Spellbound on safari

“I DON’T like the look of his body language. I’m going to use my hat.” His horse almost nose to nose with a Cape buffalo, Ant Baber slowly lifts his hat. After a moment’s consideration, the buffalo sighs and relaxes, and the riders continue on their way after their exhilarating encounter – and a little wiser in the ways of the bush.

Apparently, you can also stop an elephant with a hat. That’s something that should be left to the experts, and we were undoubtedly in expert hands at Ant’s.

The eponymous Ant, a quietly imposing man devoted to the reserve and the welfare of its resident creatures – both wild and domestic – and his wife Tessa have been running Ant’s Nest and Ant’s Hill since the mid-90s. His family were among the first pioneers in the region, South Africa’s Waterberg, way back in 1886, and the two bush homes now offer spectacular hospitality to guests.

At the end of a long, winding, bumpy