Bush camp

One of the activities that we've been planning to do over the past couple of weeks is to camp in the reserve for the night. There is a designated area - not in lion territory I hasten to add - that has a purpose-built shelter, a braai, a fire area in the middle, worktops for preparing food and even a bar.

As I only have a few days left at Amakhala, I wanted to camp out before I leave. Unfortunately the weather didn't want to cooperate on Wednesday, with a strong wind and an unusually low temperature for this time of year. Not to be put off, we ventured back in the evening anyway.

On route to camp, we tried one more time to find the lions. For once they were in full view, even if it was just to show us a bit more of their narcoleptic tendencies.

Once at camp, we got the braai going and a bonfire to toast ourselves around. I think I've eaten more red meat in the last four weeks than I've eaten in the last six months. But it is very good. It's far more natural than anything else I've tasted at home.

We waited for it to get really dark before setting off on a night drive around 9pm. With a large flash light to hand, we could pick out all the eyes glowing in the dark. Given the cold weather, most of the animals had hunkered down for the night. And if we'd had any sense, so would we. We spent the next hour driving around in the cold wind in the hope of seeing something out there, but it was mostly spring hares which have this kangaroo-like jumping movement.

Back at camp, the game ranger warned us to shake our sleeping bags before getting in and to check our boots in the morning before putting them on again. That puts your mind at rest before you go to sleep, I can tell you. We settled into our sleeping bags, hearing the nightlife around us and watching the last logs burn down on the fire.

As dawn broke, we drifted into consciousness to the sounds of bird song. On the Cape ash tree close by, a red-billed woodhoopoe produced his own alarm call at 5.30am, which sounded just like some cartoon-version Woody Woodpecker. A bird with a sense of humour. Just what we needed.

By the time we'd packed up, the rain had started to set in quite heavily. We headed back to the other side of the reserve to look for the lions - resuming our normal morning duties. But after locating their approximate position, we admitted defeat and came back to the house for a hot shower - content in the knowledge that we had survived our bush camp. No one got bitten by a snake or mauled by a hyena. Four of us went and four of us returned.

The sleeping area