Guest Blog: Capturing the Wonder of Masiya’s Camp

About the guest writer, Jane Broughton

Following a career in publishing and magazines, Jane began a freelance career as a travel writer and brand journalist, working from home long before it became a hashtag. Work assignments have taken her to some of Southern and East Africa’s most extraordinary, often wild, places where the emphasis is on luxury, low-impact tourism supporting ambitious conservation and community projects. She has worked with some of the best travel brands in the business, and continues to contribute travel features to global media.

The Royal Portfolio’s first tented camp is iconic, and not just because it’s under pink canvas. From the moment my guide, Nicola Bargiacchi, pulls up in front of Masiya’s Camp, I’m drawn into an enchanting world that both soothes and heightens the senses – a rare feat in the heart of a reserve that crackles with life. Giant ceramic pots stand sentry at the entrance, which is an outdoor living room – think Persian rugs, antiques, and elegant sofas to sink into – designed for the frequent arrivals and departures that punctuate a typical day on safari. Chilled, scented pink face cloths and delicious, freshly pressed green juice, jauntily garnished with starfruit, set the tone for what’s to follow. My soul is so ready to be quenched by nature; my heart instantly succumbs to the camp’s warm, welcoming embrace.

I’m familiar with Liz Biden’s signature style, having been fortunate enough to have stayed in all of her lodges and hotels over the years. Theatrical, opulent, and drenched in colour, Liz ensures that each deeply comfortable and comforting space feels like you’re arriving at the home of a dear friend – the proverbial hostess with the mostest, not to mention exceptional taste.

As with all her other properties across South Africa, Liz’s maximalist vision is realised through painstaking sourcing. She also has an uncompromising eye for doing things properly. Finding the exact shade of pink canvas for Masiya’s took months. If you’ve never stayed in a tent or dismissed the idea entirely, these six suites will convert you for life. At 100 square metres indoors and more than double that once you include the timber decks and heated plunge pools, this is emphatically not camping.

Royal Malewane’s first tented camp is named after Wilson Masiya, a revered master tracker who worked on the reserve from 1999 until his untimely passing in 2015. The very first time I visited Royal Malewane’s original lodge, I was struck by the intuitive fluidity of the guide-tracker relationship between then-head guide Juan Pinto (now head of conservation) and Wilson. The man’s legacy continues to infuse every safari here. Deputy head guide, Nicola, is one of the most qualified female guides in the industry, and I’m thrilled that she has been assigned to our vehicle. She has worked with Bennett Nyathi, her tracker, for over 13 years.

What began as a guide-tracker relationship between two individuals from very different worlds has grown into a deep friendship built on trust, respect, and countless shared moments in the bush. Guide and tracker have become schooled at reading the land and anticipating each other’s thoughts without exchanging a word. It’s a bond that few will ever experience or understand – a close-knit dynamic and collective attention to detail that has the power to transform your safari experience. Bennett’s subtle hand signal prompts Nicola’s instant understanding, and the vehicle stops before anybody even registers what they’ve spotted, whether it’s flattened grass or the faint whiff of an animal’s scent still hanging in the air.

Wilson Masiya

On our first morning drive, Bennett identifies fresh tracks in the soft sand near a copse of jackalberry trees, A leopard? Our attention is diverted by a frisky male rhino with his tail up, which Nicola explains is the sign of courtship behaviour. The female he is pursuing is not remotely interested, and we watch the standoff unfold at a respectful distance. Near Langwaan Dam, we pause to watch hippos surfacing and submerging, jostling for space, while nyala graze along the water’s edge. Bennett tells us about a 10-year-old leopard who hunts this territory with her two cubs, though she’s intensely secretive and only active at night. We manoeuvre slowly through a dry riverbed and come across an impressively large herd of buffalo around a bend – 150-plus individuals pulling at grass with their tongues or wallowing contentedly in the lushness. This becomes the rhythm of our days in the reserve – allowing nature to unfold at its own pace rather than chasing after sightings, trusting that patience and skilled tracking will reveal what needs to be seen.

Royal Malewane falls within Thornybush, a private nature reserve that forms part of the Greater Kruger conservation area. The biodiversity across its 15,000 hectares is amazing. The wannabe birder in me enthusiastically ticks off species on every drive: blue waxbills, bronze-winged mannequins, dark-capped bulbuls, yellow-fronted canaries, magpie shrikes, a southern black flycatcher, little bee-eaters, and a lilac-breasted roller sitting perfectly still on a fever tree branch. I appreciate Nicola’s inclusion of the Afrikaans name for many of the birds we spot, which are almost always more descriptive (and memorable) than their English equivalent. Between Nicola and Bennett, nothing escapes their notice. They take turns pointing out the small things, too, such as spider wasps paralysing their prey to provide their larvae’s first meal, the changes that undergo tamboti trees, as late summer becomes autumn, and lichen patterns that indicate rainfall levels.

We spend an afternoon in the presence of a large lion pride, including several pregnant females, just enjoying the interactions. As expected, they are conserving their energy through the warmest part of the day, but remain constantly alert. A round of yawning signals it’s time to move out of the dense vegetation where they were resting. The day is starting to cool and there are bellies to feed. At a waterhole, watching crocodiles sunning themselves, an African fish eagle circles overhead, throws back its head and gives that unmistakable, piercing call that echoes across the bush. We stop for sundowners as the golden hour light softens everything it touches – that brief window before sunset when the bush falls quiet and the shared ritual of drinks in the wild creates an unspoken sense of togetherness among like-minded people.

Between game drives, there’s no rigid schedule pressing you to be somewhere at a certain time. Everything is flexible, depending on what you want to do and when. The beautiful tented suite deserves to be enjoyed to the max, after all.

One day, I skipped an afternoon drive, choosing instead to relax next to my private pool, and enjoy a refreshing dip followed by a light lunch of beef tagliata served with horseradish cream, blistered tomatoes, pickled mustard seeds, and fresh rocket. Does homemade fruit sorbet classify as a dessert? I tend to reassure myself that it does not. With birds calling and a breeze rustling through the grass, I looked up and saw an elephant stripping off the thorny branches of a sickle bush just across the dry river in front of me. I like to think you see what you’re meant to see. He ambled off as silently as he’d arrived.

Each of the six well-spaced suites is designed for exactly this kind of unhurried appreciation. Billowing, extravagantly tented ceilings anchor bespoke interiors. Don’t expect subdued khaki sameness. Instead, each echoes the blue sky, ochre earth, the vibrancy of flowering plants or iridescence of birds’ feathers, the textures and shades of the surroundings and the constantly changing quality of the light. Entering through carved Swahili doors, there’s a vintage writing desk for field notes and Leica binoculars for wildlife watching. Hand-embroidered Indian textiles sit comfortably alongside vintage Boussac fabrics sourced from the French countryside. The bedding is artisanal, hand-sewn, made to Liz’s exacting specifications. The art is African, striking and contemporary, by the likes of Tafadzwa Tega, Kate Gottgens, and Kudzanai Chiurai. In the open-plan bathroom, a deep, claw-foot bathtub is positioned to face the view. An indoor shower big enough for two leads to an open-air shower.

One morning, propped up in bed against half a dozen pillows, enjoying a quiet coffee, a lone giraffe wanders into view. It’s just past sunrise, and the graceful animal is perfectly backlit by the early light. Observing the bush gradually waking around me, I feel like the happiest of campers – one who’ll never look at a tent the same way again.