Tracking wildlife a thrill on South African safari

The first thing people often want to know when the topic of traveling to South Africa comes up is, “How long is the flight?”

The flight from Chicago to Johannesburg can take anywhere from 21 hours to 30 hours, depending on the airline and the number of stops.

Is it worth it? Without question.

To travel through South Africa is to travel to another world. It is a world where huge rocky mountains form a backdrop to spectacular beaches; where rolling vineyards serve up sophisticated wine and elegant food; and where penguins nest by the shore, baboons wander the roadways and a fog can descend on Table Mountain like a cloth one minute, and lift the next.

For us, traveling to South Africa was really like two trips. The first half was spent in Cape Town, hiking Table Mountain, visiting the Cape of Good Hope, Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned), meandering through the Winelands, and touring the townships where blacks were exiled during the height of apartheid.

Beautiful and exciting as Cape Town is, it was the second week, on safari, that made this an unforgettable adventure.

Nottens Bush Camp, located in the Sabi Sand Reserve, part of the largest conservation area in South Africa, is a small, family-owned and operated game reserve on the edge of Kruger National Park.

The Nottens compound is an oasis in the bush. At any given time, Nottens can host up to 20 guests, accommodated in beautiful rooms that lack for nothing, unless you happen to be an electricity junkie. While we had heard there was no electricity in the rooms, this was a slight exaggeration. Each room has one outlet — ideal for charging camera batteries, and ceiling fans. That's it. No telephones, no televisions, no air conditioning, no electric lights.

At Nottens, guests are treated like visiting friends. Upon arrival, one of the staff greets the new guests who are ushered to a veranda in the summer house overlooking the bush, where impala graze. While you sit sipping a cool drink, waiting to be shown to your room, small monkeys hover, hoping for a snack.

A typical day on safari at Nottens follows a simple schedule. A knock on your door at 5 a.m. rouses you for the first of two daily game drives. Coffee and tea are served in the summer house and from there the group heads out for three hours of tracking animals in a tricked out Range Rover. Each Rover holds seven to eight people, along with a ranger and a tracker.

Our ranger was Joe Mathebula, a veteran who has worked at Nottens for 30 years. His father was there before him and his daughter and sisters all work at the camp. Mathebula was our ranger, teacher and friend for the entire visit, along with two trackers Gideon Mkhonto and Riden Mdhluli who traded off the rides.

The Range Rovers head out with eager riders equipped with binoculars and cameras. Within just a few moments on our first ride, we came upon a herd of about 10 elephants, including three babies. At each animal sighting, Mathebula stops to let his guests take in the sights and sounds of the animals and to take dozens of pictures. The animals, he explained, are not frightened by the trucks, because they have become used to them and know they are harmless. There is, however, a strict rule against leaving the truck without permission or even standing up in the truck.

During a three-hour game drive, sightings of impalas, wildebeests, waterbucks and warthogs are common. With our experienced rangers and trackers, we also were able to get close to all of the Big Five — so-called because the animals at one time were the five most dangerous to hunt. They are the leopard, lion, rhinoceros, water buffalo and elephant. On our excursions, we also came across a hippo, zebras and giraffes.

Nottens has an agreement with a neighboring camp to allow reciprocal use of their land. This also means the rangers radio each other when they are tracking a particular animal, usually some type of big cat. It is when cats are being tracked that the excitement truly begins, with Range Rovers careening off-road, through the bush, following paw prints and discovering a leopard as it hunts its prey.

After the morning game drive, guests return to the camp where a huge breakfast awaits. Then, the day is open. Some guests spend the day at the pool, others venture out on a two-hour bush walk with Mathebula to learn more about the plants and small animals that live in the bush, still others might head to Kruger to golf with warthogs, or enjoy a message or facial in the small spa at Nottens.

A few fortunate guests might be able to wrangle an invitation to the home of Dale and Nicky Goldschmidt, Nottens cousins who help manage the camp. Guests there are introduced to their 7-year-old daughter Caitlin and her pet bush baby — a tiny domesticated member of the monkey family who enjoys vanilla yogurt and cookies.

At 3:30 p.m., high tea is served in the summer house. The food is plentiful and good, with lots of fresh vegetables, salads and usually a delicious pie of some sort — perhaps curried vegetable in a phyllo crust or a chicken pie, along with huge loaves of fresh-baked bread.

Then comes the evening game drive. As the sun begins to go down, the animals come back out from their day of avoiding the heat. They roam the water holes and graze by the sides of the road. With the sun setting, the rangers stop the truck and everyone gets out to enjoy cocktails and snacks while Mathebula tells more stories about the animals he has seen and the adventures he has had.

The trips into the bush become an odd sort of routine, but the excitement of coming around a bend and seeing three giraffes standing in the middle of the road never dims.

After returning from the evening drive, guests are invited to a communal table where the nightly dinner party takes place. Always hosted by one member of the Nottens family, either Dale or Nicky Goldschmidt, or David Notten, the dinners are an opportunity to get to know the other guests who have come from all over the world.

Over delicious dinners that might include steaks cooked on the grill, beef stroganoff or roast chicken, guests share the list of animals they saw that day and the stories of their lives. As guests come and go, email addresses are exchanged and promises of Nottens reunions are made.

And as a day at Nottens ends, and you turn down the kerosene lamp by your bedside, the only sounds to be heard are the cries of the hyenas or the clatter of monkey feet on the roof of your room as you drift asleep.

If you go

<b>Nottens facts:</b>

• Private safari lodge in the Sabi Sand Reserve

• Seven rooms

• Two daily game drives

• Walking safaris

• Golf trips

• Nature apa

• All meals, game drives, bush walks and accommodations included in daily price.

• Rate is $380 to $465 per person per day

<b>Preparation: </b>Typhoid, hepatitis B and tetanus vaccinations are all recommended for travel to the Kruger area. Yellow fever vaccination is not required. Malaria pills also recommended.

<b>Getting there: </b>From Cape Town, South Africa, there are flights to Johannesburg and then on to Nelspruit. The lodge will arrange airport pickup and drop off for an extra fee. The car trip from Nelspruit to Nottens takes about two hours. Private companies also provide transportation.

<b>Information:</b> nottens.co.za/, email nottens@iafrica.com