If being licked on your forehead by a giraffe isn't on your list of must-have experiences, you may want to avoid a trip to Mansfield Private Game Reserve.
If being licked on your forehead by a giraffe isn't on your list of must-have experiences, you may want to avoid a trip to Mansfield Private Game Reserve.
On the other hand, even if you think ungulate bonding is weird, there are other ways to enjoy this strip of river valley thicket just 6km from the area’s busiest coastal resort.
Spend the morning messing about in an old tractor that doesn’t work, gaze skywards at noisy Tintin-style aeroplanes skimming the trees above you at 10-minute intervals, join the frenzy of splashing and loudness, or soak up the roar of speedboats up the river.
This is kid heaven.
Curiously, though, the recipient of the ruminant’s attentions was an amazed adult. The children had sensibly heeded the signs that warn against petting wild animals.
On the banks of the Kowie River, Mansfield is a popular pre-race training venue for out of town rowing teams ahead of regattas further down the river.
That part of the reserve has a range of accommodation including a well-laid-out campsite, forest hideaways that can accommodate 10 each, and fully serviced oxwagons for people who know each other well (they contain an enormous made-up bed and that’s it).
In season the riverside Black Rock restaurant operates, selling light meals.
Apart from Gambit, the tame giraffe, there is plenty of game here – zebra, wildebeest, impala, blesbuck, bushbuck, nyala, eland, waterbuck, duiker and monkeys, the website says. Many of those you’ll see from the road down to the riverside resort – and you can also book a game drive.
There are also plenty of children about – another species altogether.
And what grown-ups should be doing in such a place is braai, sit around talking to friends or lie on the grass reading a book, while the pool, trampoline, jungle gym and two old vehicles complete for the rest of the family's entertainment requirements.
Canoes for hire offer the chance to explore upriver. Tip: check the tides – it’s a tidal river and hard work when it’s not going your way.
At dusk listen to the night sounds – a curious combination of crickets, and Cessnas being used for night-flying practice.
It’s a funny mixture but for some reason, it all works – particularly if you’ve got the right people with you to share it with.
Note: No giraffes or children were harmed in the making of this article.
HOW TO GET THERE
On the R67 past the spring, continue around 56km. The turnoff to Mansfield private reserve is to the right.
