Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve

A lifetime experience everyone has to have!

I went to 2 different resorts, Elephant Plains and Nkorho Bush Lodge. I spent a total of 5 days in the Sabi Sands Game reserve. Our group saw the big 5 (leopard, lion, rhino, cape buffalo, and the elephant) in the first 2 days. If you want to see wildlife you will see plenty of it, the list is very long. Our guides (rangers and trackers) were 100% great at both places. The rangers were extremely educated. They could answer any question we had on the animals and plant life. The trackers too were extremely gifted and trained. These guys are professionals. The weather in March was perfect, mid to high 80's everyday. Accommodations and food at both of these resorts were perfect, zero complaints. The scenery was very nice, the African bush is just beautiful. I'll also add that these safaris are extremely safe. We would pull right up to lions and they'd care less. Never once for a second felt unsafe.
As for highlights, my god its impossible to just select one. One of my favorite moments was when our group came around a bend, and "Bam" there were 7 huge giraffes standing there eating. These animals are just amazing, huge, and beautiful. Another moment I will never forget is when we stopped right next to a herd of elephants. They were basically 10 feet away, walked right next to us towards a watering hole, and they all drank water and put on a show for us. I have 19 gigs of video from my safaris and will never forget one moment of them. I will be going back to Africa again. The Sabi Sands Game Reserve is just loaded with wildlife and I have nothing negative whatsoever to say about it. Its a beautiful part of this world full of the most beautiful animals and plant life you will ever see. Its a must go.

Majestic and Captivating

My wife and I wanted a break from city life, and the Sabi Sands Game Reserve was just what we wanted. The Sabi Sands boasts some amazing wildlife. Africa's big 5 can be found here, lion, buffalo, elephant, leopard and rhino. All of which we had the pleasure of viewing on our brief stay. Not to be outdone by the big animals, the bird life is incredible! I've never seen such a variety of bird life in all my travels. Within the first hour we had spotted over 30 species of birds. Amazing.

Visiting the reserve during the African winter month of June was a great idea, as the bush can get incredibly hot during the summer. Going on early morning game drives with a slight chill in the air and then to warm up to t-shirt weather, just wonderful.

The whole experience of the Sabi Sands was fantastic. Accomodation was well beyond what we expected, the variety of wildlife was outstanding.

We look forward to going back next year to experience the wonders of the Sabi Sands again, this time for longer!

We saw just about everything that could be seen by daylight: lions and leopards (almost daily), Africa wild dogs, spotted hyenas and their young, elephant herds, giraffes, rhinos, Cape buffalo, tortoises, hippos, giant land snails, dung beetles, baboons, vervet monkeys, half a dozen kinds of antelope, and birds galore. Only one crocodile because the river was dry. No cheetahs, which are less common there and difficult to spot because of the tree density.

Our &Beyond guides from Kirkman's Kamp were incredibly knowledgeable. They knew the mammals, birds, insects, plants. When they found out we were more interested in insects, plants and soil/geology than the average safari-goer, they made sure to point out more of these features and give us opportunities to discover.

It rained one of six game drives. The safari vehicles are open, so raincoats and ponchos were a must. Some people in our group opted not to go out, but we went and didn't regret it. The rains brought African wild dogs, and the rain was not cold so it wasn't too uncomfortable.

The other days were hot and dry (we went in March, late summer, in a drought year). That meant few mosquitos. We forgot about the heat when we were watching animals, and when the vehicles were moving we had a breeze.

In the private reserves, it's permitted to be out on game drives after dark. We did not do any specifically night drives, but drove back at dusk/nightfall on our afternoon safaris. We saw nightjars, the Southern constellations and a few other things.

Staying in a private reserve afforded us the opportunity to go off-road in appropriate conditions and meant few encounters with other safari vehicles. Because of this, we got closer/better viewing of lions, leopards, elephants and rhinos than we might have otherwise.

Amazing and exceeded our expectations (which were low, admittedly)

We had visions of really roughing it if we go on safari.

