Great report! We are considering Elephant Plains for next August. Question about drinks...are we allowed to bring our own bottles of wine? I have never been to a game camp, so this may be a ridiculous question! Or if not, how expensive were drinks?

jcasale- I'm very jealous that you got to see the sharks. We were really looking forward to it, especially after seeing them on the Planet Earth series- it was a major disappointment to not be able to see them. We'll just have to go back!

JennaJ- I'm not sure about the policy on bringing your own wine- you'll need to ask them directly. We're not big drinkers, so I didn't pay much attention . Generally speaking, the wine was pretty inexpensive everywhere we went, including Elephant Plains, but they didn't have a huge selection. The beer was also fairly limited (about 5 different kinds) and not expensive, but I don't remember the exact cost- it's hard to keep track of when you just keep a running tab!

I checked the exchange on our wine when we got the final bill nad it really wasn't too bad. Of course we are not big drinkers and typiccally we were splitting a bottle among three of us. The selection may not have been huge, but the quality was good. I found that just going with a South African red of some kind was the best.

I agree, mad, if you get a chance to go back it would be great to see the sharks. I highly recommend Great White Ecoventures - a bit far from Cape Town but it was a fabulous day and the crew was wonderful.

Mad,

Thanks........nice report.

You had some awesome game sightings.....

Cheers,
Hari

Thanks Hari,

I believe you were one of the people who were a help in planning my trip! I couldn't have done it without all the advice from fodorites. The game viewing was amazing most days (slower on some drives, which is why we wish we had stayed longer) Seeing four leapards and two wild dogs (one pregnant), was definitely amazing. The proximity to the animals is what really blew us away.

Thanks for this thread Mad. We will be at Elephant Plains with our kids in June- we are in one of the "deluxe" rooms and the kids are in a standard room. I would really appreciate some detail about your experience at this camp:

1. Could you describe the morning and evening game drives- I am a little concerned about a 10 passenger land rover, compared to the maximum of 6 at most camps in Sabi Sands.Do they only have two 10 passenger vehicles for the camp? How far do you drive - do they go into nearby concessions, is there a river nearby where animals gather, like at Mala Mala? Is the evening drive a different route? How were the sundowner locations?

2. How was the food? Please describe the meal choices at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

3. Any more detail about the rooms and the common areas in the camp.Is there a pool although it will probably be too cold for a dip when we are there.

AKR1- I'll try to answer your questions as best I can, but your experience may be different in June compared to April. First, there are 3 Landrovers that were not all filled to capacity. We sometimes had a full jeep of ten and other times there were 3 or 4 or us, depending on who was arriving/departing at the time. Either way was fine and it didn't make a big difference if there were more people or not- all the seats are good for viewing. The drives are not a designated route each time you go out- they go everywhere. The main goal is to find the animals, wherever they may be (on other properties as well). The river bed was pretty dried up when we were there, but this may not be the case when you're there - I really don't know. Regardless, we were not disappointed, although some days were slower with viewing than others- it's hit or miss. Many animals were viewable from the lodge throughout the day.
As for food- there was always various fruit, cereals and eggs to order for breakfast. salads and sandwichs for lunch and usually a meat and a poultry dish to choose from for dinner, along with various salads, potatoes, etc. There are two pools at the lodge, a bar area, a dining area inside and one outside where dinner is held around a fire, assuming it's not raining- the main lodge is very nice and comfortable. there's also a game room area near the standard rooms, but I never went inside, so I'm not sure what's there. I hope this helps!

Mad, thanks for your response- very helpful.

regards