By Lindiz van Zilla
Cape Town - The first surprise after driving through the gate of the Gondwana Game Reserve near Mossel Bay was a lone zebra grazing in blissful serenity alongside the dirt road.
The second, and by far greater surprise, was the rolling valleys and hills which unfolded in the 11 000 hectare reserve.
Only minutes earlier we had turned off the N2 at the unsightly and sprawling Mossdustria complex, and it didn’t look promising.
But once past the Gondwana gateway, the stark, seemingly flat landscape magically melts away to reveal a glorious vista of rolling green fynbos.
“Utterly unimaginable,” I heard myself say for the umpteenth time.
Nine years ago Mark and Wendy Rutherfoord chose this land, then primarily used for cattle and sheep farming, and turned it into Gondwana – named after the southern supercontinent that existed about 120 million years ago.
Today it ranks among the finest destinations on the Garden Route.
It has been less than two years since the game reserve opened for business but the strides taken have been immense. One gets the sense from the Rutherfoords and the staff – despite the very obvious hard work that has gone into shaping this five-star retreat – that they can still barely believe how this project has taken shape and blossomed.
It boasts a big five gaming experience, a veritable floral kingdom and 300 species of birds.
Among its newest “additions”, and the reason our family drove 400km from Cape Town, was the launch of the reserve’s junior ranger programme.
A warm greeting was made even warmer when our kids, Madison, 6, and Lincoln, 3, were handed their junior ranger backpacks containing a special guide book and a kit to help them identify animals and plant life. That’s it, the kids were sold.
Well almost. Lincoln is besotted with lions and has recently taken to roaring splendidly at all and sundry at our home. This adventure would not be complete without a sighting of lion(s). But more on that later.
Across the reserve are small clusters of villas, built to blend seamlessly into the landscape. Each offers views and luxury of equal opulence.
The villas are privately owned but rented out by agreement with the owners. They come with every luxury but the stand-out feature is the use of natural materials like wooden stumps for seating and other furnishings. It all speaks to the Gondwana ethos of weaving nature into everything they do.
High tea was followed by an evening drive.
It’s chilly on an open-top Landie going 30km/h and though we were warmly dressed we were grateful for the blankets and ponchos on board.
Colin, our guide and ranger for most of the weekend was thoroughly engaging, knowledgeable, insightful and a true gentleman. His driving skills weren’t too shabby either as he safely navigated the eye-watering descent to Lehele dam.
We saw plenty of buck – gemsbok, eland, red hartebeest, bontebok and springbok – as well as zebra and an abundance of birdlife including the black-headed heron, blue crane and the Cape sugarbird.
We took a turn at Thandora the elephant’s temporary enclosure and as the Landie drew to a halt, two eight-month-old lion cubs sat patiently, clearly obeying mom’s instructions to stay put while the pride went off on a hunt.
After an hour and a half, we took a shortcut through some grasslands and happened upon a moonlit sundowner picnic. Drinks were passed around, acquaintances made and plenty of delicious treats, including scrumptious bacon pastries and bowls of biltong, disappeared fast.
We returned full, tired and more than a little dirty. But we cleaned up good and in time for dinner.
The Kwena Restaurant was a grand affair with lots of good conversations and fall-off-the-bone lamb shanks. By this stage we were all very, very tired. So much so that when one staff member asked the following morning whether I had heard the baboons’ noisy night-time antics down by the nearby rimflow pool, he was greeted with a completely blank expression.
“They were really, really loud... the whole night,” he insisted.
“Well, I was really, really tired and slept all night,” I retorted.
We did manage to wake on cue for the early morning game drive – and what a showstopper it was.
A welcome ladle of pap and a hot coffee was followed by the splitting of the parents and their offspring for the junior ranger programme.
There were two clear groupings among the younger generation – the tweenies and teenagers who were farmed out to their own ranger and the young ’uns who got to go with Ranger Colin. There were a few tears of separation from the little ones and the obligatory air of disinterest from the older teens.
It was on this game drive that we came across the most magnificent scene: a 200kg-plus male lion, adorned with a splendid mane and a regal air, keeping watch in the veld. About 50m away a lioness lay off to one side of the gravel road while two young cubs were gorging themselves on a freshly-killed gemsbok nearby.
It was rivetting to watch.
The teens, with their air of aloofness, were transformed, transfixed by the scene before them.
Later the “Daddy lion”, “Mommy lion” and “Baby lions” was all Lincoln could talk about. His wish of seeing a lion up close had come true.
It’s hard to top a lion kill but Gondwana did their best. We rounded off the morning with a sumptuous bushveld picnic on a plateau overlooking a sprawling valley.
It was magical.
The late afternoon chill was warmed by the sight of a small family of four elephants wading through head-high fynbos, shielding from our view a calf born about four months previously.
The day ended with dinner prepared by new head chef Christo “JC” Nortier at Lehele lodge overlooking the dam of the same name. Nortier, who has worked in restaurants owned by Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver abroad, has returned to the southern Cape.
The evening’s top dish was wild bush pig roasted on a spit.
A luxurious villa was the perfect tonic to round off a long, long day.
Sunday morning featured an outdoor breakfast where the “junior game ranger” certificates were handed out. It was a fine end to a memorable weekend at a jewel in the crown of the southern Cape. No arguments will be brooked by a six-year-old girl and especially not a three-year-old boy. Gondwana rocks.
l Van Zilla was a guest of Gondwana Game Reserve. - Weekend Argus