The private game reserves have refine the safari experience so that people of all ages and conditions can enjoy safaris in relative safety, and in a way that preserves the natural environment.

Sabi Sands game reserve is a well stocked private game reserve. We saw the big five (elephant, lion, buffalo, rhinoceros and leopard) in two game drives, one evening and one morning. We stayed for three nights, and on the subsequent drives had time to see more of the big five, as well as giraffes, hippos, many different types of the deer family, hyenas, zebras, wildebeest and smaller creatures, and even had time to do some bird watching. The only missing animals were cheetahs and crocodiles. We even saw some monitor lizards.

Our guide and tracker were both excellent. On one drive we tracked the dominant resident male leopard out on his evening hunt for well over twenty minutes, and one another drive we got up close to a pride of three male and two female lions who had just crossed over from Kruger. The males looked like they had been in a recent fight and got the worst of it. Being out of territory and not familiar with our guide and tracker, they were very nervous and skittish, and there were tense moments for a while.

Drives were done in relative comfort, in an open 4 wheel drive with up to six passengers with the guide and tracker. Morning drives start pre-dawn, and evening drives finish in the dark, so we can observe game behavior both in darkness and in daylight. This gives about 4 to hours for relaxation in late morning and after lunch.

The Sabi Sands game reserve is located by an artificial waterhole (filled by ground bore water), like many other reserves. We love sitting on the porch of our standalone one bedroom villa and watch the animals come to drink at the waterhole during the day. Accommodation was five starred, ad we love the outside (but private) shower!

All in all, it was a phenomenal experience, and we would go safari again in a heartbeat.

Thoroughly recommended, and June was a great time to go, no summer undergrowth, so no snakes and other creep crawlies!

Leopards, leopards, leopards!

A beautiful reserve with an amazing wildlife

We really enjoyed our safari at Sabi Sands. First of all, in only two days, we managed to see the Big Five, plus a variety of other animals (antelopes, giraffes, hyenas, zebras, hippopotamus). The weather was nice, dry, a bit cold in the morning and night as it is supposed to be at this period of the year (winter). We stayed at Umkumbe Lodge, a human sized, owner run lodge, which really makes you feel at ease. Guides and staff were helpful and friendly, dinners around the camp fire were excellent and the sundowners in the middle of nowhere are a must. The situation along the Sand river allows you to watch the wildlife coming to the river just from your room.

Diverse and abundant wildlife with guides and trackers who go above and beyond.

I stayed at the Idube Lodge and the staff was very friendly especially the ladies in the kitchen. The local staff was very quick to offer up smiles and say hello and even lend a hand with greetings in local languages.....more than one! The game drives and access to the Sabi Sand were the shining star in my experience here. (I managed to poison myself by spraying the "Sleep Ease" bugspray in my room with the doors closed....not advised!). However, I got very,very lucky where I had a vehicle all to myself on one drive........Also quite unique was my guide, Promise, a local, whom I was told by a driver is a Prince in his tribe.....can't get much luckier than that! This was an unforgettable experience!

Up-close and Personal in Sabi Sands Game Reserve

To go on a safari is a lifetime opportunity. But when the opportunity appears, the reality also kicks in. Why is it so expensive? Which game reserve to choose? How to get there?

"It's a walking zoo! Why would you spend so much money on it?", said my friend and declined to go on a safari with me. For months, I debated and researched whether to do one. Finally I decided that I shall go big or go home. To fly for 30 hours and not to experience the true Africa, the one that I as a kid watched on Discovery channel was not an option. So I went, crossing the country all the way to the border with Zimbabwe and Mozambique, to Sabi Sands game reserve.

There where three requirements that had to be fulfilled in my mind: I wanted to see the big five in natural setting where they roam freely, I wanted to stay as close to them as possible - hence, in the bush, and I wanted to see leopards. The former one was the most challenging requirement because leopards are masters of disguise and could be seen only when they allow to. However, for some reason leopards love Sabi Sands, which turns to have the greatest concentration of them. Without a doubt this was the place where I had to be!

