I have been going on safari in Africa every year for 15 years, yet it was at Samara Private Game Reserve, in the middle of nowhere in the Graaff-Reinet Karoo, that I found two elements of a safari that had so far eluded me; a yoga mat and an aardvark.
A strange duo I agree, but a pairing that makes Samara a special safari venue in the absence of Africa’s really big game….. I regretted that line as soon as I wrote it, because it shows what a spoilt safari tart I have become!
You don’t find anything taller than giraffe, any stronger than rhino, any faster than cheetah, or any meaner than buffalo and Samara has them all, as well as antelopes and of course aardvark (which I will speak more of later).
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Brothers Safaris offers African safaris with a difference. Dr Peter Brothers is an African wildlife Vet and Registered Tourist Guide, who allows you the rare opportunity to enter his world.
His next safari immobilizes lions to monitor and treat them in the Amakhala Game Reserve, near Port Elizabeth. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime hands-on experience with lions that very few people are privileged to encounter. He involves you in the procedures carried out while the lion is
immobilized, like blood sampling or collaring. Or you can simply observe and monitor a wild lion while this giant pussy cat is fast asleep (hoping all the while that he doesn’t wake up)!
Amakhala Game Reserve have rhino (white + black), elephant, cheetah, buffalo, lion, giraffe, black wildebeest, zebra, tortoise and over 16 antelope species and this veterinary safari allows time for traditional game drives and learning more about African wildlife.
Dr William Fowlds - a wildlife veterinarian and the co-host of this veterinary safari - owns and runs Leeuwenbosch with this family, on the Amakhala Game Reserve. Accommodatin consists of the Country House & Shearers Lodge, one of which is your accommodation while on this 4-day African veterinary safari.
When: 7 – 10 December 2009
Where: Amakhala Game Reserve – approximately 40 minutes from Port Elizabeth Airport
Amakhala Game Reserve began in 1999 as a joint conservation venture and today has six independently owned lodges. All are owner managed by the descendants of the original families who arrived here with the British settlers of 1820.
Brothers run other veterinary safaris working with all sorts of African animals like elephant, cheetah, antelopes, etc, take a look at their website to find out more on www.brotherssafaris.com or email; info@brotherssafaris.com
As I galloped along the water’s edge of Oyster Bay Lodge’s own 3.5km beach, I couldn’t help letting out a “yeehaa”.
I was supposed to stay just one night at Oyster Bay Lodge, but arriving at dusk and leaving early morning on a media tour, just wasn’t enough. So, being a safari tart, I asked if they wouldn’t mind if I stayed another night. They thought I was a chancer, which I probably am, but a quick google search of yours truly showed that I am a real travel writer, and no novice. I’m so glad they agreed, because otherwise I would have missed my “yeehaa” and all the feelgood that is still running through my veins after a perfect beach ride. I would have also missed chatting to owner Hans Verstrate, who is a man that makes you search into your soul and question yourself.
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