Anybody stayed at Leopard Hills in Sabi Sand?
 

If so, what was your impression and would you return?

www.leopardhills.com

Thanks.

Rocco, I stayed at Leopard Hills during my first safari in 2001, so some things may have changed. The management was very attentive and they had a wonderful chef. However, the accomodations were average. Keep in mind that only one chalet has that breathtaking view, as the rest look out on dense brush (no view, really). The other disadvantage is that you are required to drive around on LH's small property the first hour of EACH game drive. If there is no game, it gets pretty tedius. After the first hour, you then move out onto shared properties. Although the leopard sightings were strong, I would not return to Leopard Hills. I would very much like to return to Londolozi, which has better leopard sightings and the wonderful Tree Camp.

Girlpolo

Good information on the first hour of the game drive, I don't remember seeing that anywhere else.

I did have a ranger at Makanyane who had worked at Leopard Hills for a few years. He did NOT spend a lot of time trying to convince me to go there instead of Mala Mala.

napamatt: well, I think that speaks volumes.

Hello,

Interesting to hear about the game drives -- sounds like it could get pretty monotonous after awhile. Do you happen to know which other properties they share traversing rights with (Inyati, Exeter, Ulusaba, Dulini, Savanna)? Do all the properties have to abide by this 'first hour on our own property' rule?

If so, it seems that this would be a good reason to avoid camps in this area -- it's very restrictive.

Cheers,
Julian

girlpolo,

Thanks for the feedback. I do believe that Leopard Hills has been refurbished as of early last year, but to what extent, I do not know.

It does seem a bit misleading to show that view from the one chalet, while the other chalets do not have nearly as nice a view, reportedly.

My earliest memory of Leopard Hills is sharing a FedAir light air transfer with a foursome of guys in their late 30's. They seemed to think they were hot $*** because they were going to Leopard Hills. "Sorry, never heard of it" was their response when they asked me where I was going. Where was I going? SINGITA! :)

We'll see how it pans out...I have the opportunity for an educational at Madikwe Hills and since I will already be in the Sabi Sand, I thought it may be a good idea to also pay a visit to Leopard Hills. A lot will depend on Mateya and Earth Lodge availability, although Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge also looks luxurious, but does lack the plunge pool. If I get the itinerary I want, 14 nights (all my non-Kwando lodges) will feature accomodations with plunge pools, and this in mid November to early December, when they will be the most useful.

Here is what I am considering for the moment, but I am really building around the core of Kwando and Islands In Africa, those dates already being confirmed. With this itinerary, I would shave a day off at the end from Ntwala Island Lodge, but since this is more of a chill out type place, I see it as the most appropriate place to cut a day.

Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge (3)
Leopard Hills (3)
Madikwe Hills (2)
Mateya (2)
Susuwe Island Lodge (3)
Kwando Lebala/Lagoon (4)
Kwando Kwara Island/Kwara (4)
Ntwala Island Lodge (2)

23 consecutive nights on safari, from start to finish. Only the high luxury of most of these lodges allow me to even dare such a feat. Kwando will likely offer the best gameviewing and most remote areas, so the lack of over the top luxury does not bother me, especially since I will have two final nights of luxury at Ntwala Island Lodge, a very exclusive lodge with only four chalets.

One very interesting bit of trivia:

Mateya claims on its website that it is the only lodge EVER to receive a perfect score of 100 by the South African Tourism Grading Council.

While I would love to stay at Mateya longer, the fact of the matter is that it will be too expensive for most travelers, and while Madikwe Hills is also expensive, it is at least within range to a few more travelers.

Rocco,

So, u are taking a 23 day break from all the running? if you already do a marathon prior, then......i guess you deserve a break!!!

Hari,

23 day break from running??? I have taken a 3 year break from running! ;)

Just because I keep planning marathons, doesn't mean that I have not been a complete couch potato for the last 3 years. My last race worth mentioning was nearly two years ago when I finished dead last in a 20 mile trail race! :)

Hopefully, however, upon returning from Tanzania I will start training again. If nothing else, I just bought a new bowling ball and all the necessary accessories. The way I bowl, it is quite a little workout, as I do not sit the entire time and prefer bowling alone. Almost like doing squats with a bowling ball for an hour or two straight!

