Review of Ulusaba, by Barbara Erasmus

Richard Branson has become a synonym for entrepreneurship. Even leisure translates into a business opportunity for him. Limited Edition is the title of his upmarket portfolio of properties - small, exclusive resorts in spectacular locations from Italy to Morocco. Necker Island in the Caribbean was one of his first purchases- he couldn't resist the prospect of a property in the Virgin Islands. In June 1999, Branson added a slice of South African bushveld to his selection - Ulusaba, a luxury game-lodge in the Kruger Park, became Virgin territory.

Visitors touch down in the western sector of the Sabi Sand Reserve where they're met by a squad of khaki-clad rangers. They've a demanding job - pre-dawn game drives, long nights around the bar, questions they must have answered a thousand times - but they remain charming and attentive for the duration of the visit. They deserve their tips - frequently in American dollars. The luxury of Ulusaba makes it predominantly a destination chosen for either corporate incentives or tourists taking advantage of the weak rand.

Rock Lodge is perched on a koppie 150m above the lowveld, with panoramic views unsurpassed anywhere in the Kruger Park. Champagne is served on a wooden deck overlooking the Kswenga dam. A few buffalo co-operatively meander down to drink. The overflow from the lodge pool cascades over granite boulders interlaced with trees and ferns. The cool water provides welcome relief from the pervasive lowveld heat and guests feel suitably decadent as they sip cocktails in tall, iced glasses before the inaugural game drive.

The ranger and his keen-eyed tracker carry guns, adding a dangerous dimension and heightened expectations. A grey loerie calls its familiar cry and a discord of hadedahs flies overhead in formation as the open vehicles set out. The sun is fading and the trees are etched against the sky. Bushveld Teak. False Marula.Weeping Bushwillow. Tiny cream flowers hang suspended from the knob-thorn branches. The first rains have already fallen so the trees have donned their summer outfits, decked out for the tourists in subtle shades of green.

The ranger drives off-road, past three kudu cows, their large ears alert and attentive. They pass giraffe, grazing on tree tips. The ranger points out the red-billed ox-peckers, dotted on their necks like parasites. He says they eat seven thousand ticks a day though I can't imagine how anyone would arrive at such a statistic. Their detailed knowledge of flora and fauna is amazing. I asked if he ever felt tempted to fabricate but he said it wasn't worth the risk - an innocuous Japanese tourist could easily be a world-renowned ornithologist!

The party stops for sundowners in the veld - snacks and icy drinks as the sun slipped below the horizon. The stars come out to stud the sky like glow-worms. The bush feels different at night. The darkness is dense and all the other senses step up a gear to compensate for the lack of sight. The tracker, who can spot lion invisible to urban eyes, holds a powerful spotlight that moves in an arc through the darkness. The guests are silent and excited as they pass shadows that translate into rhino or eland. They're eyeball to eyeball with elephant, grazing relentlessly. The spotlight picks out a silent owl, motionless on a gnarled branch.

The radio cackles. 'Ingwe! Ingwe!' The ranger drives through the bush to join the team who'd made the sighting - a leopard at the foot of a tree trunk, disdainful of all the attention. She is dappled with dark rosettes but pale in the light that framed her. Her eyes are yellow and alert. She looks lethal…

It feels a lot safer back in the boma where they gathered for dinner. It looks as if there'd been a full scale slaughter in Noah's Ark when we saw the meat grilling on the braai. We didn't have to lift a finger. The wild outdoors is pretty civilised at Ulusaba. A group of local Shangaan women sang and stomped their way through a ritual dance, their voices raw and ethnic. The local community is part of the Ulusaba project, with alternative job creation for subsistence farmers.

We wandered off to bed - an opulent bed, framed by draped mosquito nets. I felt reluctant to get out of it each morning at such an uncivilised hour. A massive brass bath and open shower proved hard to resist - I must have been the cleanest person in Mpumalanga by the time we left! The décor is sufficiently African to satisfy tourists in search of an out-of-Africa experience. Paintings of tribal people in traditional dress. Woven cushions in warm, earthy colours. Wooden artefacts. A private balcony ensures a room with a view. We sprawled on reclining chairs, savouring the silence.

The weekend culminates in a lavish dinner in the luxurious dining room, with its imposing horn-decorated chairs. It's a sophisticated menu, more European than African - course upon course of artistic presentations - I started to envy the grazing capacity of the elephant!

A bushveld indaba at Ulusaba is an occasion to remember - even for Richard Branson…