“You’ll see the lions have now adopted a triangle position, a classic attack formation.” That this deadpan line from our safari guide—delivered with perfect comic timing as one 300-pound cat settled itself in front of our parked jeep, another prowled lazily past the driver door, and a third surveyed us coolly from its position under a (very) nearby tree—prompted stifled giggles rather than panic from inside the vehicle is some indication of his aura of supreme calm and authority. Two qualities, it turns out, that a first-timer like me appreciates in a guide—particularly one who’s liable to make gags during a close encounter with an apex predator. Fortunately, from the moment you arrive at Lepogo Lodges, a remote sanctuary at the heart of South Africa’s lush Lapalala Wilderness, it’s immediately apparent that you’re in the safest of hands.
It starts when you reach the gate of the reserve, which spans almost 50,000 pristine hectares in Limpopo Province and—along with our new friends, the lions—is home to leopards, elephants, rhinos, buffalo, wild dogs, and plenty more besides. After a three-hour drive from the airport in Johannesburg, being spirited into the bush in one of Lepogo’s tricked-out jeeps feels a little like being plucked from the daily rush of ordinary life and plopped down on a totally different planet: one where the light is golden, silence reigns, and you are far, far more likely to happen across a giraffe than you are another human being.
Photo: Dana Allen / Courtesy of Lepogo Lodges
