Amakhala Game Reserve, South Africa’s Eastern Cape

As our driver carefully nudged the open-sided safari truck through the dense bush, suddenly, less than 100 yards away, a huge female white rhino emerged from an acacia thicket, her hair-tipped ears twitching furiously.

Although she looked in our direction several times, she showed no sign of alarm, and after a couple of minutes began grazing again.

We watched enthralled, regarding ourselves as extremely fortunate in having such clear, close-up and extended views of a large, adult rhino. Then the bushes rustled again and out into the open ambled not a second adult rhino but a cute-looking calf with just a stump where it’s horn would eventually grow.

After allowing us to watch and photograph the pair for several minutes, the driver started up the truck and began to move away – only for one of the rear wheels of the vehicle to become stuck in an unseen aardvark hole.

No amount of revving and manoeuvring succeeded in getting us out of the hole which was becoming larger as the spinning wheel dug into soil.

“We’ll just have to wait until the rhinos have moved to a safe distance,” our driver explained. “Then, I shall need the men on board to get out and help push while I drive.” Minutes later, after flexing our muscles, we were on our way – the first of our mini adventures over at Amakhala Game Reserve, near Grahamstown in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.

In many of the really big, famous reserves and national parks, close encounters with wildlife can be spoilt by the fact that there are simply too many other camera-toting tourists nearby. In my experience, there is usually at least one tourist truck in front and at least one other bringing up the rear.

Size-wise, Amakhala is not in the same league as some of its better-known competitors, but for me the wildlife-watching experience is more natural, more personal.

Founded in 1999, Amakhala (the word is derived from the isiXhosa word for aloes) is owned and run by the descendants of 19th century British settlers.

Life was tough for those early pioneers. “They were lured to South Africa by the British government with promises of a great future in farming,” explained Rod Weeks of Reed Valley Lodge.

“Instead, they were used as a buffer between the British colony and the land of the warring Xhosa nation.”

Most of the settlers were farming novices. Erratic rainfall, crop rust, predators and stock theft by the Xhosa tribes were among the hardships they faced.

After two years of trying to eke out a living on small, unsustainable plots of land between Grahamstown and Port Alfred, most of the settlers threw in the towel and moved away to do something else. Those who could afford to buy more land did so.

Eventually, the ancestors of the Amakhala farming families settled as neighbours about 50 km from their original allocations of land.

History, it is often said, repeats itself, and it certainly did for the settlers’ descendants, for in 1999 the families reluctantly decided there was no future in farming because, among other things, there was a world glut of wool, milk and lamb “It was a situation of adapt or die,” recalled Rod.

Dr William ‘Bill’ Fowlds, another Amakhala descendant, returned to South Africa from the UK and invited his neighbours to a braii (barbecue) where he presented plans for joining the farms together as a conservation-oriented game reserve.

“Everyone agreed,” continued Rod. Internal fences were removed and much of the material reused to erect a wildlife perimeter fence.

A unique investment plan was formulated to enable friends and business associates to share in the hoped-for success of Amakhala by buying wild animals with which to stock the land that was being returned to nature. It was agreed that half of the progeny of such animals would be split between investors and the reserve.

Among the many species released into the wild at Amakhala since 1999 are elephant, white rhino, buffalo, lion, cheetah, zebra, giraffe, gemsbok, eland, kudu, impala and warthog.

Other animals living in the area include baboon, skunk, honeybadger, leopard, meerkat, bushpig and a wealth of birds, from the red bishop and jackal buzzard to the brown-headed kingfisher and ostrich.

Although game drives are conducted right across Amakhala, the five lodges in which visitors stay are owned and run by individual families. They are: Leeuwenbosch Country House (historic colonial manor house built in 1908), Safari Lodge (tucked away in a valley at the northern edge of the reserve), Shearer’s Lodge (where nearly one million sheep were shorn), Woodbury Lodge (set against a cliff above Bushman’s River Valley) and Reed Valley (once provided rest and safety for mail wagon travellers).

Commented Amakhala descendant Roger Hart: “We believe very strongly that our guests should leave us having experienced the full package that nature has to offer.  The less significant and unattractive flora and fauna also contribute to the holistic picture, which is how we try to explain the deeper meaning behind our slogan, Returning to Nature.”

He went on: “The dream continues, although we have learnt to sleep with one eye open lest the dream becomes a nightmare! There’s so much still to learn and so much to do. Definitely a work in progress.”

Said Bill Fowlds, whose vision resulted in the creation of Amakhala: “It’s good for us to reflect on what our forefathers did for us in those early days and to appreciate what a wonderful heritage they left for us to enjoy, continue and safeguard for future generations.”

There are also interesting insights into how other well-known writers work, such as J K Rowling, Jacqueline Wilson, Anthony Horowitz and Michael Morpurgo, work.

“We hope that everyone who visits us – young and old alike - will leave with a desire to do a bit of creative writing themselves,” added Sue. 

Dahl’s widow, Felicity, said her late husband would have been delighted with the museum and story centre. “He would have been so excited that his work and reputation could be used to celebrate and promote reading, writing and creativity in such an imaginative way.”