“Ever on the lookout for new and exciting African safari experiences to recommend to our travelers we recently sent Chantal from our Travel Concepts team to check out the Kapama and Ngala Private Game Reserves in the Limpopo Province bordering the Kruger National Park.”
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Ever on the lookout for new and exciting African safari experiences to recommend to our travelers we recently sent Chantal from our Travel Concepts team to check out the Kapama and Ngala Private Game Reserves in the Limpopo Province bordering the Kruger National Park. She spent four nights there in the bush, so grab your hat and hiking boots, let your mind wonder and check out the review of her stay below:
Kapama Private Game Reserve
Kapama occupies a vast area between the northern Drakensberg Mountains and the greater Kruger National Park in the Limpopo, all of 15 000 hectares! It has all the big game of Africa, which is enough to lure any eager safari enthusiast, including me!
We drove to Kapama from Johannesburg, a pleasant 4½ hour drive, where we were welcomed by very friendly staff and escorted to our room at River Lodge. The rooms are stylish and spacious, offering luxurious five-star safari accommodation. The River Lodge specifically is situated along a beautiful dry riverbed offering guests magnificent views right from their own room. After freshening up and a glorious high tea, we hoisted our very full-selves onto our game vehicle for our first game drive.
I was delighted with our early game sightings – we saw plenty of plain game, a male lion pursuing a lioness, a mother rhino with her calf and a large male lion still eating a buffalo he had taken down the evening before and lots of cubs!
Throughout our two days of game viewing we were treated to some amazing sights – we saw giraffes (my absolute favourite!), as well as warthogs, zebras, impalas, springbucks and waterbucks. We also stumbled upon a herd of 28 elephants drinking by a water hole, with the youngest one only being a few days old and rolling around in the mud! And after sunset, we were fortunate enough to be only a few feet away from a mother lion with her two cubs enjoying a warthog for dinner!
Overall I loved Kapama! It was very peaceful – our lodge was nestled next to a tranquil lake, with sweeping views of the reserve, where we fell asleep listening to the sounds of the bush.
Ngala Private Game Reserve
Ngala which means “lion” in Shangaan is located within the Kruger National Park and as the name suggests, is home to several prides of these large cats. It’s a small lodge, consisting of 20 thatched cottages situated under a canopy of trees, the ideal setting for privacy and relaxation. You really feel as though you are a part of the bush!
The drive from Kapama to Ngala, which took us about 1½ hours, was worth it as the reserve has a reputation for excellent game viewing, and we were not disappointed!
Within four hours we saw the entire Big 5! Besides the plain game which I always love to see, we saw jackals, hyenas, a large herd of elephants, buffalos, a couple of rhinos and we had the privilege of following a leopard for about 30 minutes! Once the sun had gone down we got to see some bush babies play in the night and finally, a pride of lions. After our game drive we returned back to the lodge to enjoy a Boma Dinner under the stars! A wonderful way to finish off the night and our trip.
The time I spent in Limpopo was a truly magical experience, one with unforgettable memories that will forever remind me how lucky I am to live on the doorstep of Africa.
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