Idube Private Game Reserve, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Mpumalanga, South Africa

There is no fear of insects inside the chalets as beds are draped with mosquito nets and the doors have mosquito screens, enabling you to leave the doors open to hear the sounds of an African night. There is nothing quite like the low roar of a lion to remind you exactly where you are.

Idube has been described as ‘a little gem in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve’. Perhaps this is because it is a family-owned safari lodge, and with that comes the personal service and homely comforts that help create a special feeling of wellbeing.

One lovely touch that is unique to Idube, is a suspended walkway leading to a sunken hide next to the wall of Sadulu dam. Stay here quietly for a while and you may witness elephants splashing about in the water or lions come down to drink. But you do not even have to go that far to see animals at Idube.

Warthog and nyala have become so habituated to lodge life that they graze on the neatly trimmed lawn, while you eat a lunch of more exotic ingredients. Eating alfresco under the knobthorn and jackalberry trees is the preferred way to enjoy meals and, with an average daily climate of between 25°C and 30°C, most days are good for feasting in the open air.

Learning what is edible in the African bush is revealed during the morning nature walks. The guide is a member of the local Shangaan community and has grown up using natural, home-made remedies. He will tell you that chewing leadwood leaves is good for curing headaches, and that the leaves of jackalberry and sicklebush trees are good for healing wounds. He will also advise you never to cook meat over wood from the tamboti tree as its smoke is poisonous, but you can burn elephant dung without fear, as this keeps insects away.