Make time for Ithala

Ithala Game Reserve is one of KwaZulu-Natal’s best-kept secrets, and the perfect place for a short, wild break.

- TOAST COETZER

The jolly, familiar chatter of a darkcapped bulbul from a nearby tree reminds me how relaxing it is to sit in a suburban garden full of birds. But then, further away, from the densely wooded valley below, I hear the call of a purple-crested turaco. And later, the babylike howl of a trumpeter hornbill. These aren’t garden birds – these are birds that tell you you’re in a wild, exotic place.

I took a late afternoon drive from Ntshondwe, the main rest camp at Ithala Game Reserve. Almost immediately out of the camp gate, I turned left onto a dirt track. The main entrance road from the nearby town of Louwsburg is tarred all the way to Ntshondwe, but within the reserve most roads are dirt, and some, like the Nghubu Loop I’m on now, are 4x4 tracks. But the first couple of hundred metres were easy to traverse and brought me to the Mgamgela viewpoint.

Ithala is richly blessed with viewpoints where you can get out of your car and sit on a bench or stand on a deck to observe the landscape. In fact, even though you’ll see enough wildlife on a game drive, this activity of just sitting and looking is one of the best things you can do in Ithala. It allows you to engage with nature in a quiet, unhurried way. Without the hum of your car’s engine and aircon, you can hear the birds and insects, smell the warm, green excess of summer and experience something of the texture of the landscape: stony ground, mossy tree trunks, prickly grass seeds.