A South Africa safari is on most wishlists, while a five-star South Africa safari is the kind of experience that only your wildest dreams are made of, writes Stephanie Holmes
I arrive at Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, a luxury lodge two hours’ drive southeast of South Africa’s stunning coastal city, Cape Town, after more than 30 hours of travelling. The mammoth journey has left me feeling zombie-like, so I’m sure I can be forgiven for paying no attention to the bush surrounding this stunning property perched on a hill overlooking the coast.
First impressions are, quite fairly, hogged by the astonishing view from the lodge’s deck, where I sit – still long-haul unwashed – sipping on a welcome mocktail in the fresh air and winter sun. A 180-degree panorama of Walker Bay and, further beyond, the South Atlantic Ocean, stretches before me. Luxurious sofas and loungers surround a shimmering infinity pool, while inside the lodge, expansive windows and cosy nooks mean those views are always in sight.
This luxury is reason enough to visit, but there are other, greater reasons too. Here’s what to discover on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure at Grootbos Private Nature Reserve.
Grootbos’ surrounds are home to a rare and delicate landscape, where birdwatchers and botanists can be immersed in nature and breathe fresh, fragrant floral air.
The lodge is situated on 3500ha of milkwood forest and fynbos plains in South Africa’s Cape Floral Kingdom. This is the smallest of the world’s six floral kingdoms and the only one found entirely within one country. It’s home to astounding biodiversity – more than 9500 plant species are found within the CPK, 70 per cent of which can be found nowhere else on Earth.
The CPK stretches from the Eastern to the Western Cape of South Africa, so Grootbos and its surrounding fynbos plains and milkwood forest make up just a small part of it. But even so, there are more than 900 species of plants found here, as well as 118 bird species, 29 mammal species and 21 species of amphibians – some of which are under threat of extinction.
Grootbos is on 3500ha of milkwood forest and fynbos plains in South Africa's Cape Floral Kingdom. Photo / Grootbos Private Nature Reserve
In generations past, this land had been cleared for use as a tobacco farm and cattle fields but, after devastating wildfires, the owners sold in 1991 to the Lutzeyer family, who remain the owners. In 1996, the family decided to start a modest B&B, but over time their interests have evolved - the site now boasts two lodges, luxury villas, an art gallery and a charitable foundation.
The land is protected as part of the Walker Bay Fynbos Conservancy - an organisation working to conserve an area of the Cape Floral Kingdom spanning more than 20,000ha. It’s estimated that 11 per cent of the CPK’s species are found here.
I get to explore the unique environment on a flower safari with my fantastic Grootbos guide, Bongani, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of plants, insects and birds.
Guests can enjoy a variety of excursions such as flower safaris, marine and coastal safaris, horse riding, scenic flights, and more. Photo / Grootbos Private Nature Reserve
We drive the property in an open-sided 10-seater 4-wheel-drive safari vehicle, with cosy blankets for when the sun drops, and a bottle of wine in Bongani’s chiller bag for sundowners overlooking the vista.
He stops often and nimbly hops out of the jeep, to point out a flower or plant or bird of interest, most of them delightfully unfamiliar, like the Southern Boubou Shrike, the Cape Grassbird, the bokmakierie shrike, the Yellow Bishop, and the Southern Double Collared Sunbird.
Grootbos Private Nature Reserve is home to over 900 plant species, many unique to the Cape Floral Kingdom. Photo / Grootbos Private Nature Reserve
The South African couple sharing the tour with me have come to Grootbos specifically for its birdwatching and botany experiences. They’re particularly excited about the variety of protea we see, like the limestone sugar bush, which has a sweet liquid inside the plant. Hang it upside down and use it to sweeten your coffee, Bongani tells me, just one of many secrets of nature he shares as part of our tour.
For a deeper understanding of this magical natural world, the lodge is also home to a botanical art gallery – the Grootbos Florilegium, where hundreds of intricate botanical artworks by local and international artists beautifully capture the diversity just outside the door.
Luxurious lodgings
For your stay at Grootbos, choose between one of 11 suites at the family-friendly Garden Lodge, or one of 16 suites at adults-only Forest Lodge. Or truly push the boat out and hire one of two private villas, where you’ll have your own swimming pool, cinema room, wine cellar and gym, private chef, butler and nature guides, and you can arrive by small plane or helicopter on your dedicated landing strip.
I am staying at Forest Lodge where I get a secluded standalone villa nestled in the bush, complete with comfortable lounge and woodburner fireplace; two bathrooms – one of which has huge picture windows looking out to the ocean; a luxurious bedroom; and large deck with outdoor shower and sun loungers.
Every detail is meticulously planned - like the botanic print artworks of local flora (available to buy at the Florilegium), fully stocked minibar with Nespresso machine, teas and cookies, and a fresh lemon for evening G&Ts. The turn-down service here not only includes lights being dimmed and water left by the bed, but also your fireplace being lit so you come home from dinner to the smell of woodsmoke and a cosy warm suite. In short, it’s the kind of place that as soon as you arrive you feel sad that you’ll ever have to leave.
Guests can stay in private villas with their own pool, cinema room, wine cellar, and personal staff. Photo / Grootbos Private Nature Reserve
Fine dining, affordable drinking
One of the best things about a stay at Grootbos is the fact all food is included in your room rate, from elaborate breakfast buffets and hearty a-la-carte options, to healthy three-course lunches, to five-course dinners.