Okay...I am going to set a goal...I get back from Tanzania on March 19th. On May 13th, I will complete this grueling event in the 14 mile category:

www.trailrace.com/events.html#anchor1

Then the plan will be to run this race four weeks later (15 mile trail race at high altitude)

http://www.holcombvalleytrailruns.com/

With those two races, consistent training and a couple long training runs of 19-20 miles, I will be in a position to run the San Francisco Marathon on July 30th.

http://www.runsfm.com/home.html

4 months is really rushing training along, but I am confident that I can do it. It's all about proper pacing, mental toughness and a bit of masochism doesn't hurt, either! :)

The reason for the trail races is more for the soft surface than anything else, but the nice scenery is just a bonus. If I were to start running at my current weight for more than a few miles on asphalt, I would likely get injured. However, other than breaking my ankle or falling off a mountain, trail running will not be as hard on my body, although it will really slow down the pace.

Hey Roccco,
I don't recall, have you ever been to Mala Mala? If not, you should. Mala is THE safari camp by which all others are judged. (In my opinion, anyone else's?)
regards - tom

Cary,

So far, I have only visited three Sabi Sand lodges...Singita Boulders, Vuyatela and Simbambili.

Although great gameviewing is obviously important, I also place a high emphasis on accomodations, especially since my wife sits out half of the game drives and likes to soak up the environment of the lodge.

While I do not question that Mala Mala is excellent for its wildlife, I do not think the accomodations of Mala Mala's main camp are up to the standard of luxury I expect out of a permanent lodge. I am obviously more forgiving on seasonal bushcamps like Kafunta Island Bush Camp and even tented lodges like Kasaka River Lodge and Chongwe River Camp.

Ratrays does look very luxurious...I just have a hard time accepting golf carts in game lodges and the televisions in the rooms would be a distraction.

I am sure I will get to Mala Mala one of these days, but for now it is not yet registering on my radar screen. Just one of those things...my loss, I am sure, as it certainly has some very passionate past visitors, but I just, for whatever reason, have no burning desire or curiosity for Mala Mala at this time.

Tom,

I do not agree with your comment that "Mala Mala is THE safari camp by which all others are judged."

To be honest, I look at Mala Mala main camp as a good budget option...okay, not as budget as a few others, but not far off, either.

Now, Ratrays obviously takes Mala Mala to another level, but rather than sharing a traversing area with all the guests at Mala Mala main camp, I would sooner stay at Singita Boulders or Ebony than Mala Mala.

Tom, have you been to Singita? Which other Sabi Sand lodges have you visited? Which other lodges outside of the Sabi Sand have you visited?

Tom,

I have answered my own question...you have been to exactly four safari camps/lodges including Mala Mala. Given that your other camps/lodges were Nsefu, Tena Tena and Khwai River Lodge, it is not surprising that you would crown Mala Mala as the king.

Had you visited Luangwa River Lodge or Puku Ridge in South Luangwa or a Wilderness Safaris or Kwando camp instead of an ORIENT EXPRESS lodge (???) you may have a harder time choosing.

I have been to triple the amount of South Luangwa camps and triple the amount of Sabi Sand lodges, as well as visited numerous Lower Zambezi camps and other camps.

Tom, Singita is about $2,300 per night right now. How about going to your tour operator and whether THEY have actually visited or not, book yourself into Singita and then come back and report whether or not Mala Mala is better. Thanks for playing.

Rocco,

You know my opinion on Mala Mala........i'd stay away from the sabi sands area, unless i wanted to get some great leopard viewing......Main camp, is nice......just too crowded in camp....the bar/lounge area is very very nice (even compared to Botswana!!!)The rooms are nice......but nothing extra-ordinary.

But to answer your question, on game drives and sharing the same traversing area........the area is sooooo big, that you rarely see many vehicles at sightings......not at any of the leopard sightings, were we with another vehicle....from memory, the only time we did share a sighting, was at the lion mating......that's only because we were parked at the same spot for the entire evening......

