C Of Tranquillity

Chacma Bush Lodge in Limpopo keeps things cosy and calm

- Bruce Dennill

There are a number of ways to reach Chacma Bush Camp in the Maseke Balule Game Reserve, on the edge of the Kruger National Park near Phalaborwa. You can drive (though you’ll need something with a bit of oomph for the last section between the gate and the lodge); take a transfer from OR Tambo International Airport (where finding the bus terminal between the labyrinthine parking buildings is the first adventure of the trip); or you can fly into Phalaborwa with Airlink and progress from there.

Chacma is a small, compact camp at the base of a koppie, with a small watering hole – home to schools of fish and the bubble-bath foam nests of some frogs – in front of it, fringed by the lodge’s dining room and pool area. Alongside the pool is a small cleared area with a bonfire at its centre, ensuring an intimacy most venues in this sector can’t offer. With just three units, upgraded from self-catering to luxury chalets before the camp was relaunched last year, that familiarity is lovely, as it’s possible, with a little planning, to occupy the place with just a few friends or family. If you do that, the only other guests you may need to be worried about are whatever wanders in under the single-strand fence strung at elephant head level – the only barrier between you and the wilderness.