Less is more…

One of the main reasons I went to South Africa was to see the rhinos. After the horrific disappointment of finding out almost all of them had been dehorned, I finally found what I was looking for at Simbavati River Lodge—a male rhino with its horn intact!

However, things didn’t start out quite so well. When I arrived, I told the manager who I was, but she just looked blankly at me and said she didn’t have a booking for a ‘Nick Dale’!

Oh, dear…

Apparently, there had been some confusion about my reservation. I’d been sent a link to pay for my stay, but then I noticed that I’d emailed the lodge back in 2018 about doing a barter deal—free accommodation in exchange for my pictures.

I asked the reservations team if I could delay payment while the marketing department decided what to do, but that meant I automatically lost my booking!

Fortunately, there was still an empty room available, so they managed to squeeze me in after all. They even gave me the heavily discounted ‘media rate’, which meant my three-night stay turned into a real bargain!

The Lodge

Simbavati River Lodge was located in Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, just north of Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve on the western edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa. I’d deliberately chosen to visit a private reserve so that I’d be able to drive off-road, and I thought I might see the fabled white lions

But why was it called Simbavati and not Timbavati? Did they mean different things? Were they different areas? I asked one of the guides, and he said it was just a pun on the word ‘simba’, the Swahili word for lion. Ah…

The lodge was nestled in a wooded area on the banks of a dried-up river bed. There was a waterhole just in front of the main area, and it was common to see waterbucks and elephants drinking from it.

The rooms were neat and tidy with everything you might expect, and there was even a swimming pool and a gym—although I’ve never had time to go swimming on any of my safari trips!

After dumping my bags, I had lunch on the deck and immediately bumped into the American family I’d met at Arathusa. It was sheer coincidence that we all happened to be there at the same time, but it was nice to see a few friendly faces. We even managed to eat together a couple of times—despite the segregationist dining policy!

Daily Routine

The routine was similar to all the other South African lodges:

• 0530 Wake-up call (compulsory!)

• 0545 Ring 1001 to ask for escort to main area for tea and coffee

• 0600-0900 Morning game drive with Clement and Daniel in their Land Rover

• 0900-1000 Breakfast on the deck (with freshly squeezed juice!)

• 1300-1400 Lunch on the deck, provided by my butler, Obedience

• 1500-1530 High tea in the bar (with a delicious chocolate torte and fresh lemonade)

• 1530-1830 Afternoon game drive with Clement and Daniel in their Land Rover

• 1900-2000 Dinner on the deck

The terms of my deal meant I had to take a few pictures of the lodge and do the same at Simbavati Hilltop Lodge and Mvubu Cottage just down the road. Simon drove me there on my second morning, and Bongi let me into a few of the rooms back at camp.

I finally got a road transfer to Kings Camp at 1130 on my final day, the 13th of June.

Wildlife Sightings

The highlight of my stay at Simbavati was seeing my first rhinoceros. It was a male white rhino, and it still had its horns. Hurrah! It was with a couple of dehorned females, but I ignored them…

Given the thick undergrowth, it was tricky to get a clean shot of my subject, so I had to be a little inventive, shall we say. My pictures looked a bit fake to me, but it was the best I could do…

We saw the same rhinos a couple of times during my stay, plus another family group. We also came across the western pride of lions feeding on an impala after sunset and again the following morning.

However, Big Five sightings were few and far between, so Clement had to kill time by telling us all about the mopane tree and ‘Pocahontas’ grass, which spun in his fingers when he licked the ‘tail’. (I may have got the name slightly wrong…!)

There weren’t even many birds flying around, and I saw almost as many species of animals (16) as birds (21) during my stay—which was very unusual.

Verdict

It was great to see my first South African rhino with its horn intact, and it was equally good to see my American friends again. I even had the chance to down a Lagavulin with the boys at the bar on my opening night.

There were a few little problems during my stay, such as the compulsory wake-up call, the air conditioning not working and someone putting the phone down on me—twice!

However, the staff were always keen to help. Someone sewed up, washed and pressed my shirt when I accidentally ripped the arm, and Alison even juiced some apples specially for me before my morning game drive.

The only problem was the lack of wildlife sightings. These things happen, though, and you can’t let it bother you. Mother Nature gives what she gives. There’s no arguing with her…

Fortunately, that was all about to change at Kings Camp…

Species

Animals

African bush elephant 

Chacma baboon 

Common waterbuck 

Greater kudu

Hippo

Impala

Leopard 

Lion

Nile crocodile 

Nyala

Plains zebra 

Scrub hare

Southern giraffe 

Spotted hyena

Steenbok

White rhino

Birds

African darter

African fish eagle 

African wagtail

African wattled lapwing 

Black-collared barbet

Blacksmith lapwing

Brown-hooded kingfisher 

Crested francolin 

Dark chanting goshawk 

Egyptian goose 

Fork-tailed drongo

Grey go-away-bird

Grey heron

Helmeted guineafowl 

Pied kingfisher 

Red-billed spurfowl

Red-cheeked cordon-bleu 

Red-crested korhaan

Ring-necked dove

Southern red-billed hornbill

Yellow-billed stork 

If you’d like to order a framed print of one of my wildlife photographs, please visit the Prints page.

If you’d like to book a lesson or order an online photography course, please visit my Lessons and Courses pages.