And unlike Kwando......they do like to get back to camp in time for fixed time dinners.....we were out on our final night with the Selati Pride of lions and they were on the move, supposedly hunting......but we had to get back to camp (our guide said, we were too far out and couldn't stay longer!!!)....and yes, we were a party of 4 and had our own vehicle.....

The food was good.......although, nothing out of the world (nothing like Mombo or anything gourmet.......)

But people talk about MM and good for game viewing......are they talking Leopards and lions??? Leopards, in my opinion can be viewed anywhere in the SSGR.....and lions anywhere in most places across Africa (Bots, East africa etc).......and i doubt ppl travel to MM to see impala and the other antelope...although they have some fantastic nyala that are hard to find elsewhere.....

Hari,

I don't believe it. You mean you visited Mala Mala but you are not proclaiming it the best game lodge on the planet Earth?

Seriously, however, thanks for sharing your experience. My fear with the bigger companies is exactly what you have told of...too regimented. While there are no escaping certain rules at some places, as far as I know the vehicles in the Sabi Sand do not have to be back to the lodges in time for dinner!

While I was at Simbambili, we were basically split into two groups. There were six Americans, all of us in our 30's, as well as my tour operator from Joburg who joined us, and then there was a group of about six older Brits. The group I was in was always back later to camp, and, if memory serves me correct, we even had completely separate dinners...almost like a cruise ship...they had the early dinner adn we had the late dinner, but it was because we had such a cool game ranger, Jaco, and we all agreed to stay out late. If what you are saying is accurate, we would have never had the chance to stay out later had my stay been at Mala Mala. Mala Mala or not, at Simbambili, by the second game drive we had already seen the Big Five and in my three night stay, I believe there were seven separate leopards, including the matriarch leopard with her 7 month old cub, as they ate a fresh kill atop a termite mound! We tracked rhinos on foot, tracked cheetah on foot, watched lions attempting to hunt, saw jackals, saw a Mozambiquen Spitting Cobra slither across the road and so much more...and ALL OF IT IN 5 STAR LUXURY for not much more than the price of Mala Mala main camp. I have no regrets, whatsoever, of making my third consecutive Mala Mala-less visit to the Sabi Sand.

Roccco,
I have not claimed I'm close to your experience with safari camps, you are right. I know that you have been to ten times as many safari camps as I have. I know the price of Singita and it is out of "my league". And I can't compare game viewing between Mala and Singita- but neither can you. If your client(s) has their own chauffer, a Learjet, yacht in Mykonos, etc. then they must have Singita. What I am saying is - How many books can you find on Mala Mala and Singita? I have three hard bound books on Mala, two you can find on Amazon. There are none for Singita (that I'm aware of). About every other TV program on African wildlife is filmed at Mala Mala. National Geographic has a resident photographer at Mala.
Anyway it has been fun, but I think I'm going crazy with two concurrent threads here on this stuff. So it's "over and out" for me. Take care.
regards - tom

Before anyone points out what a small area that Simbambili has and what a large area that Mala Mala has, it is mostly meaningless...Simbambili shares traversing rights with Chitwa Chitwa, Elephant Plains and more. Also, Mala Mala on their maps will take the liberty of showing areas that are actually off limit to guests, making it smaller than it appears.

I will say that the traversing area that Simbambili enjoyed was completely sufficient for our 4 hour game drives. Only for that special sighting of the mother & cub leopard kill and for an absolutely huge tusked elephant putting on a display of knocking down trees, were there ever more than one vehicle on a spotting.

I expect to have similar game viewing at Sabi Sabi and/or Leopard Hills later this year.

Besides the luxury lodges, I know good trip reports when I read them. Kwando is one of the best regarded safari operations in existence, and for about half the price of Mala Mala, visitors are able to visit Kwando's camps between December 01st - March 31st. I will certainly be there later this year.

Hi Hari,

I'm frankly amazed that a party with a private vehicle had to leave a sighting just to get back in time for dinner. I've never encountered that sort of regimentation at Londoz, whether or not I had a private vehicle. When guests wanted to stay at a sighting, they did, regardless of whether it was time for a meal. On my last trip, I was always the first person out and the last one back, and never felt any pressure to return to camp to meet some arbitrary dining schedule.

