A road trip to leopard land and bushveld luxury

There was only person for the job of riding shotgun. My bestie.

Before the trip, I mapped out stops, playlists featuring the three holy divas: Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston and also brought some snacks to get through the five and half hour drive to Jock Safari Lodge in Kruger National Park. And, made sure the phone was charged and connected to the Bluetooth so we did not get lost.

All road trip protocol observed.

We hit the road early and what I imagined would be a long and winding road was actually the quickest few hours ever. And trust me, it has nothing to do with my Fiat 500 X either. It is cute, yes, but doesn’t go very fast. Shame.

No holy divas needed. But good banter flowed, laughing, snacking, taking photos – what a real road trip is about. The conversation spanned relationships and its complexities, stories about our childhood, traumas, celebrity couples, goals, hopes and dreams with a side of “wow, South Africa really is beautiful” thrown in at least once every 45 minutes as we enjoyed the valleys, peaks, farmlands, rondavels and sprawling acres of green grass. Oh, I missed this.

We arrived at the Malelane gate to Kruger National Park but not before spotting seven massive crocodiles in the Crocodile River. Man, you have to love South Africa! Once all Covid protocol was observed when entering Kruger, we drove for another 30kms to Jock Safari Lodge which was founded in 1982 by the Niven family, descendants of the author Sir Percy FitzPatrick. It is named after his popular book, Jock of the Bushveld, the famous story of the canine hero Jock’s courage and loyalty, set during South Africa’s first gold rush era.

And, while I could not wait to get out there and be one with nature, I couldn’t help but be taken aback by my gorgeous digs…

After a complete revamp in 2018, the décor of Jock Safari Lodge pays homage to vintage style travel. At the main lodge, lounge and dining areas spill outdoors onto wooden decks with a heated swimming pool and sun loungers.

This would be where we would meet for our daily game drives.

The lodge, which can host a total of 30 guests, is the ideal getaway during Covid times and the rooms are an ode to pure luxe. The main lodge at Jock has 12 suites, sleeping 24 guests. In a separate camp, family-friendly Fitzpatrick’s Lodge has three suites, sleeping six guests.

Rooms are equipped with their own jacuzzies, day beds that overlook the rich African vastness, an outdoor shower and bath and rooms are dotted with accents of leather and dark woods. Jock is tucked away in the southwestern corner of the Kruger National Park. Here 6 000 hectares of exclusive traversing rights provide excellent Big Five game viewing.

This, made possible by Micah, our game ranger, who was on a mission and had no time to waste.

A quick freshen up and we hit the game driving at 4pm. “See the track marks? Leopard. A pair,” said Micah.

Now, it is true that leopards are hard to spot in the great outdoors.

They are stealthy, their spotted coats blend in well in the African bush and they cunningly camouflage in trees. As we drove through the savannah and stopped for refreshments as the sun set and turned the sky all kinds of orange and pink and the night sky was lit up with stars, I tried to enjoy the moment and consoled myself that there would be no leopard for us that day and probably for the rest of the trip.

Next morning up and early out to bush we went again. Again, leopard tracks, this time fresh ones. It was like it was teasing us.

In the meantime, we focused on the other animals, gorgeous elephants, giraffes who always make me happy because they look so friendly and – what luck! – a pride of lions and their cubs perched on the most beautifully formed rocks, as if picked right out of The Lion King.

Lions are not easy to spot but I have been lucky to see them on many trips to Kruger and other parks. It doesn’t get tired.

Still with thoughts of a leopard on my mind, we headed back to Jock to enjoy a delightful breakfast by the pool. Bestie and I spent the rest of the day enjoying the jacuzzi and day bed and watching as monkeys swung from one tree to another.

The heat rose to a fiery 37°C and at precisely 4pm, after tea, we went back for game drive number three and I thought there’s no way we would spot a leopard in this sweltering heat. And just as I was about to give up, my bestie goes “leopard!” in a somewhat hushed scream of delight.

And there right next to our vehicle a leopard is casually strolling along as if shopping in Pick n Pay.

We stopped and watched this gorgeous green-eyed cat for a good 30 minutes. All of a sudden, the heat didn’t matter to me.

It laid in the grass about 10m away, moving around, breathing heavily and then got up walked in front of the vehicle and then walked across and then walked back to where it came from and just disappeared into the wilderness.

As it became further entwined in the grassy area, it gives out a grunting roar so loud I felt it in my chest. “It’s looking for its boyfriend,” quipped Michah.

As we stopped for sundowners in the wild, Micah regaled us with moving accounts of becoming a ranger, most notably that his father was a ranger too and that it inspired him to follow in his footsteps.

He then went on to explain that the moon, in Shangaan culture, depending on its direction, could signify rain. He said: “It will rain tonight.” And my goodness did we have a storm that night.

As we headed back to Joburg the next day with bestie driving, we agreed it had been a wonderful getaway and that we were proud we didn’t get lost only about an hour later to take a wrong turn and cross over some train tracks seconds before a train came whizzing by honking.

We made it home safe enough but not before first ending up in a dodgy part of town. Everlasting memories.

• Trip details: Jock Safari Lodge; Reservations: 013-010-0019