Waiting impatiently for my trip to ‘Wait a Little’

Am counting the days (and yes it is now just days) before Andy and I go to South Africa.
First stop is a reunion with Gerti and Philip Kusseler at Wait A Little, set in 30.000ha of privately managed reserves close to the famous Kruger National Park.

This is where I enjoyed my first horse safari in Big Five country. What a way to see the wildlife! Jeep safaris just can’t compare but you must be a reasonably competent horse rider to venture into the bush on horseback. Because yes, you can be charged by elephants or eyed up for lunch and tracked by lions, which incidentally (and rather worryingly at the time), can run faster than a horse. Thus, the ability to be able to stay in the saddle is reasonably important.
The jeep safari I went on after that seemed rather tame by comparison!

You also have the chance to get up close and personal to giraffes – gentle giants with whom you can enjoy an exhilarating canter across the scorched red earth (with their huge strides it seemed as if they were in slow motion). Or you could walk quietly down by the river bed and watch baby elephants having fun splashing about with their ever protective mums, who shushed us away by blowing sand at us using their trunks.

We watched a young family of wild dogs playing boisterously (all the more precious as these are an endangered species) and we stood by as Philip did his macho male thing and tempted crocs (and fate) by urging his horse into the shallows of a small lake – just to see where they were hiding out!

The extremely civilized ritual of sundowners was observed in the bush every evening, with someone to hold our horses as we sipped G & Ts or cool beers, laid out on a table complete with white tablecloth, a herd of giraffes nearby, their long necks silhouetted in the burnt orange sun as it sank down at the end of another exhilarating day. This also heralded the start of a noisy night: cicadas chirping, frogs croaking, lions occasionally roaring in the distance, baboons’ booming voices echoing across the dried river bed and carrying deep into the bush. And yes, I seem to recall with sound of clinking wine glasses somewhere in the mix too…!

If you want the horse riding holiday of a lifetime Wait A Little is the place to go, and after experiencing quite a range of riding holidays in my days as editor of Ireland’s Equestrian Magazine I’d rate it in my top two

After reading the latest newsletter by owner Gerti, it seems the lions have been coming close to camp. Could make for an interesting visit if they’re still around when we get there! Sleeping on a luxurious double bed in a canvas safari tent on a platform with decks enjoying a wonderful view over the Makhutswe River …keeping one eye open for Simba the Lion.
Well it’s certainly different to your usual sun, sea and sand holiday!