getaway.co.za 93SÁBIÈ GAME PARK, MAPUTO PROVINCE
WORDS& PHOTOGRAPHSBYMICHELLEHARDIE
three days he noticed the tiniest movement in the
undergrowth and never failed to get excited by the
appearance of wildlife, however small. Early one
morning we came across a sounder of warthogs
crossing the road. Their tails perked upright, they
stopped to look at us for a moment and then
trotted off into the veld. But we were off to find
bigger stuff – those elusive lions. More than 35
have been counted in the reserve, with one pride
sticking to the north and another the south.
Since early 2000, Mozambique has been slowly
reclaiming its wildlife heritage. Game populations
were utterly decimated during the country’s
16-year civil war. Sábiè is playing its role in the
preservation and conservation of almost 30 000
hectares of bush adjoining the Lower Sabie section
of Kruger National Park, which is all within the
Greater Lebombo Conservancy (GLC), an area of
2 483 square kilometres. The GLC is regarded as the
most critical area on Earth for rhino conservation –
almost half of the world’s remaining rhino roam
here. Sábiè’s anti-poaching efforts and work to
include locals in building wildlife tourism has
earned them a conservation award in Mozambique.
Those elusive lions aside, the park has elephant,
giraffe, leopard, wild dog, and black and white
rhino along with various antelope and plains
game. Birdlife is also rich – a rare Taita falcon’s
nest in the Masintonto gorge has been sighted.
‘Sábiè began in early 2000 with a handful of
‘dagga boys’ (buffalo) and a small herd of impala,‘
Peter explained. ‘Through a conservation
programme over many years we built up theBELOW%XDORQXPEHUV
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Let’s face it, Mozambique is not renowned as
a wildlife destination. For many South African
travellers, the country is the nearest ‘international’
holiday for lazy days at the beach sucking on fat
juicy prawns and sipping ‘Dosh Ms’. But, I was
on safari in the extreme south-west of the
country at Sábiè Game Park, gnawing on buffalo
shin prepared expertly by head chef Tapiwa
‘Taps’ Mahachi.
That day, it had been a crack-of-dawn start in
Cape Town to catch my 6.30am flight via Joburg to
Nelspruit airport. By 11am, I was on the road with
Sábiè’s marketing director, Peter Ruddle, who
would be my guide and drive us into Mozambique.
Mpumalanga sure is magnificent farming country.
The landscape was filled with sugarcane fields,
orange groves and banana plantations, and I could
see the distant Lebombo mountains as we moved
towards the border at Komatipoort.
Once we were in Mozambique, the scenery
flattened out and we passed through the town
of Moamba and small settlement of Sabie
(pronounced ‘Serbia’ by locals). By late afternoon
we were sitting on a rocky outcrop looking across
Piva Dam at Sábiè Game Park. Peter was fiddling
with the telemetry radio-tracking antenna, then
raised it in the air slowly moving it in a circle
above his head. All we could hear was scratchy
white noise. He sat down and took a gulp of beer.
‘I think the lions have moved off. They were
around here yesterday,’ he said.
Peter has worked in the bush for most of his life
and has honed his spotting skills; over the next