INTO THE WILD
WILD AT HEART
“IT'S PRIVATE LAND, but the WILDLIFE DON‘T CARE MUCH for YOUR PRIVACY”
ANIMAL CONSERVATION UNDERPINS A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME WILDERNESS ADVENTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA. ELLE McCLURE EMBARKS ON THE JOURNEY
ON THE EDGE OF SOUTH AFRICA’S Kruger National Park, near the Mozambique border, sits an airport more impressive than those in most Australian towns. Except, in place of the typical Uber pick-up zone, Skukuza Airport (a 400-something-kilometre journey in a small plane from Johannesburg) has a row of heavy-duty open-top safari vehicles. This is understandable considering that sighting the Big Five (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and Cape buffalo) is the bucket list experience here.
A short drive away is the Tengile River Lodge, the latest luxe safari outpost from &Beyond, which was topping most-anticipated travel lists before it even opened in December. Upon arrival, a welcoming committee armed with neroli-scented cloths is ready to greet you in a ritual that will repeat itself over the course of your stay and, like many of the other creature comforts here — such as pink-hued
