What do you get when you add Pafuri Tented Camp, cold GnTs, an exhausted mom and daughter, and the wilds of northern Kruger? An unforgettable trip and all the inspiration you need to plan a getaway with your mom as soon as possible.
Dianne and Brigid Tipping-Woods enjoying sundowners overlooking Lanner Gorge. If you can concentrate on anything except the view, keep your eyes peeled for Peregrine falcons, the world’s fastest birds.
Written by Dianne Tipping-Woods
My mom Brigid and I have an incredible bond, but we spend much of our shared time taking care of work or life logistics. And lately, the logistics have been hectic – moving country, a robbery, life with Parkinson’s Disease, a new baby in the family, and the death of a beloved brother and uncle. In 40 years, we had never taken a mother-daughter trip together – until our stay at Pafuri Tented Camp.
We didn’t want an exhausting program. We wanted time for meaningful conversations and lots of naps. We needed a tranquil environment to relax and recharge. But also find fun and adventure. Here are some elements that combined at Pafuri Tented Camp to deliver all this and more. And convinced us to make a mother-daughter getaway an annual event.
Location
Pafuri Tented Camp’s river views are an ever-changing panorama. During our stay, there were buffalos, elephants, crocodiles, impalas and baboons by the river. And on our last morning, a Pel’s Fishing Owl was hunting in front of the main deck.
‘What do I like about guiding in Pafuri? Being here is the breath of my life,’ said guide Bernard “Baloyi” Stiglingh as we sat in a cathedral of fever trees not far from the banks of the mighty Limpopo River. Baloyi’s words filled the space around us as the trees filtered the evening light.
It was day two of our immersion in Kruger’s far north as guests of Pafuri Tented Camp. We weren’t the same exhausted people who’d arrived at the tented camp on the banks of the Levhuvhu, wondering what to expect from the Makuleke Concession, an area we’d never really explored.
We knew that its 26 500-hectares is an area where different habitats, histories, and cultures meet. And that it’s home to almost three-quarters of the Kruger’s bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile, and tree species. But now, we’d felt that breath of life Baloyi spoke about. And it was the answer to everything we wanted – quiet, novelty, adventure, and connection. A break from life. And life itself – abundant, diverse, and glorious.
Diversity
We stayed at Pafuri Tented Camp over the summer, when impala lambs were being born. Each season has it’s spectacle, and it’s the perfect place to slow down and enjoy the little things.
When we embarked on our first game drive with Baloyi, he asked us about our interests. ‘Everything,’ we’d replied, and he gave a knowing grin. It turns out he is also interested in everything – the animals we could encounter, the birds we could see, the plants we could find, and the stories and artefacts left by the people who had lived and fought and traded and died here.
Baloyi was barely out of camp before we stopped. ‘This is a cucumber bush (Thilacium Africanum),’ he said. The common plant is used in local treatments of bilharzia and venereal disease. I scribbled frantically in my notebook, intrigued by the large fever berry (Croton megalobotrys) used for fishing and to treat malaria, and how to make an apple-leaf (Philenoptera violacea) tincture that helps with toothache. We were soon so absorbed in the relentless abundance we’d thought about little else. And we discovered a common fascination for plants, in particular, and the stories around them.
Pafuri and the Makuleke concession is a bontanists paradise, with many plants, trees, and flowers occurring nowhere else in Kruger.
Baloyi had just pointed out a cucumber bush when he spotted a black-throated wattle eye – one of the area’s unique birds. Above the mopane, lilac-breasted rollers were rolling – our eyes were peeled for their racquet-tailed kin. Then we spotted a pair of bateleurs, having ticked off broad-billed rollers, green pigeons, gorgeous bush shrikes, and blue-cheeked bee-eaters. ‘I’m not a birder, but I can get into this,’ my mom said, binoculars pinned to her eyes.
Later when we stopped for coffee at a place called Mangala, Baloyi coached us on tracks – spurwing geese, warthogs, and water monitors. We watched a herd of buffalo move down to drink, and he gave my mom a small posy of wildflower and scented leaves. “The thing to remember about this area is how dynamic it is. Very little here has been permanent – not civilizations, not modern settlements, not even the fever trees that the area is so well known for – they grew on the flood plains, which were cleared for cultivation,” explained Baloyi. My mom and I exchanged glances, absorbing this much-needed dose of perspective. Tomorrow there would be new tracks in the sand.
