Into the Wild: The South African Safari That Rewrote My Idea of Thrill

My perfect holiday? Always some variation on this: good food, good weather, beautiful interiors, sun-drenched lounging near water, and local architecture to explore. When it comes to vacations, I’ve never been a thrill-seeker: I don’t ski (tried that once, didn’t go well), I’m not a big fan of watersports (chalk that down to poor eyesight and even poorer balance), I don’t seek out a plane jump, bungee jump or any other activity that involves a harness.

A safari had always been on my to-do list, in an eventual kind of way—maybe I would have made it my honeymoon destination, or something to celebrate a big life marker. (Both of which, I can now confirm, are excellent reasons to go on safari). But, I had no expectation of what safari would actually be like, I had no idea just how thrilling it would be to track predators on the hunt, how entirely spectacular animals in the true wild were, and how incredibly humbling it is to realise that the world is so much bigger than you in your head.

What I soon learnt from my time with andBeyond—whose portfolio now spans three continents with over 29 lodges and camps—is that they are masterful in making memories and showing you the magic of our natural world.

The Destination

andBeyond’s Ngala Tented Camp is where I headed in search of my first safari experience. It’s located on a private game reserve that straddles the Timbavati River and borders Kruger National Park. What this means: while wildlife roam freely between Kruger and Ngala’s private reserve, outside vehicles cannot. No queues, no traffic, just uninterrupted wilderness. In short, you’ve got the place to yourself - no bustling with other cars and safari-goers to get up close and personal with Africa’s animals. More than 36,000 acres to traverse just for andBeyond guests.

I travelled from London to Johannesburg, and from there took a charter plane about 1 hour directly onto Ngala air strip. The beauty of andBeyond is that they have the capacity to handle everything. You say the word “go” and the rest is taken care of - all your flights, all your transport, your accommodation, meals, and your game drives. After you check your luggage in on home turf, consider yourself free of responsibility and completely looked after.

The Accommodation

The andBeyond team greeted us at the Ngala airstrip, and as soon as we jumped into the safari vehicle for the ride to Tented Camp, the adventure began. I’d expected our safari vehicle to be a bare-bones beast—uncomfortable, jarring, possibly upright yoga. Instead: tiered reclining seats, cosy blankets, and a mobile bar stocked to cocktail-level standards. It was the most luxurious form of transport I’ve ever experienced.

Base camp—Ngala Tented camp—is made up of just nine tented suites, each sleeping two. The main lodge acts as a communal space, where you gather at the bar after each game drive to animatedly trade stories with fellow guests. Plus, there are plenty of beautifully designed spaces to unwind: indoors, outdoors, fireside, riverside—the latter of which forms the background where elephants, springbok and kudu roam.

Ngala Tented Camp has recently undergone a stunning refurbishment. Interiors curated by the renowned group Fox Brown are impeccably chic—soft neutrals, terracottas and warm browns. The result is warm and inviting, as if you had just stepped into the home of someone with disarmingly good taste. The thread of considered interiors is present at every turn at Ngala, presenting a feeling of accessible luxury.

There is no doubt that Ngala and its entire offering is a luxury experience, but not the kind that makes you feel out of place, or as if you are spending time in someone else’s world. While the luxury is tangible, it feels familiar, comfortable and for that reason I found myself bedding into Ngala life as it was the most excellent version of my own home.

Tented structures make up the accommodation at Ngala. Before my arrival, I had conjured images of actual tents in the wilderness, but the reality was much more plush. Permanent structures draped in canvas is a much more accurate description of your living quarters. But what lies inside the tent was so special, before I could stop myself, “Oh my god”, was pouring out of my mouth.

Inside, a king-size bed anchors the interior space, dressed in the same warm, chic palette as the main lodge. Each suite includes a dual-sink bathroom, a massive indoor shower, ample closet space, a sofa, a desk, and a generously stocked bar (complete with snacks).

Outside, each suite is secluded, with at least 100m between your tent and the next guest. The wraparound terrace invites meals al fresco. You’ll find an outdoor shower, a freestanding bath, and sometimes, a few curious baboons watching from a distance. Every element is grounded in place—from embroidered lion motifs to leather-and-wooden board games, all whispering of Africa.

