From charging elephants to muscle-melting massages: My safari trip was a far cry from Fota

Club Med in South Africa boasts luxurious lodgings and the chance to get up close and personal with a variety of wildlife

Denise O'Donoghue in South Africa during a safari drive

Warning ourselves around a roaring fire after an evening game drive, we gasp at another guest’s footage showing a young elephant charging their jeep. A stroppy teenager who, despite their distance, felt angsty about his audience, ran towards them full tilt, head swinging wildly from side to side, to chase them from his territory.

Sounds terrifying, right? Well, thanks to the expert guides who immediately diffused the situation and moved everyone to safety, it is now merely another exciting anecdote to be swapped between strangers back at the lodge — not to mention a potentially viral video to share on Instagram.

It is our last night at Vikela Lodge, Club Med’s new safari offering in South Africa, and only an hour since we were sipping drinks in the reserve and asking our guide about his scariest wildlife encounter.

Coincidentally, Innocent describes a moment standing by his jeep with a group, drinks in hand, when an elephant entered the area, becoming territorial. They sped away safely but not before the elephant’s tusk nicked the rear of the fleeing vehicle.

Luckily, the only elephant sighting we experience is a docile creature snacking happily in the reserve earlier that very morning.

Elephant encounters aside, we are spoiled with sightings on this, my very first safari experience, on the second half of a luxurious week with Club Med. I jumped at the opportunity to take my first trip past the equator and discover what treasures South Africa has to offer — not least to see how many of the ‘Big Five’ (lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros, and buffalo) I can spot. A pride of sleeping lions awaits us before we leave, but touching down in the country, our first port of call is beachside relaxation and fun at the main resort.

Club Med has opened its first South African base and while it takes me three flights to get there (Cork-London-Johannesburg-Durban), tiredness is swiftly forgotten as I embrace holiday mode with live music, welcoming staff and a panoramic view of the Indian Ocean’s huge waves smashing against the beach below.

A tented room at Club Med Vikela Safari Lodge in South Africa

My double room is a cosy haven with a view of the sea so good that not once do I turn on my TV. A nap sets me up nicely for dinner, a buffet served in a lush garden with everything from impala stew to more familiar fare.

With an all-female band playing and troop of acrobats high above the tables with their daring feats, it feels a little like a fever dream. It makes for an astonishing welcome for this sleep-deprived traveller.

Our first morning begins with a resort tour, and it soon becomes clear that a Club Med holiday here can be anything you want it to be. Want thrills and adventure? Try surfing or trapeze classes. Fancy a party? Dance the night away at the bar, where we spy the Club Med president, Stéphane Maquaire, leading a dance routine. Feel like you need to unwind? Book a massage at the spa, stretch out at a yoga class, or simply chill by the pool.

Club Med South Africa in the heart of KwaZulu-Natal

“It is all about being together, enjoying the moment together, this art of free time,” Maquaire tells us.

“That is our claim: Being together, we’ll be happier.”

There’s no better opportunity for me to put that to the test than the very next day when our plans are washed away by a biblical downpour. Options like trapeze and padel are suddenly off the schedule, and while rain may not have been on my radar for my African adventure, it proves a silver lining.

A plan-free day allows me to take in the resort like I would on my own relaxing break. I grab my book and enjoy a leisurely breakfast overlooking the crashing waves, where some hardy guests are taking a surf lesson.

After breakfast, I’m off to the spa for a muscle-melting back massage, just what I need after my travels. I drift over to Nguni for a drink, a snack, and one more chapter on the terrace, before a chilled-out yoga class, made all the cosier by the rain pelting against the studio. After lunch, I embrace my surroundings and enjoy a guilt-free afternoon on my sheltered balcony finishing one book and starting another before dinner.

All too soon, it’s our turn to repack and take a four-hour coach journey to the safari lodge. Again, we enjoy the warmest of welcomes: Hot chocolates are pressed into our hands, we receive genuine smiles from staff, and soon discover why this lodge is the highlight for so many of those we’d spoken to during the week. There are no hotel rooms here, only luxury tented accommodation and it is a serene spot to spend a couple of nights. Some of my favourite moments here are spent soaking up the silence and the starlight late at night. We are reassured the lodge is enclosed, so we won’t wake up to find a leopard on our doorsteps, but we may stumble upon some little warthogs. I am by no means an early bird, so hearing about our 5am wake-up for morning game drives makes me want to weep, but after a magical first outing that afternoon, adrenaline sees me ready to go the next morning before my alarm even rings.

Denise on a game drive

Our first safari is a successful one: We meet impala and warthogs quickly, before sighting grazing zebras, lumbering buffalo, and lurking hippos submerged in a watering hole. My jeep companions soon gasp audibly when we spot four giraffes snacking on a canopy of leaves. We keep a respectful distance, with Innocent telling us if we go closer we’ll spook them — a far cry from the giraffes I’m used to seeing at Fota Wildlife Park in Cork who, if anything, seem bored by humans.

The next morning, our pre-sunrise drive is a fruitful one. We meet a mama and baby rhino before a crackle of the radio alerts us to nearby lions. We speed away to spy upon three felines lounging in tall grass. Any fear of the deadly predators evaporates as we sit quietly, observing and enjoying a moment of calm as one languidly scratches behind an ear while another releases an adorable sneeze.

After many minutes spent in their presence, we move along and soon glimpse an elephant snacking in the trees. We go off-road for a better view and watch as the creature contentedly plods on, marching deeper into the tangle of greenery until out of sight. We are exhilarated as we return to the lodge to swap stories and photos with others returning from their safaris.

We will have another, final outing that evening, but in the meantime I go exploring beyond my tent. A dip in the pool is chilly and short, but as my teeth chatter and I pretend it’s warmer than it is, I enjoy my chat with the lifeguard — a Durban native, he is the second local I meet on the trip to tell me he not only knows where Cork City is, he’s a fan of the football team. I warm up with a shower back in my gorgeous ‘tent’. Too ordinary a word for my lodging, this part-canvas-part-concrete suite comes with a private terrace, double bed and two twins, an outdoor shower, and the most plush bed of the trip. Its capacity hints at the family-friendly nature of Club Med’s safari — children as young as four are welcome at Vikela Lodge to experience a real-life Lion King moment. We meet that evening for one final game drive, hoping for a rare leopard sighting to say we saw all of the Big Five, though Innocent tells us he hasn’t seen one in four months. We ‘ooh’ at a baby giraffe being nuzzled by its mother, and come across that mama rhino and her baby from early morning once more, but leave after she gives us one too many dirty looks for comfort.

Dining at the traditional boma enclosure in Club Med Vikela Safari Lodge in South Africa

And just before we head back to our base, our leopardless list is forgotten as we have a ‘pinch me’ moment when we find a pride of 10 lions sleeping off a big dinner — quite a consolation prize. I don’t wonder too long whether we met their meal on a previous drive, but as the sun sets on our last day in South Africa, it’s a moment of peaceful calm that washes over us as two mother lions and their growing cubs snooze like big, lazy kitties before us. Looks like lions know all about that art of free time, too.

Escape Notes

Seven nights all-inclusive stay at Club Med South Africa Beach and Safari (five nights) and Vikela Safari Lodge (two nights), South Africa in January from €3,569 per adult (based on double occupancy) including flights from Dublin.

clubmed.ie/r/south-africa-beach-and-safari/y or call 03453 676767

Bookings including Vikela Safari Lodge must be made over the phone.

• Denise was a guest of Club Med