Alma, Waterberg

We are not quite talking Putsonderwater here, but Alma is rather in the middle of nowhere, north of Bela-Bela and west of the N1 en route to Polokwane from Pretoria (Tshwane) and Johannesburg. However, what it has as a distinct advantage is its location in a malaria free area. Alma is close enough to Gauteng for a weekend away, and close enough to see game and an abundance of bird life, without having to succumb to a course of quinine.

Alma lies just east of the Marakele National Park and south of the town of Vaalwater, connected to the latter by the R33. It is a tiny town in the midst of bushveld that stretches as far as the eye can see, interspersed only with the odd rock or flat top hills called mesas. The town's local school that educates children from surrounding farms and villages lacks cooking facilities so the midday meal is cooked over an open fire out of doors.

The joy of the area comes from the barely inhabited surrounds. Accommodation is available mainly on private game farms where thatched chalets, tented bush camps and wooden mountain cabins place one right in the midst of the beautiful Waterberg with an abundance of gorgeous trees, game on one's doorstep, dark nights and quiet days peppered only by the calls of the wild, and complete escape. Night drives, days spent glued to binoculars tracking wild animals or simply collapsing at camp with a book in a hammock, this is what Alma has to promise.