The Food

The set up for breakfast, lunch and dinner is much like the game drives, never the same. But the consistently great food never wavers. Despite its remote setting, the food is impressively varied, delicious and tailored to your preferences—shared discreetly with the team before you arrive. Breakfast ranges from a traditional continental set up overlooking the Timbavati River, to cinnamon swirls next to the truck in the middle of a thicket of trees with sounds of nature as your backdrop. Dinner follows suit, and I learn quickly that the unpredictability of Ngala is what makes this trip so memorable.

Each meal is as special as the rest of your Ngala experience, whether that’s a surprise breakfast out on safari (with possibly the best shakshuka I’ve ever had), or a private dinner next to the pool and the not-too-distant sounds of a nearby elephant also enjoying his dinner, mealtime isn’t perfunctory, it’s a performance and I was all too eager to sit back, and watch it unfold every day.

The People

Much of Ngala’s charm lies in the people as much as it does in the animals. The Ngala team greet you not as guests, but as family returning home. It’s warm, familiar, but never intrusive. Adam and Ruel brought the experience of Ngala to life—their banter (most of it in their native tongue, Shangaan), their intuition with one another in seeking out the most interesting and exciting things for us to experience, their humour and their warmth made leaving them, and the rest of the Ngala team quite heartbreaking.

Beyond the borders of Ngala, the andBeyond world is built on three pillars: care of people, care of wildlife, care of land. We spent a day with the team at Wild Impact, an organisation that works in coalition with andBeyond. What we saw wasn’t just a company promising a percentage of their profits to support the local community, but genuine action taken to make a better life for people in South Africa. Through schooling, business mentorship, and a place where crafts can be sold, Wild Impact is striving for a better world and building the foundations to make that happen.

The Experience

Each day at Ngala unfolds differently, but is anchored by morning and evening game drives. Our morning began with coffee, delivered through a hatch so discreetly I barely had to lift my head from the pillow—the perfect fuel for a 5:30 am start. Evening game drives start around 5 pm (after a light afternoon tea bite), and conclude around 8:30-9 pm, but when the action comes in thick and fast and you’re on the chase, time escapes everyone.

There are few things I have seen in life that are more spectacular than an African sunrise and sunset, both of which are served up on a platter at Ngala. No drive is the same, as unpredictable as animals in the wild, but led by the guide and tracker duo who are in charge of your vehicle, you are in safe and educated hands. Our duo was, by all accounts, iconic. Guide and driver, Ruel and seasoned tracker, Adam, who has been on the property for 28 years and is one of only 11 master trackers in South Africa. He’s so skilled that he once located lions for us to see in pitch black darkness, just from the sound of a distant sneeze.

Forgive the cliché, but within 10 minutes of our first game drive, it was like something out of The Lion King. Herds of zebra, wildebeest and impala danced along the sun-drenched plains of Africa. Another turn on our track and elephants entered the frame, and then a pack of wild dogs (the rarest predator to see in the wild in Africa), followed swiftly by hyenas who grazed past our vehicle uninterested in us. As the first evening of adventure came to a close and the sun was dipping on the African plains, our first andBeyond surprise awaited us. In the time I had taken a few pictures of the nearby grazing wildebeests and zebra, Adam and Ruel had set up the perfect sundowners station: drinks, snacks, and iced cold beers. I didn’t have an expectation of safari, but day one and Ngala had superseded anything I could possibly imagine.

Each game drive brought something different and equally fascinating—whether that was watching Adam track the footprints of larger predators, or a face off with a bull elephant, a wild off-road ride to pursue a female leopard sighting, or see baby elephants and rhinos with their respective mothers. I have never been happier to wake up at 5 am knowing that anything could happen.

It is hard to put into words (even though we are currently at circa 2000 of them) just how special andBeyond Ngala Tented Camp was. Almost every hour of the day I audibly gasped at how magical it was. What really knocks you for six is the reckoning that the circle of life is very much real, and while you are surrounded by stunning luxury, brilliant food and epic people, there is a humbling quality to your time at andBeyond. Life, and all the little things we busy ourselves with worry over, just aren’t that deep. Not nearly as deep as the animals who live simply and instinctively, from one day to the next, to the people that care for them, and the world around us. Sometimes, you need a moment to step back—that moment for me was when tears filled my eyes as a huge herd of elephants crossed our path at the last few minutes of our last game drive—to be reminded how profoundly beautiful life can be.

andBeyond, you have me hooked.

• Starting rate: £1,025 pp per night To book: https://www.andbeyond.com/

Your holiday wardrobe