The Nyalas Are Coming

On safari at a South African game resort, even at the spa, the wild animals rule.

The small plane lands on the private dirt airstrip of Royal Malewane Resort in the Thornybush Reserve close to South Africa’s Kruger National Park. Juan Pinto, the head ranger and Jonas, the tracker, are waiting in a Land Rover to escort me to the property. We haven’t driven more than a few feet when Juan points to a yellow-billed hornbill and says, “Look, Zuzu.”

“Zuzu?” I look at him blankly.

“The Lion King!” he grins.

We drive another few minutes and Jonas, riding on an open seat on the hood, points to the right. “The Nyalas are coming,” Juan says. Less than thirty feet away, a cluster of animals from the antelope family leaps across the bushveld. They are dark brown with large horns bent like an elbow and white on their rumps.

Just as I am getting over the shock of seeing real animals in the wild and not behind bars, we hear an elephant trumpeting, followed by what sounds like a tree falling. Juan drives us straight into the bush, then stops the car and turns off the engine. Almost directly in front of us is a mother elephant eating the bark off a huge tree. “She just took that tree down,” Juan says. Two of her babies eat the bark of a smaller tree and another baby suckles the mother. I feel like an ant, almost standing next to Earth’s largest land animal, and I am slightly afraid.

“Aren’t we awfully close?” I whisper.

“No, we only have to worry if she pins her ears back and charges us. Look!” Juan points to another elephant in the distance. I don’t see it at first because even though huge, the elephant blends in perfectly with the bush. “That’s a male,” Juan says. He eats 550 pounds of plant matter a day. Elephants are vegetarians.”

And all this happens before I’ve even arrived at Royal Malewane, a luxury resort which I have chosen for its privacy, luxury (they never have more than 6 people in the open-top Land Rovers), and of course, the wildlife. (While I am here, I will see all the Big Five: Lion, African elephant, Cape Buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros). The smiling staff greets me at the front entrance and escorts me to my suite, a luxury accommodation called Africa House with a four poster bed so soft I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get out of it, my own private infinity pool, a huge wraparound deck, and a stocked mini-bar (which they re-stock the second I take a bite of something). Nyalas

It’s been a long trip from New York City, and I am hoping to go for a run to fight jet lag, but as I reach for a piece of fruit, I see a letter:

Dear Margie,
Welcome to Royal Malewane.
As you will notice the lodge is situated within
the home range of Africa’s big game.
We ask that you remain within the confines of the camp
unless accompanied by a ranger or guard.

I am escorted back to the lodge for lunch al fresco above a large pond where three huge Nyalas have come to drink. When I move nearer to take a photo, the Nyalas leave. Soon, an entire family of warthogs, babies included, make their way to the pond. This is just too good! It’s almost as though the entire Lion King is going from animation to reality in front of my very eyes.

And it’s better every day. Each morning, Juan at the wheel and Jonas in the seat above the hood pick me up and we drive up and down the dirt roads looking for game. One day it’s a herd of giraffes stretching their long graceful necks to reach the foliage. Their tongues are a good 12 inches or more long. Another time, we come across a group of blunt-muzzled wildebeests, which the Europeans called gnous and which look truly prehistoric. One afternoon, we pull up to a water hole where it is silent except for a nearby hippo that breathes noisily as he comes up for air. And then, a baby hippo appears.

The wildlife doesn’t go away at night, either. When the sun goes down, we stop for “sundowners” (cocktails and h’or d’oeuvres). Juan sets up a bar on the hood of the Land Rover, and we watch the sunset and have drinks and snacks. It’s chilly when the sun sets, so Juan always hands me a hot water bottle and a fleece blanket to wrap myself up in. And as we head back to the resort, Jonas shines a spotlight from side to side, so we see animals looking at us, their eyes shining like luminescent orbs. I am used to being in charge, but here, it is the kingdom of the animals and we humans are but visitors.

One morning, we see a cheetah lying down on the side of the road, three little cubs at her side who don’t budge, even though they can hear us breathing. In the distance, I hear the song of the go away bird, so called because he seems to be saying, “Go away.” We see a herd of impala, and then find five white rhinos, and the rare endangered black rhino mama with a baby rhino at her side. It’s like being a kid finding Easter Eggs, and no matter how many animals we spot, my excitement never wanes. One morning, we stop just yards from two lions who have killed a baby giraffe and are eating it all, including the skin and bones. At first I am shocked and upset that a baby giraffe has been killed. But don’t the lions also have a right to live?

And, I continue to see animals, even when I don’t expect to. One day after lunch, I am in the spa, my eyes closed, dozing off during my soothing treatment. Suddenly Natale, the spa therapist says, “Oh my! It’s a Nyala.” I wake and open my eyes to see a male Nyala walking very slowly towards the window, its hair standing straight up on its back and its tail raised.

I sit up. “What’s he doing?”

“He sees his own reflection in the window, but he thinks it’s another male. That’s why he’s walking very slowly.” I stare at the Nyala. It can’t get better than this.

But it does. The next morning in the Land Cruiser, Jonas motions Juan to stop the vehicle. Jonas jumps off his seat and examines a footprint in the sand. It’s not even a full footprint it’s just one toe, but they know it’s a leopard. We drive slowly, and Juan points out a spot on the side of the road where the leopard has rested for the night. He gets out, inspects the rock, and then grins as he holds up one thin leopard hair between his fingers. “He rubbed his face against this rock, marking his territory,” Juan says. “Shall we go find him?”

Nyalas
For the next hour, we bounce and bump up and down the trails and in and out of the bush. It’s hot and dusty and I know we’ll never find the leopard. I’m thinking about a swim and Jacuzzi, but Juan keeps driving. I’m just about to ask to return to the resort when Juan slams on the brakes and points. “What? Where?” I see nothing. Juan points again. Now I see it a male leopard is walking silently in the bush, so close that I can count the spots. He is a huge and powerful animal, with long white whiskers and large amber-colored eyes. I can’t believe that we almost missed this because of my impatience. I take pictures, but I know the best photograph will be the one in my mind and the next time I get so impatient, I want to give up before the miracle, I’ll remember the leopard.