I've been impressed by recent reports on the game-viewing at Mala Mala, but this information puts quite a damper on it -- what's the use of having spectacular game-viewing if the meal schedule takes precedence over a great sighting?

Cheers,
Julian

It doesn't. In my experience Lions who are hunting are great to follow, but if the plan is too follow them until something happens, you'll have a long wait, also at MM seeing Lions hunting is considered a pretty usual sighting, there is nothing exceptional about it.

Back in early 2004, there was an amazing sighting of 5 Leopards, the details of which are somewhat hazy to me, and I can't be bothered to check the cyberdiary. That night most guests gopt back to camp after 11pm and had the choice of dinner or bed.

"Also, Mala Mala on their maps will take the liberty of showing areas that are actually off limit to guests, making it smaller than it appears."

Rocco can you elaborate on this?

Napamatt,

Hi! Perhaps, lions hunting is a pretty usual occurrance at Mala Mala......but the fact remains that, i have yet to witness a successful kill (in my 6 trips to Africa).....although i have seen several attempts (all missed)...

My point is......yes, we were a long way from camp, but we wanted to stay with the lions on our final night.....we did spend some time with them while they were still lying down, but the moment they started walking and checking around.......we only spend about 20 mins and then our guide (who was fantastic) said that we had to return to camp otherwise we would be too late for dinner......we were still the last people back!

However, if i were to return to the Sabi Sands on a future trip.......i would not return to Mala Mala.....

I read one of the prior posts, saying MM had a lot of documentaries filmed on location......that is one of the reasons for my visit......but so has Londolozi.....i would consider Londolozi, Sabi Sabi, ngala, high on my list.......

Anyone visit Ngala?

Santharamhari

I think that the SSGR properties tend to be much more regimented than in Botswana, with the Kwando camps in particular being very loose and go with the flow. Your point is well made and taken.

My point on Lions is that most people never see them kill, because most of us witness the start of their hunting around dusk, most of the time it takes them several attempts to be successful, the guide was just calling the odds.

As to the game viewing in general, I have only visited MM in SSGR, but several other posters have been to many different including Londoz and Sabi Sabi and where very clear about where the best game viewing is. So much of game viewing is luck, that a couple of lucky sightings will leave you with a great impression of a place.

Londolozi has been touting their Leopard experience which a lot of us were interested in, until Kaye did it and said it was a waste of time and money, so for the stay out all night kind of trip, I would recommend Kwando and Wilderness in Botswana.

Rocco - still no clarification to your post.

Hello Matt,

Thanks for your post about MM game-drive policies. However, Hari's report does bother me...shouldn't the client's desire to stay an watch the hunt take precedence over the meal, particularly when this is something the client (Hari) has wanted to see for a long time? Even if lion hunts are common at MM, they aren't necessarily common for the client, who may not go on safari very often, or who may be on a once in a lifetime trip.

Cheers,
Julian

Hi Matt,

I've done the Leopard Specialist Safari at Londoz, and spent five wonderful days in the company of leopards. With a private vehicle and a specialist guide (Maxine Scott) I was able to spend as much time as I wanted with the leopards, getting to know them and their individual personalities and having some incredible sightings. IMO it was one of the best safari experiences I've had -- leopards, leopards, and more leopards!

This is not to say that every second was a National Geographic moment -- of course not -- but that the overall value of the experience for someone who loves leopards and wants to focus on them was very high.

However, as you pointed out, so much of game viewing is luck, and as Kaye only spent 2 nights on the specialist safari that may well have been a factor. She saw nine different leopards and three different lion prides during her five days at Londoz -- most people wouldn't have any complaints about that sort of game viewing!

It seemed to me that Kaye's complaints focused more on the accommodation at Bateleur Camp (which has been upgraded, BTW). I did recommend that she try for Tree Camp or Pioneer Camp if accommodation is an important factor. If she had raised this in camp, she could certainly have been moved to another room. One way or another, she's going back next year, which speaks volumes.

