Sensational South Africa Safari Experience

In April 2018 we travelled to South Africa to go on safari. We stayed in a private game reserve about an hour from Kruger National Park called Elandela Private Game Lodge. It is a very private property with only a few rooms and it has its own game animals on its land. It doesn’t have the Big 5 as it is missing the elephants, due to the amount of land they need, but what they do have is white lions which is very rare. Only two game reserves have these, so this is a real bonus for them and their guests.

We stayed in a deluxe double room, which has a four-poster queen bed, a view of the lake and some nice amenities, such as sherry in the room, fridge, tea and coffee and being well positioned for the dining area. The property has a lake and swimming pool (which overlooks the lake) and if you are lucky the hippo, crocodile and other animals can be seen from the pool.

The safari rangers are excellent, you have two game drives a day at 6am and 3.30pm and you have the chance of doing an extra night safari, which we did, and it was excellent. You can see what goes on with the animals at night and it was our favourite experience. They also swap one of your games drives for a morning at Kruger National Park, so you get the chance to see elephants (among other animals) so you can say you saw the Big 5. On every game drive they take you to another part of the reserve and try to get you to see every type of animal. Of course, this cannot be guaranteed as it is not a controlled environment, all the animals are completely wild but the rangers are looking out for footprints and listening to the sounds to take you to the right spots.

Elandela is large, although not as large as other private lodges, but this is fine as you are more likely to see the animals. On site is a whole host of animals such as, zebra, giraffe, impala, rhino, white lions, normal lions, leopards (although they are so elusive we didn’t see them), buffalo and bush bucks, monkeys and so much more, too many to list here.

The meal basis at Elandela is full board and consists of a set menu at lunch and dinner. Personally, I found this is a little limiting as I don’t eat meat, so I only had one choice, but they are very accommodating and will make sure you are catered for. Breakfast is great, and you have your choice of eggs, cereals, pastries and the usual extras. You also get two bottles of water included daily.

Tipping on check out is requested and you decide who receives how much. The lodge is only a 20-minute drive from Eastgate Airport and transfers to and from the property are included.

We flew in from Cape Town to Eastgate, but for our return we took a road transfer from the lodge to Johannesburg Airport. The road trip took around 7.5 hours so quite a long way in front of an 11-hour flight. I wanted to experience this for myself but for my clients I would recommend flying back from Eastgate Airport as this was a bit too far really.

We loved Elandela, it was quiet, serene, friendly, the safaris were excellent, and it was all planned very well. It was a fantastic experience for our first safari and now we have the bug we want to do it again.