toilet in half.” There are no fences around the camp to keep animals out so some honey badgers and a pack of hyenas also visited us at night. You really can’t put a price on waking up to hyena calls and rustling under your chalet.
Tracking and collecting data on the reserve’s animals is only half the experience. The staff is who truly make the trip worthwhile. Their passion about and knowledge of the reserve is incomparable. They’re not bad cooks either. Paradise Camp is home to them and they go out of their way to provide the best experience possible while protecting the animals at the same time. Sadly poaching still happens. But thankfully we did not find evidence of any animals being poached during my stay; empty snare traps were found and confiscated however. Craig kept apologizing to us for the no-shows but at the end of the trip I counted sightings of close to 20 different types of animals not including all the beautiful birds in the reserve. One must keep in mind that this is the wild and not some zoo after all. The weather was unseasonably cool and windy and as Craig explained to us, animals don’t like to move around too much when the wind is blowing because it is more difficult to detect predators.
Before coming to South Africa I made a “must do” list that included going on a safari and my stay at Paradise Camp surpassed my expectations. It awakened the hidden conservationist in me. I hope to return in the next two years and this time I’m not leaving without seeing some lions and hippos.
