Born and raised in Kwazulu Natal, Vaneshree is proudly South African. She always knew that she would enjoy a career in the customer service industry and, after having completed her studies in hotel management followed by 20 years in the aviation industry, she embraced a two-year sabbatical and enjoyed every moment of being a wife and a mom of two active boys. When Walter and Melanie (owners of Safari Online) met Vaneshree, she realized however that the travel bug was still biting. This time around she was ready for a new challenge by stepping into the tourism industry and she joined Safari Online.
My favourite safari destination is the Sabi Sands Private Reserve in the Kruger Reserve. It’s an incredibly rich area for wildlife, boasting some of the highest densities of big game in South Africa. The wildlife is well habituated to the area, it’s a reserve free from the distractions of large tourist numbers, and close encounters with Sabi’s wildlife are usually an extraordinary experience.
The Big 5 – lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino – are resident in many African game parks but it’s in the Sabi Sand that you have the best chance of seeing all of them with something approaching certainty.
Being an adventurist who enjoys the outdoors, hiking as well as sight-seeing, what better way to witness Africa’s natural landscapes and wildlife than through safaris?
In the Klaserie Private Reserve we observed at close quarters the natural relationship between predator and prey, with lion, leopard, hyena and even African wild dog often seen. We also saw lions stay with their buffalo feast for two days.
I love game drives, getting up close with the wildlife and staying still to watch as a herd of elephants or zebra come down for a drink at a waterhole. I like to reflect on my day in the wild and take in the African sunset – and an African sunset is an awesome sight to behold as the night sets in and the sounds of nocturnal wildlife begin.
In wild Africa, it doesn’t matter if you see just one or a thousand sunsets: each time the show of shadows and light will leave you dazzled and in awe because you have just witnessed a miracle.