It's true that the rangers at Londoz don't eat with you every night. However, people have different feelings on this point; personally, I would find spending as much time as you do with your ranger at MM a bit claustrophobic. On my last Londoz safari, Maxine would have been happy to dine with me every night, but I like having a bit of time on my own every now and then.

I think that both Londoz and MM have a lot to offer, and that people can have fantastic game-viewing at either lodge. Your reports on MM have certainly tantalised me, but the single supplement is just too steep b(

Cheers,
Julian

Julian

Agreed on the single supplement. As for rangers eating with you, you can give them the night off if you choose.

I think if you pushed the issue of staying out and not eating then you might get what you wanted, but as I said, if you are seeing something then they will stay out.

Hari stated she had not seen a Lion kill in six trips. We had a ranger this time who has been doing the job in SSGR for four years, who has not seen any kills. I saw the Lion kill the Buffalo on my 103rd game drive, three new guests saw it on their first. I really do think it's a matter of luck.

Kaye did have problems with accomodation, but I had thought she mentioned that there didn't seem the willingness to be out late at night, which is one of the features of the Leopard experience. Maybe I have that wrong if so apologies to all.

Hi Matt,

It may be that the willingness to stay out late differs from ranger to ranger, and may depend on other circumstances -- you were able to stay out late at MM and Hari wasn't, and I was certainly able to stay out late at Londoz even if Kaye wasn't. If that's the case, it may be unwise to generalise about a reserve's policy on late night drives.

After what you said about your ranger, I count myself very, very fortunate to have witnessed a lion kill and a wild dog kill on my visits to Africa.

Cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian and Matt,
I was not going to enter into this as the whole exercise seems pointless - we all have our favourites and that is not going to change, but as I have been brought into this discussion, I will say something.

To clarify a few points -
I did have problems with my accomodation at Bateleur Room #110. Besides being very tired, it lacked comfort and thanks for your tip again Julian about mentioning it to be moved, but I was unaware that the chalets were so different in size, so I believed moving us would not have made any difference! Also I would add that luxury accomodation is not the most important thing to me by a long stretch, it is definitely the gameviewing! Ivory Lodge at Lion Sands was fabulously luxurious, but the gameviewing wasn't great, in my opinion, so I would not be returning there. But that is no excuse for us not to be comfortable or to pay an outrageous amount for a room! On the specialist safari - Matt is quite right, I thought it was a waste of a large sum of money. I believed we saw very little over anyone else doing normal gamedrives. And never in any of my gamedrives have I seen the tracker given a choice of whether he would accompany us or not! What a surprise when he said no! One night we remained out until 11pm, but it was hard for the ranger with the driving and the torch, as you could well imagine! So no apologies are necessary Matt! I would not do the specialist safari again in summer, and if I did it in winter - before I left home, I would have the hours I wanted to do gameviewing in writing and agreed upon by both parties as there did seem a huge difference in what I was told by their office as to what the rangers were prepared to do, and I know that they are addressing this problem.
I am returning to 3 CCA camps in July of this year, one of which is Londolozi which Julian states, but I had paid a deposit on this trip prior to my last trip, and I had always decided to do the two camps in Botswana, I wasn't sure about Londolozi. But the general manager at Bateleur, as I did complain about the room to him, did give me rooms at both Pioneer and Founders, no recommendation by him for Tree Camp which I found interesting. I have also had email conversation with their head office, and what has been said back I have been happy with, but I would not return to Bateleur Camp, in the near future.

Kind regards,
Kaye

NapaMatt,

You know what your problem is?

You never stay at a neighboring lodge of Mala Mala's and therefore you never get the dirt on them! ;)

I have a map somewhere that shows Mala Mala's actual traversing areas. I believe another Fodorite recently e-mailed it to me. It may be like finding a needle in a haystack at this point or it may have even been deleted by now.

But, simply stated, there is privately held land within Mala Mala, or so I have been told, that is off-limits for game drives.

I fully agree with Julian and Matt, that it all depends on luck to see anything........maybe on my 7th trip, things will change....who knows.

Rocco,

Quick clarification.....what is the point of holding private land at MM and not using them on drives? Maybe the game there is not great compared to the other routes? or that is a newer area and the animals are more skittish? Who knows.........

