Spot your favourite beasts & bond with your best humans at Fifty-Five Mjejane

Lying poolside on a sun lounger in the late afternoon, I’m squinting through a set of binoculars and thinking how there’s nothing quite as pleasant as an elephant. Make that 30 elephants and they’re simply delightful. 

Not that I need the binocs, mind you. Across the Crocodile River, about 200m from me, on the bank where the Kruger National Park begins, there’s a huge herd milling about in a long meandering line. Wafting their trunks, flapping their ears, pawing the dust, swishing their tails. Some are tipping their toes in the water. Some are further back among the trees, munching on branches. There’s a baby using its mother as a carport. There’s a big one lying down on a little hill. One herd of elephants, also collectively called a parade or a memory, is also a mosaic of individuals, each doing their thing. 

Take a poll of people’s favourite animals anywhere and the elephant is sure to come up. And why are they so lovable? Their size and weird anatomy, sure. They are, impressively, the world’s largest land mammal. But it's mostly their character. They are highly social, with smarts, emotions and memories. They respect their matriarchs. They are loyal. They mourn their dead. Annoy them and they’re prone to the odd tantrum. All very relatable to this human watching them from the other side of the river.

Just a month ago, scientists broke some findings that I thought made them even more endearing: that, with low-frequency rumbles that humans cannot hear, they call each other by individual names. And hearing the name of a close family member evokes a more enthusiastic response than a rumble for a mere acquaintance. Ergo, just like humans do, elephants have their inner circles. Their besties. 

My own herd, meanwhile, are milling about on this side of the river, each one also doing their own thing. We have migrated for a few days from Joburg to the Mjejane Game Reserve in Mpumalanga with a great excuse for an excursion: a birthday. Of course, a fanfare around a birth date is a distinctly human ritual and this one is a biggie: a big bull’s 60th. I couldn’t think of a more memorable place to mark it than here, at Fifty-Five Mjejane, an exclusive-use property for groups of up to 12. 

THERE'S A ZULU BEHIND MY STOEP

After a slow drive from the reserve gate, we arrive to a gracious welcome from Carlita van der Merwe, the guest relations manager, and her game-ranger husband Hans. They put champagne glasses in our hands and lead us into a courtyard bursting with indigenous plants — acacia trees and swaying grasses. Set back around the edges of this are the sleeping quarters: six “beehive huts” with perfectly domed, thatched roofs. This configuration is inspired by the Zulu umuzi — a traditional homestead made up of a circle of such huts, called indlu, typically occupied by the members of an extended family. The open middle is used for gatherings or as a kraal for the cattle.

But while traditional indlu would be sparsely furnished, with just a hearth in the middle and rolled reed sleeping mats, Mjejane’s are anything but. A four-poster bed is the beautiful centrepiece, adorned with plush mosquito netting and luxury linens. There’s a Nespresso machine and a bar fridge. Further in, a dressing area with built-in cupboards. A curved stone wall behind double vanities leads to a deep bathtub and on to the outside shower. Carlita assures us that all the suites are identical in layout and amenities, so there’s no need to jostle for seniority. The only differences are decorative, in the colours — though all have a muted, soothing palette — and in the specific works of art, all locally commissioned and undeniably African. All the suites also have armchairs on their stoeps facing the inner courtyard, but enjoy a level of privacy thanks to those considerately cultivated trees.

WHAT A WATER FEATURE

Follow the path further and you reach the “main house”, a sweep of communal spaces all connected by a long and deep, split-level deck that’s clearly designed for capitalising on the 45m of river frontage. The variety of rooms and open-plan spaces, most of which maintain a view of the water, gives a multigenerational appeal to the place, where everyone can pick their preferred pursuits. 

There is a gym, a hit with the nosy teens and diligent 20-somethings; and a chill room stocked with board games and a gigantic TV. The games room with a pool table and foosball is a hit with everyone in a friendly tournament that plays out all weekend. There is an outdoor lounge overlooking the rim-flow pool and an indoor one with a double-sided fireplace and a dining table on the other side. The swish kitchen is loaded with gadgets and goodies to please even the pickiest of chefs, including a walk-in fridge. Our resident Jamie Oliver is in heaven here — pounding out a dough from scratch to get creative in the pizza oven down by the boma with its braai and firepit alongside a lovely, long outdoor dining table. 

