We were led over the brow of the fynbos-sprinkled hill, and down the rain shadow slope, along a crumbly slate path and into the thicket, past spekboom, euphorbia, sneezewood and boer-bean trees.
Now and again we came upon a spray of creamy white mushrooms among the fallen leaves, and our guide explained that this signalled the presence of the “wood wide web”.
This subterranean web of fungal threads links the roots of plants and trees, and allows them to share water, carbon, nutrients — and information.
The carbon-sharing happens when a large older tree with good exposure to the sun releases excess sugars to shaded saplings that are struggling to synthesise.
The intel-exchange is even more magical. When a browsing kudu, for instance, feeds off a tree, it sends a chemical message through the wood wide web.
This message is picked up by the surrounding trees, which realise that an enemy is in their midst, and they release tannins in response, which quickly turn their leaves bitter and unpalatable to the buck.
All this seemed marvelously apt because we were in Hiddn, a new private concession within the Addo Elephant National Park, tucked away in the Zuurberg Mountains, concealed from the outside world by rugged kloofs, thick bush and a bumpy road.
Dynamic operations manager Alicia Giliomee describes how the owner of Hiddn was introduced to the property by Paul Gardiner, CEO of the Gqeberha-based Mantis Collection.
“He stood on this ridge with the Wit River flowing 600m down below and the Zuurberg stretching away into the distance — and he knew this was the place he had been looking for.”
At that stage the 880ha farm was completely enclosed by the Addo park, and it was up for sale.
The London-based financial sector investor, who does not want to be named, made the purchase and set about establishing the community-engaged, off-the-grid, ultra-luxury wellness retreat and eco-lodge he envisaged.
While the lodge was being built, over 300km of perimeter fencing were lowered, allowing animals free range in and out the park.
Hiddn’s focus is not on the big five but rather on the remote wilderness aspect and the myriad smaller creatures and plants that make up this magical mountain tapestry.
However, predators are part of the mix. You can hear the lonesome call of the jackal at night, a prowling caracal was recently caught on a trail camera and, most exciting of all, leopard spoor has been found.
The centrepiece of the Mantis Hiddn in Addo lodge, and each of the 12 suites arranged along the ridge, is a giant wooden structure, like a tree with a spreading canopy.
At the lodge, it reaches out over the gracious deck, the infinity pool and a walkway, lined with glowing lanterns at night that snakes down to the sunken boma where the owner first stood and envisaged it all.
In the library, where guests can listen to talks by local experts on ecology, culture, archaeology and history, Giliomee spoke about Hiddn’s outreach projects.
These include its support for School-in-a-Box, which serves Langbos Creche and the Addo Football Youth Academy with a tablet-based learning system. Among a range of other tools, it provides internet-free access to a massive digital library.
Other projects include food gardening, a new soccer field, and an imaginative pen pal scheme to allow Sundays River Valley children to communicate with their peers in the UK.
Hiddn also supports the Nukakamma Hospitality School and some of the graduates get to work at the lodge, where they learn the international silver service standard and the lodge’s particular stamp of hyper-customisation of itineraries, depending on the needs and wants of each guest.
The new lodge also supports a range of local service providers which supply food, linen, crockery, arts and crafts and more to the lodge.
As Giliomee puts it, the golden thread of Hiddn’s approach is “to shift the community’s outlook from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance and opportunity”.
If the food wasn’t so good, we could have spent each meal just admiring the tableware because each plate, bowl and mug is customised to reflect the different shapes, colours and textures of the Zuurberg.
However, the food was fine dining second to none.
Somewhere in the movable feast presented by chefs Duncan Smuts and Nomtha Mhlakane was miso roasted sweet potato soup, smoked kudu fillet with port and fig gel and thyme jus, and brandy pudding with peanut brittle ice-cream. Say no more.
We stayed in one of the two Hiddn villas, each of which includes a private chef and butler, and bespoke wellness and safari experiences.
Senior butler Siya Velebayi told me he grew up in the Gqeberha township of New Brighton, and when he finished matric he went to initiation school to become a man.
“After that I had no job and I was enjoying time with my friends, going home only to eat. But I didn’t like the disappointed look in my mum’s eyes, and I knew I had to do something.”
He said through a friend, he finally managed to get a job as an apprentice waiter at another private game reserve in the area.
“When I arrived, I was nervous, and the beverages chief told me to go to one side, away from everyone, and shout.
“I didn’t know why, but I did it, and she explained afterwards I needed to find my voice — and she was right.
“It took confidence for me as a boy from the location to approach a high-powered guest and step into their space.
“But I learned and moved up the ranks. Today, as a senior butler at Hiddn, I must have an eye for everything.
“At sunset when I’m not working I go out and sit somewhere quiet. To hear the small sounds makes me cry. I feel uncomfortable now in the city. This is an awesome life.”
Each of our rooms had its own open deck with a hot tub, and one of my favourite things from our short but wonderful trip was having an outdoor bath before bed. The air was icy but the water was toasty and the stars were so close it felt like you could touch them.
On our last day I got up at dawn, grabbed an early coffee and walked out onto the main veranda. In the distance, the rising sun was turning the Zuurberg pink and the first jackal buzzard was hanging on a thermal directly across from me.
When we drove out, brown-veined white butterflies were fluttering about, as if waving goodbye.
I thought of the “quantum entanglement of energy” highlighted by Giliomee, and the intention stones offered to us on our arrival by the wellness ladies, and the ones we had chosen: peace, joy, health, grounding and love.
And suddenly, it all made sense.
- This was a sponsored trip. The views remain that of the writer.
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