The Perfect Escape for the Entire Family, Ulubisi House at Gondwana Game Reserve Is a Hidden Treasure for Those in Search of a Luxury Safari Experience in the Western Cape
Field guide Eugene Jansen van Rensburg crouches down and hands my daughter Charlotte (who is four) a perfect ball of poo. She promptly puts it in her pocket as ‘treasure’, then about five seconds later, it’s back out of the pocket and on the ground as apparently it’s messing with exoskeletons and feathers, more precious finds. We’re on a walk around a 1 000ha protected area that’s part of the 11 000ha Gondwana Game Reserve, located on the Garden Route just 30 minutes inland from Mossel Bay.
Gondwana is home to the Big Five, but the section we’re walking through is a fenced-off breeding ground for bontebok, Cape mountain zebra and sable. There is, however, a cheetah on the loose here that has eluded the rangers and refuses to be caged in. We don’t see it, but Eugene, a passionate eco-warrior, chats us through the devastating decline of the wild cat.
Charlotte is a bit too young to be interested in this, though. She knows cheetah run very fast, but they’re not immediately present and therefore, are removed. She’s far more fascinated by the almost 2m-high termite mounds, thriving mini-cities that are connected through intricate underground passageways.
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