Rocco

There is some land within Mala Mala that is owned by Mala Mala, over which the previous owners maintained traversing rights when they are at their own camps. These camps are used 2 or 3 times a year for around a week. At those times the area is off bounds. I'd love to see the map.

The area in question is Beaumonts and is not big. Furthermore it is in the south of the reserve, on the west side of the river, away from the major portion of MM land.

Result MM is not significantly smaller than stated on the map.

Hello Kaye,

I'm sorry if you felt offended by my post -- from your trip report, it wasn't clear what your opinion of the specialist safari was. It sounds like, for whatever reason, we had very different experiences. We went in different seasons, had different rangers and trackers, and my specialist safari was 5 nights rather than 2 -- any or all of those factors may have played a role.

It does sound like the ranger was willing to stay out quite late when you were on the specialist safari, which was similar to my own experience. However, I've never experienced the sort of thing you report about the tracker. To be honest, I was very surprised to hear about that, and I think you were quite right to be annoyed -- I would be really annoyed as well!

Since your concerns seemed to focus on the accommodation, I thought that accommodation might be an important factor for you. There's nothing wrong with that -- I like nice accommodation as much as the next person, and if I felt a room was too small or otherwise inadequate I'd certainly address it with the management ASAP.

I did have a problem with the lights flickering in my room at Londoz last year. When I mentioned it to the management I was offered another room immediately, and the staff relocated my luggage whilst I was on a game drive so I didn't have to deal with it.

I'm happy to hear that you were offered rooms at Pioneer and Founders for next year -- personally I would recommend Pioneer for more peace and quiet as Founders tends to have more families. Both camps are smaller than Bateleur. If you want to provide your email address, I can send you a map of the Londoz camps so you can take a look and request a specific room if you want.

Tree Camp is all-suites and is more expensive than Pioneer and Founders, so this is probably why it wasn't offered as an alternative to Bateleur.

Anyhow, I'm glad you're giving Londoz another shot, and I hope your safari in July is the type of superb experience I've come to expect from my stays there.

Let me know if you'd like the camp map.

Cheers,
Julian

Kaye

Apologies for bringing you into the discussion.

Posting photos soon of some of your friends :-)

I am planning to stay at Leopard Hills in July as part of my honeymoon, a bith disappointed to hear some of the negative comment's, is it really bad or just not that great. comfort is important but at the end of the day I don't want to travel all that distance and not see much wildlife. Any good experience's of Leopard Hills would be greatly appreciated.

Speranza

I'm sure it will be terrific. My comment about a ranger previously employed there might have appeared negative. He was very positive about the viewing at Leopard Hills, but recognized it was probably not quite as good as Mala Mala (his opinion) and so didn't try and convince me to go there.

The only other negative I saw was that, the beautiful view shown on the website pertains to just one room.

Hopefully on honeymoon you'll have that room, of course if a well known travel agent from CA is visiting, then you'll likely be bumped :D

Hi again Julian & Matt,

Julian, I do not get offended that easily, so do not worry about it and I would love any information or maps you have of the camps. My email address is [email protected]. Thank you in advance.

Matt, I look forward to looking at your photos and my some of my friends. I miss them all already!

Kind regards,
Kaye

Thanks for the reassurance, does anyone have any experience of Lion Sands, would be interested to hear about game viewing at this camp.

Hi Speranza,

I was at Lion Sands Ivory Lodge this past December. The rooms are super luxurious and really can't be faulted. Perfect for a honeymoon, I actually was in the honeymoon suite, though I do not know why as I was with a 22 year old niece! The view over the Sabie River and looking towards Kruger is beautiful, I doubt you would get a better view anywhere in the Sabi Sands.
The gameviewing is reasonable for a short time. I feel there are common areas with other properties that need to be policed in as much as way too much traffic! One Sabi Sabi vehicle we passed had 12 or 13 passengers on it, some were certainly children but it did not look safe and way too many people to have to listen to when you pulled up to them! I would not want to stay there for a longer period as I think the traffic would really get to me. We did see some good gameviewing -5 different leopards, lion pride + 2 territory lions, various antelope, ele, great hippo viewing in the Sabie River, giraffe, rhino and various birds. This was in a 1 night stay followed by a 2 night stay about 10 nights later.

