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“I am going to teach you three Xhosa words,” she says flashing a brilliant smile. “’Molo’ which means hallo, ‘uhambe kakuhle’ which means good bye and ‘enkosi’ which means thank you.”
I look at her, appreciative yet somewhat perplexed. “I know Sisi, I’m South African.” I smile and am rewarded with a hearty, approving guffaw. One of the greatest things about South Africa is the natural spiritual generosity of its peoples, one of which is aforementioned Zoleka who meets us with a drink at the gate as we enter the magical world of Abo Shamani Game Reserve on the Sunshine Coast in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The owner of this piece of paradise, Russel von Ruben and I continue driving to the Lodge through lush forests hidden away in majestic ravines and I half expect to hear Tarzan’s primordial cry dancing over the top of the trees. The next minute though savannah plains open up in front of us like a Serengeti scene from Out of Africa. The flora is incredibly stunningly diverse.
The Lodge itself is the epitome of rustic African ambience. It’s located on the river banks and the silence and tranquillity immediately makes itself at home in weary and jaded hearts and souls. The thatched chalets blend in with the bush perfectly and apparent care has been taken in the design in terms of respecting and reflecting the environment as well as creating a cosy, gorgeous interior – yet the most decadently eclectic Victorian bath I have ever bathed in!
Over the next couple of days I am treated to fine dining (the venison with pesto tagliatelly is an epicurean dream), great game drives (we came a cross an elephant heard with tiny babies and had to retreat very quickly when they became a tad agro) a tour around the beautiful sleepy hollow of Kenton-On-Sea and the awesome site of nine young lions feeding.
Russel took me to see these fascinating creatures in their breeding enclosure and I also met his “children”, two teenage cheetah brothers which he hand reared. They are cuddly and friendly, just like cats, yet they still have that beautiful wild instinct innate in all Africa’s animals. What he didn’t prepare me for, however, was a stealth female ostrich creeping up silently behind me. Never mind lion and cheetah, this strange madam made me jump sky high. Their was laughter – and not WITH me… | 
