The Art of the Short Break

by Emma Gass, 21 March 2008

To escape from the tension and rigours of the city, if only for a one-night sojourn to the Eastern Cape bush, is an opportunity that should not be dismissed too quickly.

The secret, at times like these, is not to count the hours of your trip (less than 24 from plane landing to plane taking off!) but instead to wallow in the finer details of the overall experience.

Enjoy the Journey

They say that life's a journey - enjoy the ride. Maybe more fitting for the traveller; the journey is inevitable - enjoy the ride.

Don't wait to get to your destination for your holiday to start, the minute you've travelled too far to return for a forgotten item you may as well start enjoying yourself.

After a quick flight from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, I felt I was on my way. As I drove up the freeway my stress melted away with each passing kilometre.

It's hard to beat the exhilarating feeling of the open road; press a little harder on the accelerator, turn the music up, wind your window down and watch the landscape transform as it rushes to meet you.

As I turn onto a long dirt track, there is no denying that I have left the city far behind me, as I drive past idly spinning windmills, long-haired goats, dilapidated farmsteads and an old Shell garage dating from colonial times.

Drink It All In

To arrive at my destination after much jolting along the gravel road was a relief. However, to regain my bearings was more difficult.

In all directions, to the horizon and back, is a sea of land with deep dark patches, light shallow patches and undulating waves - prehistoric rock patterns frozen in time.

I can hear the wind blowing, uninterrupted by civilisation and man-made buildings, and it is eerily quiet. These places still exist although you would never know as you speed past on the freeway.

I would suggest breathing in deeply, with the thought that enough fresh air might even counteract all the polluted air otherwise inhaled on a daily basis - wishful thinking but it's a great way to soak up the energy you'll need for exploring.

The Little Things

There is an element of excitement about going on guided game drives - maybe because you get to hand over the driving to someone else, the bumpy ride makes you feel like a kid on the back of a pick-up truck and the wind in your face reminds you that you're in the bush.

Being in a safari vehicle also has the effect of making your surroundings become more noticeable and things that you wouldn't normally be aware of are suddenly inspiring.

The shrubby bushveld I thought I knew so well materialised into an amazing array of unique and unusual specimens.

The spekboom, a succulent with its multitude of tiny, dusky pink flowers and round leaves creating shadowy hillsides, is a favourite with the elephants apparently.

The tall bitter aloes with their brittle skirts of old leaves stand sentry over the almost infinite variety of smaller Eastern Cape succulents - thin spiky ones, flat fat ones, some with flowers of delicate white, others of vibrant red.

I came looking for Africa's animals and instead gained an unexpected enthusiasm for her plants.

Throw Away the Checklist

One thing to remember when in the bush is that there's no use having a checklist. The African bush is not a zoo and there are no guarantees.

There is no use getting huffy when, after a four-hour game drive, you still have not seen any lion - you cannot dictate to the king of the beasts!

In the end, it was probably a good thing. It would have been a lot harder to relax and enjoy my delicious red wine and snacks in the warm glow of the sunset, if there had been a large herd of elephant or a pride of lion a few metres away.

We did, however, catch a glimpse of the rare and endangered Cape mountain zebra, a small herd clattering over the rocky hillside. Kudu, with their majestic horns and comically large ears, were in abundance.

We witnessed the springbok pronking, the monkeys discussing their day and the jackals slinking into the undergrowth to prepare for an evening of foraging. Animals doing what they have to do to survive in the wild.

Stargazing

Something else that survives - even thrives - in the wild, away from the harsh lights of the city, are the illuminating bright lights of the night sky.

Without artificial light to detract from their splendour, the constellations stand out as clearly as images in a connect-the-dots activity book for kids.

The Southern Cross points further south, as Orion, the hunter, tracks his animals across the night sky. With too many stars to name and too many constellations to memorise, you can always just lie back and count the shooting stars until you've run out of wishes.

See the Sunrise

When your time away is short it makes sense to start your day early. When you're in the bush that means waking up to a steaming cup of coffee and heading out just as the sun releases its dawn light.

This is when you'll catch the nocturnal critters slinking off to their daytime hideouts and the other animals before they are fully awake and hiding from the heat and the tourists.

By 10am I had just a few hours left of my escape. By then I'd explored a piece of the Africa bush, seen the sunrise and had a hearty breakfast.

Now I was hurtling along the freeway, back to the airport, my body and mind rejuvenated and my lungs fully stocked with fresh, healthy air.

Travel Fact File

The Eastern Cape has many advantages as a safari destination. Weather-wise it is a year-round destination with no great fluctuation in temperature or rainfall.

It is also malaria-free making complicated anti-malarial medication totally unnecessary and ensuring a suitable safari destination for young children and pregnant women.

A visit to the Eastern Cape can be a natural extension of your Garden Route trip, providing a chance to see Africa's animals.

The Eastern Cape, and particularly Addo Elephant National Park, is famous for large elephant populations. Addo is very accessible if you are on a self-drive safari, although to avoid the crowds, as well as benefit from a guide's knowledge, we recommend you go to one of the private reserves.

For unparalleled game viewing experiences in this area Go2Africa.com recommends Shamwari and Kwandwe Private Reserve. These reserves are large and well stocked, the guides are very experienced and the vehicles are comfortable.

Shamwari has won several conservation awards and Kwandwe offers a Big 5 experience complemented by rock paintings, historical and cultural tours and rhino tracking.