Andrew Unsworth gets some special treatment, including a bush dinner, at the Mabula Private Game Reserve in Limpopo. Unfortunately, the elephants want some fancy food too ... It's not every day that an elephant objects to dinner-table décor, but when it happens it makes for a memorable stay in a game lodge.Admittedly, Mabula Game Lodge in Limpopo, south of the Waterberg, was doing fine already. In autumn, the bushveld trees were still green while the thatching grass stood shoulder-high, waving golden in the breeze, the mountains a hazy blue.I was there for a two-night stay, avoiding the temptation to be tired of doing the same old game drives, whether you want to or not. There is always beauty in the details, especially so when a reserve has an interesting mix of trees. Then the animals are just a bonus.So are the tourists. If you are ever bored on a game reserve holiday, do some tourist-watching. You may not get to see one kick a sleeping lion to get a better selfie, but they are almost always odd.story_article_left1Soon after the morning game drive, there were enough dazzlingly white European skins soaking up the sun around the pool to have you reaching for sunglasses. They looked like a pod of misplaced porpoises, but then even those who shouldn't are entitled to fun.Foreign tourists do not regard rusks as fun, even if we think of koffie en beskuit as de rigueur at dawn before a game drive. I watched some ponder a rusk, sniff it, try to bite it, and sneak it onto a plate out of sight.Others discreetly binned them, much to the delight of the local monkeys, who raided the bins as soon as the tourists had moved on, and much to the ire of the game rangers, who frown on feeding the animals.Strangely, those Europeans were far more willing to try the crocodile meat on the evening buffet table, maybe so they could say it tasted of chicken.On the grounds that even those who shouldn't are entitled to fun, I agreed to get my ageing backside onto a horse for an afternoon "horse safari" through the reserve.I asked for the oldest horse. They gave me the highest so I could fall the furthest. Riding through the bushveld in single file, past zebra, wildebeest, buck, giraffe and a lone roan antelope was so bewitchingly beautiful that we soon fell silent.After that ride, we were off for dinner at a bush venue when our guide, Sebastiaan van Vuuren, was told by radio that executive chef George Kliche and his staff were alone at the Mvubu dam-side picnic site and elephants were approaching. As we rushed to get there, all our game-spotting cries were ignored.But chef was safe, preparing his food, and although the elephants were still some way along the shore, they were coming our way. We stood prepared. A long, white-clothed table was elegantly laid for dinner, drinks on a side-table.story_article_right2A cow passed our spot, showed signs of irritation, but moved along. It was the bull, Mafuta, that Sebastiaan was worried about because he was in musth.As he approached we moved closer to our vehicle and when he looked ratty, we climbed aboard. When he stepped over the low fence, we fled into the dusk, looking back to see him fling a few chairs around. We watched from the other side of the dam until the elephants had moved on and more rangers came to rescue us.Unperturbed, chef Kliche simply carried on plating his first course: I had the feeling he'd seen all this before in his more than four decades in the African bush.Incredibly, Mafuta had broken only one glass and it was agreed we could stay for dinner: carpaccio, smoked salmon, asparagus, naan breads, venison, and steamed pudding, all in such generous proportions that Mafuta could have been fed too. Under the full moon, rangers regaled us with tall tales of the bushveld.Could one ask for more?sub_head_start IF YOU GO sub_head_endON OFFER:• Morning and evening game drives.• Weekly visits to the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project.• Walking safaris, horseback safaris, quad biking, spa treatments.• A tented camp at Kwafubesi.RATES:• A standard room, single, is R3,535 per night, sharing R2,365.• Suites, single R4,700, sharing R3,135 . The rates include three meals, beverages, two game drives and gate-entry fees.• Phone 011-516-4367 or visit mabula.com.Unsworth was a guest of Mabula Game Lodge..