Sun Destinations

The bushveld is a breeding ground for love : romantic love, love of the wild and love of landscapes. This Valentine’s Day we want you to find inspiration in nature and create space for love.  Intuitively we all know that the great outdoors has the ability to strip us of our city slicker woes and help us in the quest to find inner peace. The bushveld is a primitive, rugged place that reminds us that love, harmony, kindness and synchronicity between body and earth is key to wellbeing. Find the realness within, and you’ll find a sense of connection. A few of our khaki-clad couples found developed a connection in the bushveld, and fell in love. Today we’re going to introduce these couples and find out their story. Remember…couples that play together, stay together ! 

Chacma Bush Camp

Brit and Jay manage Chacma Bush Camp. This is their story. 

Brit says, ” Jay and I will be together for 5 years on the 5^th June 2020 and will be saying I do on the 6^th June 2020.  We both have a passion for the bush and our passion brought us together.  We met at a small lodge in the Northern Sabi Sands before moving to the Western sector of the Sands where we have spent the last four years together and have now just recently started at Chacma Bush Camp.

A bit of a cliché but our first date would have been the highlight of the rest of our lives together.  Jason had prepared a small bush dinner for just the two of us around the fire in a dry riverbed. While we dinned around the fire, we had 2 Honey badger scurry past, a White Rhino and a Leopard vocalising only a few meters away. “

Africa on Foot

We’ve selected two couples from Africa on Foot that opted to be in our Valentine’s Day shoot. We do have other couples in the Klaserie, but these are the ones that don’t mind the spotlight.

AD and Cherie are the camp managers of Africa on Foot, and they are high school sweethearts.

Cherie says, “Ad and I both come from the same small town Kimberley. We were in the same primary school, high school and church. Our paths constantly crossed, yet we did not know each other. Until one Sunday morning I received a message from the 17 year old boy saying I looked very pretty at Sunday school. I was 15 years old, so clearly I had all the butterflies in the world when the cutest boy at church noticed me.We became the bestest of friends. Although we are COMPLETE opposites we have all the same interests. One of the main ones being the love for nature and the outdoors.

Therefore, after 6 years we are extremely blessed that we get to call the bush our home – with wildlife on our doorsteps and a best friend to share this experience with. There is no better place in the world to fall in love.”

We have yet another couple from Africa on Foot, who’ve been a massive part of the Africa on Foot team for years ! It’s none other than Judy and Alfie, valuable employees of Africa on Foot. 

Judy says, “Hello, I’m Judy Machaile from Mozambique. When I met Alfredo Cuambe at Chokwe it was 2002 -13 September. He is the 1 I call my husband today. We have 2 kids – we named them Suzan and Adele, a first and second born. God bless us with cute baby girls. My husband – we love each other and the memories that we have! My man,  he’s a caring, sharing & loveable  man. I  adore  him very much. We came here to South Africa  to work but every time we go home to see our family members.”

Roam Private Game Reserve

Abi and Don have plenty of experience when it come managing luxury lodges. This power couple both possess an exceptional amount of knowledge about the wild and conservation. Here’s how they met…

Abi says that when she was based at Phinda, Don was a trainee guide and she worked at reception. Abi spotted him outside of the ranger’s room, and thought to herself, “Who on earth is this kid”? ! Both parties spent plenty of time together, learning about the grasses and the trees. They helped each other out. Their connection to the wild and each other grew. She said it wasn’t the most glamorous start to a relationship, but Don did something right – today they’re happily married with a beautiful son.

And their first date? Well, it’s not for everyone ! Their first date involved stripping and hacking up an impala carcass. their second date was a bit more romantic. Date number two involved taking the game viewer out to a local dam, where they ate pizza and watched elephants swimming. This was in 2007 and 2008 they formally started dating.

Ezulwini Game Lodges

Craig manages River Lodge with the support of his loving wife, Angele. So just how did these two meet? Interestingly enough, Facebook was responsible for this couple’s story. They meet through the “people you know” section and turns out that they had a similar circle of friends. They were like two ships passing in the night, until they eventually met up and the stars aligned.

Walkers Bush Villa

Charles and Shirell manage the exclusive Walkers Bush Villa in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve. Both parties are super efficient and come with a world of guiding, managing and business experience.

Here’s their story :

Shirell says, “Charles and I met in Pietermaritzburg, KZN in 2008. Charles was already guiding and I was finishing up my business degree. I joined Charles in the bush shortly after, and 12 years later we are happily married and still loving life in the bush.”