Independent Newspaper's Travel Editor, Deon Delport, joined elephants and a host of other guests to celebrate a milestone birthday in Botswana's Tuli block...

Great food, fine wines and warm friendship are all the ingredients for 50th birthday parties, but this occasion also included a playful serval kitten, a pampering foot massage and Saturn's rings.

The birthday was that of an old friend and Durban businessman, Shane Pinchen, who invited a group of friends to celebrate his birthday at his newly opened Nitani Lodge in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve. The lodge is the culmination of dream that has taken much sacrifice from Pinchen and his wife, Ade.

I have to openly declare my bias - the Tuli area is one of my favourite places on Earth. Being there heals my soul and offers the anticipation of adventure. I took my wife there for our honeymoon. Among the memories I treasure from previous trips was watching a herd of 120 elephants trek from the cover of thick riverine bush into the more open landscape of mopani and thorn trees as the sun set behind them.

Located on the eastern end of Botswana, where it borders Zimbabwe and South Africa, the Tuli block is home to about 1 200 elephants in one of the world's largest private game reserves.

I took it as a good party omen when I found a breeding herd of two cows and five calves browsing outside my suite as I unpacked after a 12-hour drive from Durban. Minutes later I was wallowing in my own private plunge pool and soaking up the sounds of the African bush at sunset.

The lodge is built on stilts well above ground level, with the five luxury suites facing a riverbed and several new waterholes. Each suite has a game-viewing balcony, a large bedroom with a giant bed under mosquito netting, a pair of comfortable armchairs to curl up with a book, an alcove that is ideal for writing, and a stunning bathroom with twin basins, showers and old-fashioned bath. The soaps, creams, crystals and shampoos tempt guests to soak for hours.

The tasteful interior decor, largely the work of daughter Tarryn Pinchen, creates an ambience of relaxed luxury with fine fabrics in whites, creams and earth colours, evoking a bygone era of great explorers.

Another impressed group of visitors, who came to inspect the camp during our visit, was Botswana's vice-president Ian Khama and his entourage, including the King Leruo Tshekedi Molotlegi of the Bafokeng tribe, Africa's richest. He has agreed to officially open the lodge later this year and told the Pinchens he was surprised to find a lodge of such luxury in the country.

Walkways join the five suites to a lounge-dining area and an open-style cooking range where guests can see their food being prepared.

Chef Tony Smith, 27, from Cape Town, prepared some memorable feasts, including wonderfully fresh prawns and delicious salmon. He says the challenge is to keep food fresh given the three-hour drive from Polokwana. Smith kept vegetarians and carnivores alike happy with his hearty and flavourful dishes. He says his job is to give guests what they want and this included hamburgers for a party of six wealthy Americans, who stayed for a fortnight.

Shane and Ade's unique approach to the wildlife experience is to offer a lodge where mealtimes and activities such as bush walks, accompanied by resident ecologist Dylan Prentice, and game drives are completely
flexible.

This is not a lodge where people roar around ticking off the big five. Instead the animals come to the camp. This one sees at the Pinchens own private camp, where various warthogs arrive every day to be fed. Ade, who has a special rapport with God's creatures, has a mammal research project that visitors can see and it was here that I met the playful Impi, a seven-month old serval kitten destined for an unique breeding project. He spends part of his day locked in an organic garden, the afternoon in his own room and evenings wrecking the Pinchen kitchen while they prepare supper.

One second he was showing off to his admiring visitors by tearing around his room, pouncing on imaginary rodents, and the next he was on my shoulders, purring and chewing my cap. My brave but terrified grin was captured by digital camera.

Although I love the bush and soon started relaxing, I found a new way to shed city cares instantly. Try a foot massage - I felt as if I was floating after my pampering. Nitani Lodge has a wellness centre where therapist Kari McDonagh, offers soothing foot, back and full body massages, reflexology and beauty treatments. Having worked in lodges in Zambia and on cruise ships, McDonagh finds that men are increasingly trying these treatments, although with South African men, it is taking a little longer.

Another personal highlight was seeing Saturn's rings through the lodge's computerised telescope. Lodge manager Kevin Macaulay, is a keen amateur astronomer and patiently showed off various planets in the spectacular night sky to a merry bunch of half-sozzled guests. A mild joke had me laughing like a hysterical hyena.

Speaking of sundowners, I have a new special memory of elephants. On our last evening we went for a game drive under the care of professional guide Olekile Congo Kamogelo, a former operations manager for the neighbouring Mashatu Reserve, and tracker Lovemore Makwati, who joined Nitani as a labourer but writes his professional guide exam in February. While we enjoyed ice-cold beers and wine, we spied two herds of elephants come down to drink. We watched as five of the gentle giants played like kids in a swimming pool, wrestling, rolling and squirting each other while a crescent moon hung above them.

It was a party to remember.

If you go:

• Nitani Lodge is in the Nitani Private Game Reserve, which is part of of Botswana's Northern Tuli Game Reserve on the eastern border of the country.

• The nearest borderpost is Pontdrif. The area is also serviced by a new airport.

• Wildlife includes lion and leopard but also the more unusual serval, caracul, African wild cat, aardwolf and aardvark.

• There are 350 bird species and the area is rich in history and pre-history.