Experience the thrill of a game drive with Baobab Ridge...

There’s something about the African bush that awakens a primal sense of wonder - an unshakable feeling that you’re part of something ancient, something vast and untamed. At Baobab Ridge, that magic isn’t just witnessed; it’s felt on our morning and afternoon/evening game drives. Not just about spotting animals, each drive is about stepping into another world, guided by experts who understand the land like an old friend. Here, time bends to the rhythm of nature, and adventure unfolds with every passing moment...

A safari at Baobab Ridge begins before the sun even considers rising. When your cellphone alarm goes off some unearthly hour - one you'd never consider getting out of bed at ordinarily, it’s an invitation to step into another world. 

You freshen up, get dressed and step outside... The air is crisp, carrying the deep, earthy scent of the bush after nightfall. Inside the main area, warm light spills from the dining room, where hot coffee awaits, and the quiet murmur of anticipation fills the air. The guides, always impossibly cheerful despite the hour, greet you with knowing smiles - they’ve seen it before, that initial bleariness that transforms into wide-eyed wonder the moment the open game viewer rumbles into the wilderness.

The chill of the morning is a sharp contrast to the warmth of the coffee still lingering on your lips as the wheels roll into a pre-dawn Klaserie. The bush at dawn is a world in transition. A faint mist clings to the long grass, birds begin their first tentative calls, and the cool air carries the deep, rasping cough of a leopard somewhere unseen. 

The guide is a master of his craft, reading the land like an open book, following tracks in the sand with an ease that seems almost supernatural. He pauses, listening, scanning. Moments later, two lions emerge from the shadows, their breath curling in the cold air. One lifts its head, regarding the vehicle with eyes that gleam amber in the rising sun. It’s a moment of pure awe - just a few metres away from one of Africa’s most iconic predators, close enough to hear the slow exhale of its breath.

As the golden light spills across the land, the horizons seem to get bigger, and with each passing minutes the sun gains height and Africa warms up. Layers are shed as darkness is finally banished and the wilderness reveals its secrets. The sightings are good - lots of plains game, especially around waterholes and dams... Elephants moving slowly between the trees, eating as they go... Birds of prey taking to the air as the rising sun creates the first thermals of the day. 

The vehicle pulls up beneath an ancient marula tree for a break. Out come the flasks of hot water and tins of coffee, hot chocolate and tea, and the much-anticipated crunch of rusks and cookies, a simple pleasure made extraordinary by the setting. The bush stretches in every direction, endless and alive, the soundtrack a mix of chirruping birds, and the occasional rustling in the undergrowth that sends hearts racing. A splash of Amarula in the coffee adds to the sense of indulgence - because here, in this untamed place, time slows, and life is savoured moment by moment.

Back at the lodge, breakfast is a feast best enjoyed on the deck overlooking the wilderness. The scent of sizzling bacon, fresh-baked bread, and strong coffee drifts through the air, a reward for the morning’s early start. Conversation is animated, full of retellings of sightings and infectious enthusiasm. 

Midday is a time for rest. Some of us retreat to our suites, lulled to sleep by the distant calls of doves and the chirping of crickets. Others drift towards the pool deck, book in hand, feet dangling in the cool water. The heat of the day settles over the bush, a gentle hush falling as the animals seek shade, and the lodge becomes a haven of peace. 

Lunch is light but satisfying, a delicious interlude before the adventure begins again. As the afternoon drive departs, the bush has changed. The light is warmer, the air thick with the scent of sun-warmed earth and wild sage. Elephants, their massive forms bathed in golden light, wander across the savannah, their ears fanning gently. Giraffes pause mid-chew, their long lashes blinking lazily, watching with idle curiosity. The guide, as always, turns each moment into something extraordinary, pointing out the tiny details - the delicate tracks of a porcupine in the sand, the flash of a lilac-breasted roller as it takes flight. The knowledge is endless, the passion unmistakable.

As the sun sinks lower, the vehicle pulls up to a scenic ridge, just in time for sundowners. Glasses clink, the ice melting slowly as guests sip their drinks and soak in the view. The sky is ablaze, shifting from fiery orange to dusky pink, the land stretching endlessly before them. It’s a moment that feels almost surreal - a scene so beautiful it hardly seems real. 

But the day is not over yet. As darkness descends, the guide switches to a spotlight, sweeping it across the landscape. Eyes flash in the blackness - bush babies bouncing between branches, a hyena trotting purposefully along a game trail. Then, the highlight of the night: a leopard, finally visible, moving with liquid grace through the grass. Time stands still. The air is thick with exhilaration, the thrill of sharing space with such an elusive creature.

Back at the lodge, the boma fire burns low, its golden glow casting flickering light across the dinner tables set for a feast beneath a canopy of starlight. Dinner is rich with laughter and the kind of conversation that only happens after a day spent in the wild. The calls of distant lions punctuate the night, a reminder that, out here, the wild is never far away. Bellies full, hearts fuller, we linger around the fire, reluctant to let the day end. But sleep calls, and with it, the promise of another dawn, another adventure. 

Tomorrow, we will do it all again. And it will be just as magical.