You adjust your gloves and settle under your blanket, pleasantly surprised by the hot water bottle, breath leaves you in white puffs while you admire the ice crystal clad grasses and suspended, golden spider webs. It’s the frosty start to a winter’s morning safari, the anticipation and knowledge that the day gets better as it evolves is the reason winter safaris are so spectacular.
Fantastic Game Viewing
The frost and lack of rain has seen to it that the lush, green grasses of summer have died back, now the landscape is covered in short, blond savannas. Perfect for better visuals over longer distances. The vegetation cover the big cats usually rely on for camouflage is more sparce and so it is easier to spot and photograph the lions and leopards or capture a glimpse of a distant cheetah or rare African Wild Cat.
It is also the large herbivores that are driven by a constant need for water that are easily found. As the smaller puddles and mud wallows dry up the elephants and buffalo are almost guaranteed to be found quenching their thirst at the larger waterholes and dams. These oasis’s boast the most incredible game viewing, while sipping your morning hot Amarula coffee you can be fortunate enough to spot a huge variety of animals and birds.
Endless Sunsets
The days may end earlier and with a far more powerful chill in the air, but the winter skies continue to burn red and pink forever, it seems. Once the sun has dipped below the horizon the sky seems to take on a life of its own, as it shifts colours and beams of light leaving guests gasping at its magnificence.
As the sunset orangeness slowly turn to inky blue so the magnificence of the winter night’s stars and milk way appear. With the Scorpio constellation ruling the sky the stars at this time of year are truly spectacular, winter is also the optimal month for viewing shooting stars and meteorite showers.
Fireside Feasts
Blazing fires and warm towels welcome you when returning to camp from your evening safari. Standing around the open fires before dinner, mesmerized by the licking flames and glowing embers while enjoying nature’s most primitive heat. From the start of time, we have told stories around fires, and this is the perfect place to share the safari tales from the day.
Finally, the winter’s day draws to a close after one of Chef Ryan ‘and his culinary team’s decadent meals. Staying true to Tanda Tula’s connectedness this feast would have been enjoyed around a table with new friends, laughing, sharing meals and stories and waiting in wonder for what the next day holds.
