Page 18 - IFV Issue 4 May 2023

Estate News

A MEMOIR OF A CITY GIRL

IN THE AFRICAN BUSH

BY NICOLA KILLOPS

s a South African, I am gifted getaway at a luxury lodge near There is something unmistakable and
fortunate to say that I have Phalaborwa. The luxury safari experience truly magnificent about the smell of
Aoften taken the African bush has always been on my bucket list, so we the African bush in the early morning.
for granted. Without too much effort, were thrilled to take her up on her offer. And when you wake up in an isolated
opportunities have come my way. A It was here that I realized what I was luxury tent, the silence is broken only
wedding invitation at a game lodge, missing. by the sound of the wild. I would spend
a family trip to the Kruger Park, a And yes, the luxurious tent with a my mornings sipping coffee, watching
weekend in the Pilanesberg – all on water hole view was exquisite, and the a mother warthog march her young to
my doorstep. And while I will never gourmet meals prepared by a skilled the waterhole for a quick drink before
get over the thrill of happening upon chef were delectable. But the little disappearing into the bush – somewhat
a herd of grazing elephants or a pride things made me fall in love with my resembling a remote-controlled car –
of lions feasting on their latest kill, country all over again. their tails upright like an aerial. I listened
I didn’t realize how much more the
African wild had to offer me. “If I have ever seen magic, it has been in Africa.”
Enter my mother-in-law and a JOHN HEMINGWAY

16 • Issue 4 2023 • The Villager