RRuben

Hey you all,

With pixelpowers posts I saw that there are a lot of great-value-for money lodge safari options with the private game reserves around kruger.

Currently I'm looking into a safari for 2012 and am wondering if there are areas in Africa where you could have the same grate value for money options as in the private game reserves around Kruger?
I mean something in the pricerange of 100-200 euros a day (lodge, fully inclusive, possible park fees included).
I've visited the Kruger area twice, Tuli Block in Botswana and Uganda/Rwanda( parc national des volcans), so I'm looking for something 'new'.

Kind Regards,

Ruben

christabir

We're doing this:

http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...afari-2011.cfm

KwaZulu Natal has many options, and has beaches, too. Addo and Madikwe could work, too.

http://www.thulathula.com/en_location.aspx (interesting week long package)

http://www.zululandrhinoreserve.co.za/

Swaziland?
http://www.biggameparks.org/3parks_mlilwane.html

I am really looking forward to Tembe. I'll let you know.

Treepol

RRuben,

you could have an enjoyable time in Namibia on that budget I think. A couple of days in Windhoek staying somewhere reasonably priced like the Safari Court Hotel, http://www.safarihotelsnamibia.com/safari_court.html - not a lot of atmosphere here but it is well priced and has a free shuttle to Marua Mall and into Central Windhoek.

Swakopmund is good for a short break before heading north to Kaokoland and Damaraland. The Cape Cross Lodge is beautifully situated http://www.capecross.org/. I have the drive north to Terrace Bay on my list and the Namibian Wildlife Resort accommodation is well priced, http://www.nwr.com.na/terrace_bay_camp.html for the Skeleton Coast National Park.

I can thoroughly recommend Hobatere Lodge http://www.islandsinafrica.com/hobatere-lodge/ although I beleive the Brains have retirement plans and I've not heard anything about the new owners/managers. Hobatere have access to the Western part of Etosha which has good game, many waterholes and not many visitors.

Etosha is a great park, although the reasonably priced accommodation at Okaukeujo isn't very nice and is a long way from the waterhole. There are less expensive accommodations outside the park boundary, although I would recommend at least one night at Okaukeujo.

I have my eye on Shamvura http://www.shamvura.com/ which is very reasonably priced and am intrigued by Bruno Nebo's Mundulea http://www.turnstone-tours.com/mundulea.htm which makes a pleasant stop on the way to or from Etosha.

I don't know a lot about southern Namibia but have my eye on Bagatelle Game Ranch http://www.bagatelle-kalahari-gameranch.com/ and Ludewitz staying at the Nest Hotel http://www.nesthotel.com/ for a future trip.

In Zambia I have Kapishya Hot Springs near North Luangwa Park on my list http://www.shiwasafaris.com/kaishya.html together with Mutinondo Wilderness, http://www.mutinondozambia.com/

This year, I am looking forward to a visit to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in July which by all accounts had wonderful wildlife and a range of accommodation choices provided by Sanparks.

Have a great time in Africa when you get ther and please do keep us posted on your safari plans.


Happy planning,


Pol

pixelpower

Bookmarking this...

tockoloshe

Hi Ruben, good ideas from Treepol, I think Namibia delivers on value for money.

Pol, I've got my eye on Bagatelle Game Ranch too (I like the idea of the meerkats) and have it on our itinerary for June (handy for Windhoek-Mata Mata) - will report back!

RRuben

Hi all,

Thanks for the responses, especially like hobatere lodge ! With 32000 ha private consession at its disposal, seems one could spent a few days here !

I'm mostly interested in the real safari stuf offered by private lodges. Keep on posting !

Treepol

RRuben,

you might be interested in Kavita Lion Lodge http://www.kavitalion.com/, at one stage there was a connection between them and Okonjima but I'm not sure about this now. If you make it down to Luderitz, there is a woman further along the coast who runs a penguin rescue and rehab centre. Sorry, I don't know any more details, but the information centre in town will surely have heard of her and know if visits are possible.


Regards,


Pol

tockoloshe

Treepol expressed an interest in Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch and I said I'd post a review if I visited, which I did in June. I'll keep it in this thread as the interest was shown here, and hope Pol finds it!

Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch in Namibia, is a convenient stop-over near Mariental if you’re travelling to/from Kgalagadi or further south.

http://www.bagatelle-kalahari-gameranch.com/index.html

We camped, but ate in the restaurant and enjoyed the comfort and warmth of the lodge in the evening. We didn’t see the chalets but you get a good idea of the style and decor from the website.

The campsite is fantastic, there are only 5 sites set among the dunes with a good distance between them, and the site is about 1km from the lodge. Each campsite has it's own ablution block with toilet, shower & washbasins with hot water and lighting. There’s also plenty of room to get changed and spread out your things in the ablution block without getting sand and dust in everything, a welcome change if you’ve been bush camping.

We couldn’t have received a warmer welcome, plus the offer of extra blankets because it had been so cold (minus 3 degrees C). We decided to eat in the restaurant and they offered to come and pick us up and take us back after dinner so that we could put the roof-top tent up.

The interior of the lodge is very homely with several seating areas inside and out, and a swimming pool for warmer weather. We enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the lodge and a good buffet dinner for 195N$ pp. I couldn’t face the springbok steak with Skunky the tame springbok looking at us with huge eyes through the dining room window! We also met Jacky the tame gemsbok, quite a few cats and several peacocks in the lapa. We chose not to visit the captive cheetahs which are kept in an enclosure right next to the lodge area. These cheetahs are kept in association with the Cheetah conservation fund and not able to be released into the wild. We would have liked to have seen the meerkats which visit the lodge regularly but the morning we left was so cold they hadn’t got up yet.

I can certainly recommend the lodge for the excellent campsite, hospitality of the lodge staff and the warmth of their welcome – sometimes we feel that as campers we are treated as the ‘poor relations’ who shouldn’t be allowed to mingle with the ‘real’ guests, but it’s certainly not the case here. The campsite is a little more expensive than usual in Namibia (N$125 pp) but you get what you pay for.

By the way Pol, you said you're going to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in July, hope you have a great time, (we saw so many lions we lost count) but I recommend taking your thermals and a hot water bottle!