“Stop!” I shout. My husband, Jon, hits the breaks. A tiny trunk emerges from the branches of the marula trees at the side of the road; a much larger trunk and curved tusks follow. The elephants’ bodies sway forward, huge feet silent as they cross the tarmac just in front of us. We reverse — we know never to get between an elephant and her young — and there they stand, mother and baby, calmly taking us in while we stare back from behind the windscreen.
The assumption is usually that to see elephants like this, you’d have to pay a hefty price for the privilege. And to some extent that’s true; the words ‘affordable’ and ‘safari’ rarely sit alongside each other. But here in South Africa, a safari is possible on a budget. In Kruger National Park, a night in the park’s northern tip at Singita lodge, a brand loved by Oprah Winfrey and Leonardo DiCaprio, will set you back close