Kind regards,
Kaye

speranza,

I wouldn't worry about Leopard Hills one bit. One of the negative reports from Fodors is five years old. There are more recent glowing reports about Leopard Hills. I just don't think that a company that would spend the kind of money it must have cost to build Madikwe Hills, www.madikwehills.com, would allow Leopard Hills to suffer.

I have just now confirmed my November/December itinerary 100%. It will be as follows:

Ntwala Island Lodge, Caprivi Strip, Namibia (2)

Susuwe Island Lodge, Caprivi Strip, Namibia (3)

Kwando Lagoon, Kwando Concession, Botswana (2)

Kwando Lebala, Kwando Concession, Botswana (2)

Kwando Kwara Island, Kwara Concession, Botswana (1)

Kwando Kwara, Kwara Concession, Botswana (3)

Michelangelo Hotel, Sandton, Joburg (1)

Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge, Sabi Sand (2)

Leopard Hills, Sabi Sand (3)

Madikwe Hills, Madikwe (2)

Mateya, Madikwe (2)


I am really looking forward to finally visiting at the right time of the year where plunge pools will be of use. 14 nights of plunge pools, altogether! :)

Oh, and between eight nights at Kwando's camps and four nights in Madikwe, I don't think the Wild Dogs are going to be able to hide from me this time! :)

Thanks for all your help on leopard hills and lion sands. As part of our honeymoon we are also looking to travel to cape town and the winelands. We are currently looking to stay at Les Cascades guest house in Cape Town, but we are running into some difficulty in the winelands, not sure where to stay, any help would be great or should I start a new post regarding this request.

After researching Timbavati's Kings Camp for a client, I have really liked what I have seen.

www.kingscamp.com

Here is an amazing video that was captured on one drive:

www.kingscamp.com/reports/fighting_lioness.htm

As a result, I am going to try to add a couple nights at Kings Camp for my November/December visit, even though it will mean one less night at Kwando and one less night at Leopard Hills.

My itinerary would change to the following:

Ntwala Island Lodge (2)
Susuwe Island Lodge (3)
Kwando Lagoon (2)
Kwando Lebala (2)
Kwando Kwara Island (1)
Kwando Kwara (2)
Michelangelo, Joburg (1)
Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge, Sabi Sand (2)
Kings Camp, Timbavati (2)
Leopard Hills, Sabi Sand (2)
Madikwe Hills (2)
Mateya, Madikwe (2)

Although Kings Camp does not feature a private plunge pool, the rooms are very nice (featuring indoor & outdoor showers), the gameviewing seems to be excellent (very strong in leopards, lions and has regular cheetah & wild dog sightings, as well) and the price is very good, lower than Ngala, for example, which is another Timbavati lodge.

One thing that attracts me about Timbavati is that there are only about seven lodges there, compared to about twenty lodges in the Sabi Sand, yet Timbavati is the same size of the Sabi Sand. It will be a very interesting comparison.

I am just sorry that I am unable to extend my trip beyond 23 nights. I am only doing it for this long because I am confident that I will have a very knowledable person to back me up while I am gone, but 23 nights is still the limit. Otherwise, there is so much more I would like to experience such as Game Trails Botswana (www.gametrailsbotswana.com) and Mkuze Falls (www.mkuzefalls.com) in Kwa-Zulu Natal (this would combine well with Phinda).

I have been so wrapped up with the above trip, that I have hardly had time to think about this little weekend getaway that I am taking to Tanzania, Zanzibar, Amsterdam and Paris departing next week! ;)

I have been following this communication with interest, as I spend a lot of time in the bush in the areas you are talking about. King Camp is great and well worth a visit, great managment couple and staff.
Leopard Hills is my personal favorite, the re-vamp has been amazing, and the attention to detail awesome. The game viewing is probably the best I have ever seen, and the crossover period you talk about is no longer an issue. What makes Leopard Hills stand out for me in particular is the friendly staff and the homely atmosphere, you will go a long way to beat it anywhere. Hope this helps, I will definately be returning again.