Wonderful Bush Experience
We have spent over 800 days on Southern African photo safaris (over a year just in the greater Kruger Park) and have stayed at many self-drive and 5-star guided lodges and Makalali has been one of our best experiences. The food and service were top-notch, the suites are most unusual and the game viewing awesome. The scenic beauty is due to the drakensberg mountains that provide a dramatic backdrop to photos in the west of the park.
Our field guide and tracker were a great combination. We saw elephants, rhino, lions 3 times, and 3 leopards. I did not feel that the drives were set-up - the leopard sightings in particular were all unexpected as we were looking for other subjects. As wildlife photographers we want to photograph animals - we don't enjoy driving around on dusty roads for hours in the hope of maybe seeing something. We did not find cheetah nor buffalo but were VERY happy with our 3 leopard sightings. From some reviews I've found that if the guides don't find animals then they are 'useless' but if they find too many subjects then it's 'canned'. Makalali you have a winning formula and we are most satisfied with our experience!