Samara Game Reserve is a treasure trove of wildlife conservation stories

Truth be told, game reserves are not everyone’s cup of tea, and five-hour game drives may be exhilarating for some but a tad tedious for others, especially if the drive sets off before dawn or extends into a cold night, navigating dirt road tracks edged by steep mountain drops worthy of an episode of Ice Road Trucker.

The trick to bringing the bush and its denizens to life, beyond their immediate reality in a bucolic if stark landscape, is to tell stories that chart the lives of these animals, National Geographic style, with all the attendant drama of loss and triumph that has inevitably befallen them.

Enter Samara Private Game Reserve, near Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape. Immersed in an amphitheatre of mountains on 70,000 acres of Great Karoo vistas, this is a treasure trove of some of South Africa’s most heartwarming conservation stories.

Samara is where the late Sibella, one of the most famous cheetahs in conservation history, was given an extraordinary lease of life.

The mountain scenery at Samara is breathtaking.

Born wild in the North West Province, Sibella was two years old when she was set upon by hunting dogs who tore away all the flesh on her hind legs. A rope was forced roughly into her mouth by hunters, and she was savagely beaten and locked in a cage.

Lying at death’s door, she was fortunate enough to be rescued by the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust, underwent a five-hour surgery and extensive rehabilitation, and in 2003, she was relocated to Samara.

Sibella reared 19 cubs from four litters during her lifetime, making her either mother, grandmother, great-grandmother or great-great-grandmother to 14.2% of South Africa’s current cheetah metapopulation.

Lions also have something to be thankful for here. In January, Samara released a founder pride of lions, restoring a species that once roamed the Great Karoo more than 180 years ago.

A bat-eared fox pup peeps out from its den in Samara. Picture: David Swanepoel

The reintroduction is critical because lion populations have dwindled by 43% in the past 20 years, are estimated at between 20,000 and 30,000, with only 3,000 wild lions in South Africa.

The reintroduction of lion has transformed Samara into a “Big Five” game reserve, as elephant, buffalo, black rhino and leopard are already present.

On my game drive, I was lucky to get a rare sighting of the small family of elephants in Samara, and they have a story of their own.

Recently, two bull elephants, originally from Phinda Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, were released here, the first bull elephants to return to the Plains of Camdeboo in 150 years. They joined a founder herd of six female elephants, released in October 2017.

A Cheetah cub peers over the dam wall at Samara. Picture: David Swanepoel

All eyes are now on the two bulls to see how they interact with the females, and how they settle in.

These animals are all part of a big picture plan. Before early farmers and settlers eradicated the Karoo’s wildlife, it boasted a rich biodiversity, and Samara was home to cheetah, rhino, Cape lion, springbok and elephant.

So when Sarah and Mark Tompkins, owners of Samara Private Game Reserve, first established the reserve in 1997, their aim was to restore the area to what it once was.

These are the conservation tales that create intrigue and a yen to know more, and they’re what give you the impetus to get out of a nest of fine linen and into the Landie in search of these four-footed legends, mulling over the huge commitment and effort that humans have made to render a Samara private game reserve that wouldn’t otherwise be here.

A bush dinner under the stars. Picture: Etienne Ooosthuizen

Accommodation-wise, Samara has two, five-star luxury lodges. Karoo Lodge is a renovated farmstead overlooking an amphitheatre of mountains, and The Manor is a luxury villa with a private pool, chef, butler and ranger that can be booked exclusively or by private individuals.

I stayed at the Karoo Lodge, in one of their standalone cottages that feel like little outposts on a lunar edge. These suites open onto the wide wraparound verandah synonymous with traditional Karoo farmhouses, but with all the comforts you’d expect, including a grand old fireplace.

The thing to appreciate at Samara is that if game drives aren’t your thing, you can do guided walks, wilderness picnics, birding, mountain hikes and mountain biking.

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