Enter the world of Welgevonden

Welgevonden in the Waterberg Biosphere, just 3 hours outside Johannesburg, has been shaped by hundreds of millions of years of riverine erosion. The area has a special quality even to the untrained eye. Pristine dry deciduous forests cover rolling hillsides as far as the eye can see, so that eventually the hillsides collaborate to form a series of monochrome sea blue waves that stretch and soften towards the distant horizon. It is not hard to imagine that here wildlife has been allowed to thrive undisturbed by the interference of man for a very long time. What is surprising is that such unspoiled abundance exists so close to Gauteng.

View a Welgevonden gallery here.

The folks at Welgevonden, a 36 000 hectare Game Reserve in southern Limpopo, have found the trick to both conserving the unique biodiversity, and offering a game viewing experience par excellence. For starters, visitors are expected to leave their vehicles at the gate, which means driving within the reserve is reduced to a minimum. Vehicles that are permitted are few and far between and are, without exception, a non-invasive British racing green.

Image by Nick van der Leek

A young guide called Brett met us at the gate, and a few beers later, we were winding our way through sandstone formations that were once the home of the Bushmen. Only a few minutes into the drive we saw an Eland. Moments later a huge white-chested bird broke out of the bush canopy nearby, which Brett identified as Africa's largest eagle. The Marshall Eagle, we learned, has had its conservation status uplisted recently to ‘near threatened'. From there the road lifted us onto a saddle affording stunning views of the Waterberg.

Whilst driving through the yellow flames of autumn, between silver-leafs and Pierneef's iconic mountain seringas, it is easy to see why so many animals make this beautiful place their home. The same natural beauty applies to our ancestors making this their hunting grounds for millennia, something they paint over and over on the surrounding red rocks. It turns out that our ancestors were here going back much further than the Bushmen.

Three-million-year-old skeletons of Australopithecus africanus and Homo erectus have been found in the area, particularly around Makapansgat. And it is evident that the Waterberg is the apex of geological events that once shaped the world. The Igneous base of the Waterberg collided with the Supercontinent Gondwana, splitting it into the modern continents. The fact that an area of such significance survives today in such pristine condition is exceptional.

Image by Nick van der Leek

An amusing but true story surrounds the arrival of Dutch settlers, who were hellbent on discovering Jerusalem. Having started their journey in Cape Town, by the time they reached the Waterberg they believed they'd found Egypt and the source of the Nile [hence the nomenclature of the local settlement, Nylstroom]. Perhaps they were bewitched by the paradise they found themselves in, and started losing track of reality.

During our drive to our Lodge, we saw giraffe, impala, baboons, zebra, waterbuck and rhinoceros. Brett stopped on numerous occasions to explain spoor and vegetation. At one point he stopped to pick up the only litter we saw on the entire trip - a discarded bottle of Savannah.

Interestingly the grasslands have very large Fig trees dotted about, which one can't help associating with ‘Hometree' in AVATAR. In fact the AVATAR allusion fits when you consider the incredible diversity of animals, not only all of the Big Five [we saw lions and rhino], but also the Small Five [an ant lion] and the Ugly Five [we saw warthogs and wildebeest].

The highlight of our trip was undoubtedly on an early morning game drive with Jacques, from the Makweti Lodge. We heard cackling monkeys and shortly afterward a cheetah emerged, walked nonchalantly through the grass, then slumped on an open patch of red Earth. Soon after the cheetah wandered onto the road and lay there watching us for several minutes.

But it wasn't only the Cheetah sightings, or the lions that made the trip memorable. Thanks to the expert-knowledge of the guides at Welgevonden, you might get to hear a cackling mafazi [Arrow-marked babbler], or find out the traditional use of the blinkblaar wag-‘n- bietjie [Buffalo Thorn] or meet apex predators like - the Nile Crocodile.

Some of our most fascinating experiences in Welgevonden were at night - the discovery of a giant sand cricket [which sounds like a wind-up car when threatened] and an eagle owl standing in the road, blinking at us.

Image by Nick van der Leek

There is always something special about areas where our early ancestors are known to have lived, especially when these areas remain intact. Most extraordinary places these days are usually so far from human habitation that they're difficult and expensive to visit. Welgevonden [literally ‘place found to be good'] is one of those rare places that its guardians have preserved. It has to be said: it is a place worth preserving, and a place worth being in.

Since the area is forested, autumn offers beautiful colors while the advantage of a winter visit means there is less opportunity for the animals to hide. During this time the warm days are bright and clear, nights - especially during June, July and August - are cold. It's important to note that this is a private game reserve, thus only those who have made prior bookings can enter the reserve.

Welgevonden has 10 luxury lodges that are cleverly integrated into the surrounding landscape - and insodoing they provide a wonderful opportunity for visitors to leave their troubles behind and enter the world anew.

For more information visit http://www.welgevonden.org/