Following South African plantations of oranges, bananas and olives, behind the mountains of evergreen trees, lies the wilderness disconnected from the civilization with an electrical fence. This is the place where nature sets the rules and men oblige to them if they do not want to be hurt or in the worst case eaten. Little did I know that after three days of staying in the bush, my life will never be the same again.

What really changed is my appreciation of nature and my understanding of human vulnerability. National parks are the last pieces of wilderness where human involvement is forbidden; where African elephant dies from starvation after loosing its sixth and last set of molar teeth and where the lion leading it's pride will kill all cubs that are not his in order to secure his hereditary line. This truly is the survival of the fittest. For the first time ever I also felt vulnerable but in an odd way.

The night before flying over from Cape Town to Johannesburg to embark on the journey to Sabi Sands, I ate a kebab that consisted of ostrich, impala, kudu, and wildebeast meat. 24 hours later I saw those animals in the natural setting, and realized that I would have to turn vegetarian because I would not know how to kill these huge and rather vicious beasts.

The safari was everything and so much more. It is an unpredictable game where one roams at dawn and dusk looking for animals in the waste land that is occasionally disrupted with an acacia or marula tree and an elephant right below it. Yet after 1.5 days of looking for big cats, I got impatient. I stopped caring for zebras, elephants and giraffes. What I wanted were lions and leopards that were hidding somewhere in high savannah grass, but there was no sign of any.

After series of false baboon alarms on a potential predator sighting, our fortune finally turned around. Our tracker received a call that a leopard was spotted, and we sped to the location in what was described by everyone as Ferrari safari. My last wish of what to expect from a safari was about to come true.

What happened in the next 12 hours following the news of leopard sighting deserves a blog entry on its own. It was National Geographic worth material, and the experience that defined awesomeness of my safari trip.

In the late afternoon, a male leopard was taking a nap hidden in the tall savannah grass before heading for a stroll, marking his territory, and coming to a clearing to look for a prey. His meticulously planned hunt went well into the night until he interrupted our dinner. Around 9.30 pm as we sat down around the lodge fire, our guide started shouting at us to jump back onto the truck and head into the bush because killing sounds were heard. Not even 100 m from our camp, same leopard that we spotted earlier today, was dragging a baby deer. Grabbing the deer by its neck, he dug his claws deep into the tree bark, and in few jumps, climbed up, securing the prey on the branches right above me. Deer's urine and blood started dripping right in front of us while ripped deer's hair flew in the air like fluffy feathers. The leopard moved from the deer's neck to buttocks, and the feast finally began. So there I was - in the deepest part of Africa and away from civilization - witnessing something that only a few get to see. At this point there were only two sounds that I could hear - crickets in the distance, and leopard's teeth ripping deer's flesh, fiber by fiber. As grotesque as it sounds, it was one of the most beautiful things one could experience and the act of nature at its finest. Mesmerized with the view, we all watched the leopard eat for over 40 min. before heading back to the camp to have our dinner.

Many say that an African safari is one of the lifetime experiences. But once you experience it, you realise how addictive it becomes, and how one safari is not enough. After visiting Kruger National Park and Sabi Sands, I want to experience this continent so much more. I want to go to Namibia where red desert sand dunes collide with the Atlantic and where lions roam on the beaches, to Botswana where hippos and crocodiles fill up river banks, and to Tanzania where thousands of wildebeest and zebras create stampedes that are earth shattering. ...

The following was an excerpt from my blog. For more entries and pictures, visit: http://wohesitation.wordpress.com

You will never get an experience like this almost anywhere else in the world. Off roading that gets you side by side with the wildlife!

Very experienced spotters that make sure you have the best experience. If you want to see big 5 up close, the Sabi Sand Private Game Reverse does an amazing job of seeing them up close, however due to their focus on the big 5 you might not stop to see some smaller wildlife on the drives.