Just launched in June, Fifty-Five Mjejane is one of the newer lodges in the reserve, with a contemporary African-inspired aesthetic that feels expensive but not pretentiously so. It’s finessed but not fussy. Classy but comfortable. Natural materials, earthy tones and the long, meandering line of the layout all seem to subtly mirror the river and let the stunning natural surroundings shine. 

Mainly I don’t want to miss a minute of lazy luxury at the lodge. There’s so much action right in front of us anyway — and not just our elephant friends, who come and go often. There are also reliable hippos and crocs and a pair of skittish bushbuck who like to peer at us through the fence. 

One afternoon, an hours-long drama unfolds when the elephants are irked by a pod of hippos, apparently in the way of where they want to go. Worried about the babies getting too close, we imagine, some larger ellies approach as envoys. There is some trumpeting, some grunting. The hippos look cross but begrudgingly give enough ground so that the whole herd can march by in single file and eventually they are gone over the hill. The hippos are obviously embarrassed, and sulk with their faces in the sand for the rest of the day.

THE EASY EXHALE

However everyone fills their afternoons, the throbbing orange ball of the sun as it starts to drop draws all the humans back to the pool deck. It’s time to nurse tumblers of Amarula and watch as bleeding pinks and oranges bruise to purples and blues on the horizon. The river takes on a glassy shimmer that eventually fades to black. 

Later, when the night has drawn a curtain on the scene, sound and taste take centre stage. We braai and, well fed, retire to the fire to enjoy the audible theatre of the bush. Out there, there is splashing, honking, an occasional low whooping. Hyenas maybe? It's all impressively ominous out there, but we are smug and safe, content on our island of comfort. 

Besides the Van der Merwes, there are only two more staff members, who manifest in the mornings to sweep the boma and restock the wood pile. The dishes get done and the rooms get made up quietly in the background. Our only jobs are to make sure there is no food left lying outside in the evenings, to pull closed the giant sliding doors and to cover up the dying fires before bed. 

And here is the thing that really sets Mjejane apart. There is something special about the mix it achieves, of having a luxury property all to yourself, with every comfort and amenity you could want at your disposal, and help on hand for the grudge tasks if you want, but the freedom to be and do exactly as you please — the kind of abandon that only inner circles allow. To pad about barefoot, not brush your hair, experiment in the kitchen, flop about in the pool. To sit in the dark around the fire as late as you like without worrying that you might be keeping anyone up. 

A perfect place, in short, to migrate to for a while for some brilliant bush time and bonding with some of your all-time favourite folks, big birthday excuse or not. 

GETAWAY AT A GLANCE: 

WHERE IT IS: The entrance to Mjejane Game Reserve is in Emjejane (formerly Hectorspruit), a 4.5-hour drive from Johannesburg and just over an hour from Mbombela. The nearest airport is Kruger Mpumalanga International.

SLEEPING: The six bedroom suites sleep two people each with the option to have each made up with twin beds or a king-size. 

EATING: It’s self-catering so you bring the food, but there’s a good supply of basics on hand including coffee (plus a top-notch industrial machine to be your barista), teas, sugar, salt, pepper and oil. They also supply things like wood and firelighters and cloth napkins. 

FACILITIES: Braai, pizza oven, ice machine, a cold room, a washing machine, dryer and dishwasher. There are also cooler boxes and flasks which you can bring along on game drives. Uncapped Wi-Fi and DStv Premium.

MORE TO DO: Compulsive golfers may care that there are a few courses nearby (the closest is 20 minutes). There is also a mobile bush spa available, where the therapists come to you. Game drives in the Kruger can be arranged for a fee, but you have to leave Mjejane and drive to a gate — the nearest one being Malelane, about 22km away.

RATES: R34,200 per night with a minimum stay of three nights, plus a one-off R350 reserve levy.

MORE INFO: Visit 55mjejane.co.za or email info@55mjejane.co.za.

• Sleith was a guest of Fifty-Five Mjejane.