Rick Hudson - travel writer and author

This appeared in
the Globe & Mail
October 2004.

Homepage

The Sounds of Silence

Getting back to basics
when on vacation.

It’s become a cliché to say you need a vacation to recover from your holiday. The evidence is everywhere, and we have all suffered from it. Whether you’re planning a week in Banff, Costa Rica or Spain, the moment the decision is made to go there, the number of “must-sees” increases exponentially, until it becomes impossible to cover everything, unless there are no transport delays, no hotel misunderstandings, and no upset tummies. And we all know the chances of that happening.

'San rock paintings abound.

These thoughts are penned after a frantic fortnight in Africa, where a string of venues HAD to be visited. Psychologists have suggested that leaving home with the bags packed, bent on a “12 night” extravaganza, is the most stressful experience the average family endures on a regular basis. It’s worse than workplace pressure, worse than children doing badly at school.

The cure is deceptively obvious, yet almost unachievable. Do nothing. Relax. Take it easy. Hang loose. Find your inner peace.

More easily said than done. Banff will quickly fill your days with drives, hikes, cultural festivals, and interpretive walks. Costa Rica will add the uncertainty of the food, the language, and the weather. And in Spain there’s your lack of knowledge of the culture, the history and the current politics. More stress.

So, unless you make a conscious effort to avoid the compounding pressures of a holiday, you’ll be condemned to a week slumped over your desk on your return, while colleagues look in and make comments like “Hey, you look terrible! Were you away sick last week?” None of which helps.

In 1990, Zambian-born entrepreneur Adrian Gardiner created Africa’s largest privately owned and operated game park, in South Africa. With the country in political turmoil, Mr Gardiner took a major risk in buying a cluster of farms. Then he began, slowly and methodically, to recreate the ecology that had flourished on the coastal plains before the white man came. In so doing, he gambled that visitors wanted to experience a malaria-free world that had been lost 200 years ago. It has paid off spectacularly in the Shamwari Reserve.
Four-poster luxury
Lavish accommodation.

Now, he is poised to create an entirely different space. Sanbona Wildlife Reserve is a sprawling, 54,000 hectare region, located 3 hours drive from South Africa’s mother city of Cape Town. But it’s not just the size of the place that sets it apart from other parks. True, there are herds of all the animals you’ve come to expect in an African experience – zebra, wildebeest, gemsbok, springbok, kudu - plus rhino, leopard, etc – but it’s the emptiness that gets to you. From the moment you turn off the paved highway, it takes a full hour just to reach Tilney Lodge.

Over your stay, the silence of the land, the breadth of the view to the rolling Karoo ridges, gradually work their magic. The evening breeze brings the scent of aromatic herbs. At night, the stars are brilliantly sharp.

Tilney Lodge is new, and combines a subtle mixture of old and new, traditional and modern. The architecture is Cape Georgian, elegant and practical in this remote land. There’s a glorious swimming pool with a dropping waterfall. The suites are decorated in lavish elegance, and the double-ended baths, outdoor shower gardens for two, large private fireplaces, and four-poster beds all remind you that luxury should be shared with someone special. Across the courtyard next to the Quiver Tree is the Wellness Centre, where you can enjoy a range of body- and mind-relaxing programs.

But the real essence of the place is only appreciated after several days. True, you can go on game drives twice daily (or more, if you ask). True, you can hike the fantastically folded sandstone canyons, where leopards leave pug marks in the sand at pool edges. True, the meals are sumptuous, and the staff efficient and friendly (something that’s becoming increasingly rare elsewhere in Africa).

But the real magic, the real reason you are there, takes time to grow on you. It’s only after you’ve watched the western sky fade from orange to purple numerous times, that the true outcome of your stay becomes apparent. You are finally relaxing, and beginning to feel really human again. And isn’t that what a vacation is supposed to be about?

If you go.
SanBona is a partner in the Mantis Collection (http://www.mantiscollection.com/), or contact Sanbona Wildlife Reserve directly at PO Box 149, Montagu, 6720 SOUTH AFRICA (E-mail: info@sanbona.com). In North America, you can reach Andrea Hugo Associates at 1-800-322 3867(EST).

There are currently just six suites available at Tilney Lodge. Two more lodges are under construction. Rates will vary depending on season, occupancy and package details, but range from C$300-450/day and include all accommodation, meals, beverages, game drives, interpretive hikes, and services, apart from the use of the Wellness Centre.