Peter Phillip, the owner of Makulu Makete game farm in the north of Limpopo Province, has been forbidden to use the ‘g-word”.
‘People have grown so tired of me talking about grass that it has now been reduced to the ‘g-word’,” says the former mine magnate turned conservationist.
Phillip, the retired South African-born president of an American mining company, decided to invest his retirement money not into travelling the world and playing golf, but in a piece of Africa which he wants to reclaim for future generations.
He recently bought Makulu Makete and is struggling with typical ecological problems of the region, caused by a century of overgrazing and drought. The area is known for hunting and cattle farming, and both types of farmers have allowed too many animals to graze on their properties. Grass is virtually non-existent, while shrubs and trees are abundant.
Phillip wants to turn his piece of African heaven into a lush tropical Eden where visitors can enjoy uninterrupted views of animals, and where the only shooting will be done with a camera.
Makulu Makete is the ideal getaway for stressed-out city slickers. Phillip and his team make guests feel like a part of the family, entertaining them with stories about the bush and particularly veld rehabilitation (he’s allowed to use that ‘v-word”).
The farm’s veld rehabilitation project is currently one of the biggest privately run programmes in South Africa. When Phillip bought the farm three years ago, he immediately realised the potential it had but also that a lot of work needed to be done.
‘One hundred years ago, this veld was covered with savannahs,” he says. ‘The farmers then conducted hunts for hartebeest on horseback. Try getting a horse to do a hunt through these thick bushes today. My passion is to restore the veld back to its original status.”
With the help of his ‘token Australian” partner Jane Chidgey, ecologist Engela du Toit and ranger Shawn Petersen, he is cutting away indigenous shrubs that have become so rampant that they prevent any grass from growing. The rehabilitation is an eight-month, 9 000 working hours, 200ha programme of bush and tree-cutting, followed by herbicide treatment.
About 160 000 bushes and trees have been removed from the farm so far. Helicopters have been used to re-seed 600ha, replenishing the seed bank with a mixture of four different kinds of coated grass seeds. ‘The veld cannot recuperate on its own. Human intervention is needed,” Phillip says.
Guests receive information about far more topics than just veld rehabilitation. The lodge prides itself on educating newcomers to Africa about its ways and the bush.
In the morning and afternoon they are treated to game drives, during which Petersen and Du Toit give them first-rate information about the giraffe, eland and gemsbok they are likely to meet. During the day they can choose from a series of lectures on insects, mammals, trees and other inhabitants of the veld.
Phillip is targeting retired Americans as Makulu Makete’s main market. ‘We recommend foreign guests visit us first, get the necessary information from our informative lectures and then visit the Kruger National Park armed with much more understanding about the African bush so that they have an enhanced experience while on safari.”
South Africans are not neglected. While locals are welcome the visit the main lodge, Phillip says the self-catering camp that accommodates six people is becoming very popular with locals.
‘South Africans like to bring their own food and cater for themselves. We are expecting more and more people to make use of this facility,” he says.
Apart from the game drives and bush lectures, Makulu Makete offers a cultural experience. About 1 000 years ago members of an ancient civilisation, now extinct, called the farm their home. They lived on one of the koppies on the farm, and today the remains of their civilisation are still clearly visible.
Makulu Makete is lodge with a lot of character and hospitality. If you are lucky, you might even trick Peter Phillip into using the ‘g-word”.