Hi. I am heading to SA for 10 days; we want to spend a few days on safari and several places have been suggested - but generally they seem to turn to sabi sands; one agent suggested Elephant Plains, Djuma Bush Lodge (both are in the Sabi Sands) or Ngala Game Lodge (in Timbavati). another agent suggested Lion Sands game reserve, which is quite a bit more expensive - spa and all...
we will be arriving after our very long flight from the USA - so some down time as well as game viewing time sounds great. Any thoughts? Thanks so much as all of my Fodor's buddies out there have been so helpful in the past.
Sue

Depends on your budget, but Mala Mala hard to beat.

We are watching our budget but may blow it on the few days of our safari and cut back for the rest of the trip.
Are we talking about "nicer places to stay" or the quality of what we will sse? We don't have a sense for the lay of the land and how much the location matters if we are in the park? Thanks again.
Sue

Little Bush Camp if the budget is tight. If that doesn't fit the bill price wise: I suggest you head for the madikwe, some great properties for great value, try buffalo ridge or its sister camp, which is tented and a drop dead price, but for now I have blanked on the name.

Sue.

Iam off next week and will be at Lion Sands during the trip..if you can wait, I will let you know how I fared there..

bob and vee,

I think you should also consider Exeter River, Dulini, Leadwood and Kirkman's Kamp. They are a about $100(Kirkman's $150) less per person per night than Mala Mala and Lion Sands. Kirkman's Kamp actually shares traversing area with Mala Mala(6300ha).

What is your #1 priority? If it is game viewing, I'll reccommend Kirkman's Kamp for the lower $$$. I will visiting Kirkman's in December! Can't wait!

Hope this helps,

KL

Thank you all so much; am checking into little bush camp and exeter to start; may still blow it and stay at lion sands; need to do a bit more research and talk it over with our friends.

I'll put in a big plug for Chitwa Chitwa for a middle-of-the-road budget choice. Very comfortable rooms, good food, expert rangers/trackers, and a big plus is the very large dam right in front of the lodge, with resident hippos, crocs, and a constant parade of other animals coming to the water. In the Nkorho/Djuma portion of Sabi Sands.

Simbambili has had a couple of good reports in the past and is a bit less expensive I think. From posts here, I would select MM over Lion Sands, that was certainly the experience of a fodorite who went ot both on the same trip.

bobandvee,
I just got back from a trip that included 3 nights at Exeter Leadwood Lodge and could not have had a better experience, both in terms of luxury and accomodation and quality of game viewing (trip report is in the works and should be completed shortly, hopefully this weekend). Our agent had also highly recommended Elephant Plains as a very good value - much lower priced option with excellent game viewing.

Matt: Do you happen to know who posted the reports on both MM and Lion Sands? Or how to find the thread?? Thanks!

Hi Ekscrunchy

It may be me as I have been to Lion Sands and MalaMala on two different trips. Matt is 100% correct, I do prefer MalaMala over Lion Sands as gameviewing is my absolute priority! I have never had a bad experience at Lion Sands, but without question in my mind, the gameviewing is better at MalaMala.

By putting KayeN in the search, I came up with my photos from 27 Dec 2006 to 22 Jan 2007 in the Sabi Sands.

Please ask me anything if you wish to know something in particular.

Kind regards

Kaye

Kaye, thanks. I did find your great reports by using a google search...excellent. I leave this week; I will post a question about packing on another thread (should I take fleece pullover for early October??)

In Sabi Sands yes. You will be glad of it first thing and late on the afternoon drive.

Matt. thanks. One more question: Do many people wear jeans at night in the luxury camps? Or will I be comitting a huge faux pas if I do...trying to manage the packing here...by jeans I mean non-ripped jeans with a nice shirt at night...

I had read reports here about people "dressing" for dinner. I never saw it (Phinda, Londolozi, Ngala Tented). We got back so late from our evening drives that we had time only to quickyly freshen up, put away our stuff, and change shirts for dinner.

We ate every meal outdoors, it was cool, so dressy clothes would have looked rather silly, especially worn with fleece. I did bring a pair of dressier pants but never wore them.

Nice jeans are fine. Their only drawback is that they tend to be heavy and maybe won't dry quickly if washed.

Have a wonderful trip.

I wore jeans every night last june in Bots, that was at Mombo, VP and Duma Tau. I would not hesitate to wear jeans at any camp.

My husband and I, both 31 years old, are plannig our first trip to SA next year and want to safari in the Sabi for 3 nights. We are not interested in the fancy places that have spas, etc but do want a nice place (I am hotel phobic if not nice and clean) with good game viewing and not too much money. What do you recommend? Also, how do I book the private planes to Sabi from JNB and back? We are planning to go to Vic Falls after Sabi and are trying to figure out the best way to get there as it seems as if the private planes from Sabi to JNB only fly at certain times and the Livingstone airport closes in the afternoon. Is it possible for us to do an AM safari in Sabi, fly to JNB, and then on to Livingstone in the same day? We would like to do a river cruise that evening also.