Lapalala is an area of South Africa covering around 36000 hectares; it is a natural wilderness situated 80 kilometres south of the Botswana border, 250 kilometres from Pretoria in amongst the Waterberg Mountain range.
It is one of the biggest privately owned reserves in Southern Africa, Dale Parker bought it twenty years ago for R500,000 and has with the aid of his staff turned it into an adventurer's paradise.

The area is not full of 4x4's or motor vehicles in fact the only way to view the game and experience the wild's of Lapalala is to trek or on horse back. I decided that with the aid of Equus Horse Safaris I would try a safari with that added twist.

I arrived in the bush camp after a short trip via a Land Rover, which acts as a taxi service. Pleasantly surprised is an insult to the camp; adjectives to describe the surrounding beauty do not really exist. The main building which houses the kitchen is made of stone with a thatched roof and a large open stoep (veranda), where all the meals are served and eaten. From here it is a very short walk to your tent, to call these tents a tent is like calling a castle a house. They have a stoep on which you can sit in total privacy completely devoid of contact from anyone else, surrounded by bushes and indigenous trees yet with a superb view of a stream and open land upon it's banks.
The tent has a toilet, basin and shower all set in a tiled bathroom giving a luxury home for your stay. The bedroom is basic but the beds are really comfortable and storage space for your kit is plentiful.

Enough of these niceties, I was here for adventure and that was what I was going to get. Introduced to Kamati, my mount, three other guests and I set off into the Wilderness.
The horses are all unshod which gives them excellent grip on some of the smooth rocky out crops over which the rides sometimes encompass.

Carl was our guide and Wendy Adams the owner of Equus Horse Safari's followed behind as we set off into the bush.
For anyone who has never been to Africa and experienced the wildness of the land I will try to describe in words what is a mixture of sight, touch, smell, sound and that incredible sixth sense that we do not use anymore in our day to day lives.
Every breaking twig, every rustling leaf could be a wild animal, the hairs on the back of your neck twitch in anticipation, you become at one with the environment around you as it engulfs you with it's beauty.

Carl proved to be a great guide. He had a wonderful sense of humour and remarkable knowledge of the bush obtained through study and a true passion for it. He had worked on 4x4 tours elsewhere but found that it became very much a driving job so when offered the chance to ride he jumped at it, pardon the pun!
The fact that you are on a horse means that you are quite high so that your view is excellent, it also means that the animals around see you as part of the horse, your smell is of the horse and therefore you are not seen as a danger. The result is that you can get closer to the animals. This fact was endorsed by Wendy who told stories of cantering amongst herds of Zebra who do not realise that the riders were even there.

Carl soon spotted signs of Roan antelope spoor (footprints) which were quite fresh in the sandy topsoil. Our eyes staring wide open to search every nook and cranny, every bush with its golden winter leaves reflecting the late afternoon sun in rainbowolic splendour, colours dripping like golden dew from the branches of the bushes. The deep blue sky with its sun slipping as we dropped down to a small stream. Soon we came upon some fresh diggings; I suggested it might be porcupine and when Carl asked how I could be so sure, Aardvark and bushpig as well as a host of other animals also dig in the area. I replied, "it was due to the fact that there was a quill by the side of the hole".
After the laughter died down we continued following the stream until we came to our bush camp, here we dismounted and were shown how to tie the horses to a bush in a manner so that they could be released quickly should the need arise yet firmly so that they would not wander off.

The journey back was memorable not for the animals that we saw but for the wonderful canter back to the stables with the sun setting on our backs amongst the few clouds which had drifted into the skies. The colours complimented those of the bush and the redness of the sand took up a surreal beauty all of its own. Back at the bush camp we all freshened up and enjoyed a fantastic three-course meal cooked from fresh ingredients in the kitchen. After the fresh air we all had healthy appetites but it would not have mattered for the food was absolutely delightful presented as in any good restaurant, but there again we were eating outside with the canvas shutters the only thing between the bush and us.

Time could have stood still anywhere in the last century, our meal and the subsequent chat were all by the light of paraffin lamps as the insects chirped their melodies all around before we wandered through the lamp lit pathways of the camp to our tents for a nights rest.
I put down the mosquito nets, although in winter they were not around, and despite the fact that the temperature had dropped to 3ºC decided to leave the main flaps of the tent open and enjoyed laying back in my warm bed snuggling into my duvet and soaking in the night sounds of Africa.
Whilst sleep engulfed me I heard the sounds of zebra braying to one another and Kudu barking out a warning maybe of a prowling leopard.
As the early sun crept out from the hills I was awoken by a member of the staff at 6.30 am, and soon was enjoying a light breakfast of freshly baked bread and coffee.

The ride this morning was a different direction and it was delightful to feel the coldness of night being peeled back by the warmth of the morning sun as it steadily rose into the sky.
I chatted more with Wendy about Equus and she told me how it had been her dream to work within the wildlife environment into which her parents had introduced her to from a young age. She had also wanted to work with horses so the result was as you see.
She continued to explain, "Many of our guests come from overseas 60% - in fact 27% from the UK. We find that most people are honest about their riding skills but Equus reserves the right to tell a guest that their riding skills are not up to riding in the bush with the bigger more dangerous animals. Up until now the reserve has had the wilderness area and we have been able to take even novice riders but that has all changed now as the fences are coming down and the rhino and buffalo can now roam free around the whole reserve."
I asked what this would mean to Equus with the respect to limiting the number of competent riders?
"We can now only take riders who are confident at all paces and able to gallop out of trouble should the need arise."
The guides do not carry guns and a rhino can run at the same pace as a horse for a short period of time which was quite disconcerting as they have a reputation for charging and with a foot long spike sat between their eyes I felt I knew where the target may be drawn.

The following day we encountered four rhino sitting in the shade under the trees, we approached slowly, the aforementioned adrenaline began to pump, I could hear the blood going around my body, my heart beat so loud I was sure it would scare a tank regiment away. The animals were very calm and our guides' skill told, Carl showed enormous patience as he slowly led us forwards stopping for a while, imitating a wild animal in its approach. The horses are very calm, Wendy told us that they are hardly ever spooked, even when they came around a bend and found themselves face to face with a leopard one day.
In a vehicle you feel so safe when you are on horseback that luxury is taken away, however the experience is actually heightened by the vulnerability that you feel. The feeling of being at one with nature, actually part of it, sends shivers down your spine.

I walked down by the stream on my last day, travelling for about half a mile. For the first time in my life I was alone, nobody was around, no-one was coming, no-one had been, just me a solitary figure, another animal in amongst the golden brown trees and sun burnt grasses that waved gently in the morning breeze.
Silence is deafening; we have all heard the saying but how few have really experienced it? The human ear spends eighty per cent of its capacity on blocking out background noise, my ears now tried to hear every movement, every rustle, the noise was incredible, after half an hour I felt the torrent was as loud as a pneumatic drill.
Every new movement scared me, every twitch the grass made every leaf waving on the breeze, I was an insignificant animal in the middle of the food chain, and I was part of nature.

It was strange as I left, I felt worn out yet totally invigorated, I wanted to stay not to return as a tourist but to be back in the bush with ears and eyes straining for dangers to be at one with all that the human race has lost. I had only spent three days as a guest I now felt that I must return again to do the week long wilderness ride camping beneath the magnificent African skies filled to overflowing with bright shinning stars amongst the inky blackness of this incredible dark continent.

This article was compiled by a guest of:
Unicorn Trails
Holmeside
Langford Road
Biggleswade
SG18 9JU
UK
Tel: ++44 (0) 1767 600-606
Email: Will@unicorn trails.com
Web Site: www.unicorntrails.com