Guiding
Duncan McKenzie and his Ecotraining students had just spotted a Temminck’s courser and generously shared their sighting with us.
Baloyi is quite typical of a certain kind of guide drawn to this area – we bumped into birding and botany legend Duncan McKenzie and renowned guide trainer Pieter Nel. Baloyi has studied the area and is fluent in Tsonga and flowers. Having guides who speak the language of the land is critical in an environment like this, where no detail is mundane or superfluous.
The lodge is full of similarly fascinating people, many born and raised just outside the concession’s boundaries. Pafuri Tented camp’s General Manager, Godfrey Baloyi, was one of the area’s first Makuleke guide, hired in 2003. He was one of the earliest to benefit from the Makuleke’s successful land claim in 1998 and their decision to maintain the land’s conservation status. His parents had been forcibly removed from the site in 1969 under South Africa’s racist apartheid policies.
“We are not at work. We host guests at our home. We are home, right here,” he said. My mom and I rarely discuss conservation, racism, history, and transformation. I loved listening to her engaging thoughtfully around the area’s past and seeing how broad and open her mind is as we made new friends.
Connection
Drives from Pafuri Tented Camp were invigorating. In a place like Pafuri, you can’t help but slow down, take it all in, and let nature fill you with joy.
While at Crooks Corner, where the Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers meet, Baloyi’s stories had us imagining gun runners and illegal ivory traders fleeing across either border at a moment’s notice. At the ruins of an old trader’s store, my mom shared that her father may have added stories around this legendary meeting point to the archive. My grandfather was working on the roads in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and used to cross over to drink amongst the winter thorns and ilala palms, picking up news and gossip along with cold beers. I hadn’t known my family had any connections to the area.
As we drove back to camp and lingered over dinner, I had lovely conversations with my mom and learned things about her and my grandfather I’d never known. My mom’s always loved stories – she’s a voracious reader – and I could see her as a young girl, waiting to hear my grandad’s stories from his travels around the country while working as a civil engineer. Learning more about my mom’s earlier life was a beautiful by-product of spending time together. Our bedtime chats in our two-bedroomed tent, conversations over meals, and our hours together on game drives and in the camp weren’t about the usual issues, distractions, and daily life stressors. They were about who we were as individuals and our stories of becoming.
Adventure
Pafuri has plenty of elephants, buffalos and leopards, but is equally well knowns for its birdlife, landscapes and flora.
Safari is always full of the promise of adventure. Although we tracked a lion one morning – one of the first spotted on the concession in years, here, the thrills come from more unconventional sources, like plants. We were on our way to Lanner Gorge, a famous but hard-to-reach viewpoint; the air was full of the complex smell of wild sage. “There’s a hint of a musth bull in there,” said Baloyi, who routinely engaged all our senses while out on drive. I’ve always known my mom is brilliant. Still, I’d never seen her basking in the glow of new experiences and information or sniffing the air for the scent of an elephant.
Then, there was the little scramble to the viewpoint over Lanner Gorge. It did nothing to prepare us for the view. The gorge is a staggering feat of natural engineering and awesome beauty. We were leaving the following day, but our three-night stay had gifted us a renewed sense of belonging. A sense that everything is interconnected. And a reminder that we’re connected too. As we stood there, reaching out and taking my mom’s hand was natural. We were present. Together. Grateful.
About Pafuri Tented Camp
In 1969, the Makuleke people — who settled here from Mozambique in the 1820s — were forcibly evicted from the area by the apartheid government that wanted to expand the national park. In 1998 the Makuleke’s land claim to regain their rights was successful, and they chose to maintain its conservation status. They have partnered with RETURN Africa, which owns and runs Pafuri Tented Camp, an exclusive use bush house Baobab Hill House and seasonal walking trails, a guide training academy, and The Outpost Lodge — which pays fees to the community and employs many Makuleke people.
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