By the time we left Jembisa Bush Home, our eldest might as well have moved in. She knew which cupboard held the colouring books, where Milo, the massive black Labrador, liked to nap in the afternoons, and exactly which bunk bed was the most comfortable. I suppose that’s the biggest compliment we could give the place. It never felt like a hotel. It felt like home. A rather beautiful home in the middle of the Waterberg, but home all the same.
And a home we want to return to as soon as we can. Here are just some of the things that made our stay here stand out.
1. A more relaxed type of safari
Jembisa sits in the Waterberg, a malaria-free wilderness area home to plenty of wildlife, including giraffe, zebra, kudu, warthog and a host of smaller animals and birdlife, but you won’t find the Big Five roaming around here. There are no lions or other large game, which makes for a relaxed safari experience, particularly with young children. You can walk, cycle or go on traditional game drives, but because there isn’t the pressure to tick species off a list, we never felt like we were rushing from one sighting to the next. There was time to stop. To ask questions. To notice things we might otherwise have driven straight past.
2. Activities everyone could enjoy
One of the things that makes Jembisa particularly well suited to families is the sheer variety of things there is to do. Safari here isn’t just about climbing into a game vehicle twice a day and the nice thing was that activities were also adapted around the ages and interests of the children. One day we’d head out on mountain bikes, the next we’d be bouncing across the river in a 4×4. We searched for San rock art, went on walks, looked for leopard tracks pressed into the mud, and spent far longer than expected examining porcupine poo because our five-year-old found it fascinating.
3. We had our own little corner of the house
When we travel with our kids, it usually comes with some trepidation as it can be difficult for everyone to get a good night’s sleep when you all share one room, no matter how big a suite it is. At Jembisa, that wasn’t an issue. We had an entire wing of the house just for our family, with three spacious bedrooms: two with king-size beds and large bathrooms, and a children’s room tucked between them, complete with bunk beds that our daughter immediately claimed. I particularly loved the main bathroom. The bath looked straight out over the garden, and you could easily spend hours just lying there watching birds flit between the trees.
And then there is the house itself. Jembisa is designed as a proper bush home rather than a collection of separate lodge rooms, with comfortable living spaces, a large veranda, a swimming pool and plenty of places to settle down with a book or a cup of coffee between activities. There are just two family wings, so at any one time the house is shared by only two families. It means there is a lovely sense of privacy, and if you want the ultimate version of that, you can book the entire house for your family or group and have Jembisa completely to yourselves.
4. The playroom was priceless
The girls discovered the playroom within minutes of walking through the door, and it was the first place they would go when they woke up in the morning. It was packed full of books, puzzles, colouring-in and toys, including a full ping-pong table, but the biggest attraction was the little ride-on motorbikes. The girls zoomed around the house at every opportunity, with a resident pooch adoringly following behind. And then they’d retreat once more to play, while we enjoyed a hot cup of coffee or simply a moment to ourselves on the veranda.
5. It’s all-inclusive without being pretentious
Jembisa works on an all-inclusive basis, so once you arrive, pretty much everything is taken care of. Meals, drinks, snacks and activities are all part of the stay. If we wanted another coffee, it was ready in seconds. If the girls wanted juice after playing outside, they helped themselves. If we fancied a drink before dinner, we only needed to ask, and it was there.
But the problem with many all-inclusive hotels is that they also come with a mandate. Shoes must be worn to the dining room, and collared shirts are compulsory at dinner. But Jembisa was different. Breakfast in slippers? Fine. Hair still wet from the shower? Nobody cared. The girls often arrived with grass stains on their knees and a collection of interesting sticks they’d picked up on the way. In fact, the whole place encouraged relaxation. There are no expectations to be anything other than comfortable. For us, that’s exactly what a holiday should feel like.
6. The food was delicious, and always served somewhere different
Some holidays involve a lot of discussion about where to eat or what’s for dinner. This wasn’t one of them. Everything was included, so all we had to do was turn up hungry. The chef has been cooking at Jembisa for more than twenty years, and you can tell. The food was simply really good, whether it was lunch on the lawn, breakfast beside the river or an afternoon ice-cream stop near some rock art.
7. Our daughters cooked lunch in a termite mound
Now that’s a sentence that sounds made up, but it actually happened. The girls were invited to make their own pizzas one afternoon, and once they’d finished decorating them with enthusiastic handfuls of cheese and eating most of the pineapple before it went on the pizza, we headed out into the bush. We were then driven out to a surprise set-up amongst the trees where the pizzas were shuttled into a wood-fired oven carved out of a giant termite mound. And they were delicious!
8. Dinner felt like date night
Travelling with young children usually means eating quickly, with a tiny human on your lap or when your own food is cold. There’s often a little person shouting for more tomato sauce. The occasional dropping of cutlery. And an argument when someone announces they’re full after three mouthfuls. At Jembisa, we were afforded a rare privilege as parents. The staff arranged dinner early for the kids so we could settle them before overtiredness kicked in and the wheels fell off, and then we could wander downstairs for dinner on our own. There was no need to leave the house or pay extra for a babysitter. It was like being at home, but with someone else cooking. And with the monitor on, knowing they were just upstairs asleep, we could actually relax. Dinner would drift into dessert, dessert into another drink, and eventually we’d end up sitting around the fire with an Amarula, listening to the sounds of the bush. It’s funny how something so ordinary can feel like such a luxury when you’re parents of young children.
9. The people made the house feel lived in
You can’t fake warmth. Like the chef, many of the team have worked at Jembisa for more than twenty years, and I suspect that’s one of the reasons the place feels the way it does. There wasn’t that sleek, polished, slightly rehearsed service you sometimes get at luxury lodges. Instead, everyone remembered our daughters’ names. They stopped to chat. They’d keep an eye on the girls while we finished breakfast or enjoyed another cup of coffee. Nobody made a fuss about it. They just helped. By the end of the trip, it felt less like being looked after by staff and more like being surrounded by people who genuinely wanted us to enjoy ourselves. Kind of like family.
10. Astro and Milo became part of the family
After a few weeks of travelling, we’d started missing our own dog. So when Astro came charging over to introduce himself, and Milo wandered up looking for scratches, it felt like home. Astro is a Jack Russell with endless energy. Milo is the enormous black Labrador who seems perfectly happy just being wherever everyone else is. The girls followed them everywhere; they’d call for them by name in the morning, and even now, weeks later, the girls still ask how Astro and Milo are doing.
When people ask us about Jembisa, I could tell them about the beautiful house or the wildlife or the food. But that’s not where I’ll start. I’ll tell them about our daughter proudly announcing she’d cooked pizza in a termite mound. About sitting around the fire with an Amarula after the girls had gone to bed. About Milo following us everywhere.
Sure, the wildlife was wonderful. The house was beautiful. But what we’ll remember most is how comfortable we felt there. As though, for a few days at least, we’d been lucky enough to borrow someone’s home in the bush.