Game on

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Sep 14, 2008 | by LISA YOUNG

GO to a safari destination featured on TV and meet Facebook's biggest face - a celebrity elephant with his own page on the social network site.

During a holiday at South Africa's Shamwari Game Reserve you'll also be able to tick off the other four animals on Africa's "Big Five" list - lions, leopards, rhinos and buffalo.

If the park's name sounds familiar, it's probably because you've seen it on TV or read about its celebrity links.

The BBC show Safari School was filmed in the park, Tiger Woods got engaged here and it's a favourite hideaway for A-listers such as Nicolas Cage, John Travolta and Brad Pitt.

Now Shamwari Game Reserve is starring in a new series, Animal Planet's A Wild Life.

The park is along South Africa's famous Garden Route, 45 minutes from Port Elizabeth along the Eastern Cape.

A film unit has been set up there and rangers have been trained to use high-definition cameras and follow the animals and their antics, introducing viewers to daily life on the 45,000- acre property.

Lyndal Davies, an Australian born naturalist and Animal Planet presenter, lives right in the middle of the reserve - but is often late for work as a large herd of African elephants frequently blocks her driveway.

She says: "At night I go to sleep to the sound of jackals calling and hippos grunting outside our fence. In the morning I wake to a chorus of birds chirping and lions roaring.

"While I am making breakfast, I can look out of my kitchen window and will often see giraffes or even warthogs digging for bulbs."

Visitors at Shamwari can also experience close encounters with wildlife. Lyndal's husband Joe, manager of the reserve, recalls: "Once a pack of wild dogs chased a kudu antelope right through the reception of one of the lodges and into the pool. That was certainly an added bonus for the guests - once they'd recovered from the shock."

Game viewing there is exceptional - especially if you're a fan of elephants, which gather in large herds.

Part of Shamwari's appeal is that, unlike other South African reserves it is malaria-free.

You can kick back and relax, confident you won't catch the life- threatening disease.

And unlike many safari parks, Shamwari Game Reserve is very child- friendly.

The family Riverdene Lodge has a free children's programme taking youngsters to the wildlife hospital to meet orphaned baby animals cared for by vet Johan Jouber and wildlife surrogate mum Peta Lynn O'Brien.

They'll also meet Themba, a spectacularly cheeky, orphaned baby elephant.

Themba, which means "trust" in the local Xhosa language, even has his own Facebook page - making him officially the biggest face on Facebook. "At six months old I have a humungous head - in fact, everything about me is supersized - and that's because I'm a baby elephant," says Themba on his Facebook page. "One day I hope to go back to the wild.

I know I have a very long journey ahead of me but I hope you'll be by my side every giant step of the way."

In February this year, Themba's mother fell down a ridge and, tragically, was found dead a few days later by park rangers at the Sanbona Wildlife Reserve.

Close to death himself, baby Themba was caught and transferred to the wildlife hospital.

In no time at all, he was running about causing chaos.

A large merino sheep called Albert was brought in as a companion and playmate.

Themba and Albert are still the best of friends and take walks, play and generally entertain guests with their adventures.

As well as the wildlife hospital visits, the reserve runs fun family safaris (suitable for children aged four and older) and offers free babysitting to give mums and dads a few minutes away from their own "little monkeys". Kids may also visit the Born Free Foundation Big Cat Rescue Centre on the reserve.

For couples, Shamwari of fers the altogether more romantic Eagles Crag Lodge where guests are taken out on two game drives a day.

Not cheap - but it's a honeymoon special and prices do include all your meals and drinks.

Shamwari is not the only safari park to star in Animal Planet TV programmes this autumn. In November, a new series called Escape to Chimp Eden highlights the work of the only chimpanzee sanctuary in the country.

Chimp Eden is near the South African town of Nelspruit, a 45- minute flight from Johannesburg and a one-hour drive from Kruger National Park, the largest game park in South Africa.

The TV series follows park staff on rescue missions to places such as Sudan and Angola, as well as following daily life at the sanctuary.

Cozy, an 11-year-old rescued chimp is a real crowd-pleaser. His expressions and antics are guaranteed to make you laugh.

Cozy likes to strut his stuff and his shenanigans enthrall holidaymakers when they come to visit the Jane Goodall Institute at Chimp Eden.

But his life wasn't always a barrel of laughs. Cozy was rescued from 10 years of captivity in a tiny cage in a caravan in Italy. When he arrived at the centre he could barely walk, let alone climb a tree.

Step in Eugene Cussons, Cozy's human rehabilitator. Eugene worked with Cozy daily, trying to entice him to climb trees and act like a chimp.