Head chef Ben Conradie and team provide the kind of food you’d find at the best fine-dining restaurants, and portions are hearty so you’ll never feel hungry. Much of the produce is grown on the property at the on-site organic farm, or otherwise sourced from as close by as possible. And much is also handmade, from pastas to sauces to bread and patisserie.
Even the still and sparkling water is bottled on-site. It comes from a sandstone aquifer on the reserve and is bottled in recycled glass at a processing plant run by the local community – one of the initiatives of the Grootbos Foundation (see below).
Alcohol comes at an extra charge but another great thing about travelling to South Africa is the very favourable exchange rate for Kiwi travellers. I chose a glass of the most expensive sparkling wine on the menu and it cost only 95 rand – that’s about $8.
The deliciously sweet and fragrant fynbos honey also comes from the reserve, thanks to the endangered Erica Irregularis plant, which is found nowhere other than the Walker Bay Conservancy. It flowers once a year, to the delight of the endemic bees and local beekeeper, who harvests the honey and sells it back to the lodge. This is another Foundation initiative - ensuring employment and economic benefits are available to the local community who need it most.
All food is included in the room rate, featuring fine-dining options using locally sourced produce, including still and sparkling water bottled on-site. Photo / Grootbos Private Nature Reserve
Exciting excursions
Most New Zealand travellers will visit South Africa to go on safari. After spending time in Cape Town and Johannesburg, they’ll head off to the country’s interior in search of the Big Five – lions, rhino, giraffe, Cape buffalo and elephants. But what many don’t know is that there’s a second Big Five to find in SA – a marine big five, consisting of the great white shark, the southern right whale, the bottlenose dolphin, the Cape fur seal, and the African penguin.
Grootbos is the place to base yourself to spot them, with all five found in the surrounding waters.
Walker Bay is known for having some of the best land-based whale watching in the world, with southern rights gathering here between June and December to mate and calve their young. The bay is a protected marine sanctuary and only authorised boats can take to the waters between the peak breeding/calving months of July to November.
No matter, it’s easy enough to spot them from the coastal pathways of towns such as Hermanus and De Kelders, with the whales sometimes coming in as close as a few metres from the shore.
Other excursions include horse riding, marine and coastal safaris, scenic flights and river cruises, as well as many walking trails around the Grootbos property itself.
The Walker Bay area is renowned for its land-based whale watching, with southern right whales gathering between June and December. Photo / Grootbos Private Nature Reserve
Charitable futures
Spending time with Bongani, I notice on his hands “love” and “hate” tattooed on his knuckles. If this is a sign of a darker past, it’s the only clue - his gentle, caring nature and electric smiles are a calming joy to be around.
Bongani became a guide thanks to the Grootbos Foundation, a not-for-profit charitable organisation established in 2003, with the aim of creating sustainable and progressive tourism opportunities for the local community.
The foundation has education, conservation and sports programmes, all of which benefit scores of people who would otherwise not get the same chances in life. One example is the Alien Vegetation Management and Clearing scheme, in which teams of local unemployed women are trained and up-skilled then work in the Walker Bay Fynbos Conservancy to remove alien plants and help with the conservation and regeneration efforts. Sixty-one previously unemployed women are currently working in this project.
At the Foundation’s Green Futures College, 12 people from disadvantaged backgrounds are selected each year to go through a one-year training programme, where they study horticulture and conservation. They also learn essential life skills such as personal finance, business management, computer competency, driving and health education.
Explore coastal pathways in nearby towns like Hermanus and De Kelders, known for close encounters with marine life. Photo / Grootbos Private Nature Reserve
If they complete the course, they gain a nationally accreditated certificate in horticulture and a work placement, or can apply for a second year of study in field guiding.
More than 115 students have graduated since 2003, and more than 90 per cent of graduates have gone into employment.
Bongani is one of those graduates. He went through the programme in 2009, where he discovered his love for horticulture and botany. The foundation spotted his star potential and gave him a guiding job at the lodge; he has since passed two of the three levels of guiding qualification, and says the opportunity has changed his life.
Throughout their course, students work at the college’s on-site nursery learning to propagate fynbos plants and indigenous trees. Bongani puts this nursery experience into action on my last morning at Grootbos.
We drive to a patch of sapling trees where I will plant one for myself. The hole has already been dug for me - this is a luxury lodge experience after all - so I simply have to put my tiny milkwood tree into the earth and bed it in.
I get a certificate to take home with me, which lists the exact map coordinates of my specific tree so I can come back and visit it in future.
The Grootbos Foundation provides education and employment opportunities for the local community, including a Green Futures College for horticulture and conservation training. Photo / Grootbos Private Nature Reserve
The trees grow about 4cm per year, Bongani tells me, “so it will be many years before you can come back and have a picnic underneath”.
That’s true, but I take comfort in the fact milkwood trees can live for more than 1000 years, meaning I’ve played a small part in a better future for this very special place in the world.
Checklist
SOUTH AFRICA
GETTING THERE
Singapore Airlines flies from Auckland and Christchurch to Cape Town, via Singapore. singaporeair.com
