Back The Mak

Low-key luxury – there is such a thing – and animal pachyderm proximity in Hwange National Park.

- Bruce Dennill

The drive from the Makalolo airstrip to the camp that shares its name in the southern part of Hwange National Park follows the curve of an ancient, sandy riverbed, now a beautiful wide channel dotted with savannah woodland trees and shrubs scattered widely enough to allow for the easy spotting of game.

There are the elephants that will become constant companions for the duration of my stay, plus kori bustards stalking through the veld, a tawny eagle that’s calmly sipping water at the edge of a dam rather than soaring on a thermal and a handful of sable – a wonderful surprise to anyone starved of such a sight in South Africa. 

Little Makalolo Camp, when it becomes evident through the camouflage afforded by some taller trees, is surprisingly low-profile – you only become aware of the semi-circle of safari tents when you’re nearly on top of it. There are only six tents, with a central lounge and dining area, all facing an open area with a shallow waterhole at its centre. A progression of elephants stops by to drink there, a dozen or a score at a time, throughout the day, a reminder that you are on dirty-weekend intimacy terms with Nature and that your well-being depends on the locals’ largesse.

On the edge of the waterhole is a rough hide – nothing more than a circle of dry logs with roofed space for a couple of seats. Ranger and guide Charles Ndlovu tells me it’s called ‘the Logpile’ and is a feature that the other lodges in the reserve don’t have and one of the primary reasons Little Makalolo is special. I look again – it’s a deconstructed bonfire, surely? – and write it off as the practised patter of an enthusiastic employee.

Into the wood