Mitcl

My wife and I are spending a week at:

Zulu Nyala Game Lodge
Msinene Rd
Hluhluwe, 3960,
South Africa

I am trying to find out the best, safest way to travel from the Johannesburg airport to the Zulu Nyala Game Lodge in Hluhluwe, South Africa. It looks like it is about 300 miles/500 km.

Thanks for any help with this. The trip is at lest a year away.

cecil

Hi Mitcl


I am leaving at the end of this month for Zulu Nyala and am very excited.I am flying from Johannesburg to Durban and have arranged a pickup at the airport there with the folks from Zulu Nyala. I'll let you know when I return how it went.

Cecil

Mitcl

Thanks so much Cecil. I look forward to hearing how your trip went.

chigirl

Have you since gotten any more information about this lodge? I am also considering buying a package and would like to learn more before I commit.

Thanks!

Mitcl

Hi Chigirl

I don't know much...other than you can look at their website
http://www.zulunyala.com/

We bought a week long stay without airfare. We don't have dates yet...it's good for anytime in the next 24 months.

Mitcl

lincoln572

Cecil...you still out there? When are you going? I will be there the middle of June (in two weeks). If you are going to be there, let me know. Daytrips seem expensive...maybe we can negotiate a volume discount....

cecil

I just returned from Zulu Nyala and will post a trip report in a separate thread. We flew into Durban which is about a 3 hour drive from the reserve. From Johannesburg you can fly into Richards Bay and arrange a pick up there- about an hour and 15 minutes drive.

As far as optional trips - we did a 1/2 day at Hluhluwe Umfolozzi, St Lucia boat ride and the Zulu cultural show. I would not recommend the Zulu cultural show - a bit sad actually, but the other two were well worth it.

We were in the middle of a herd of elephants crossing the road at Hluhluwe and saw herds of cape buffalo, rhinos, waterbucks, giraffes and impala as well.

The St. Lucia wetlands is a world heritage site and we saw tons of crocs and hippos on the boat.

Hope this helps
Cecil

lisa_g

I will also be going to Zulu Nyala and wanted to know how Cecil's trip went. I was thinking of bringing my two teenage children...would they feel comfortable there? Were the guides knowledgable? What is the ideal number of days to spend there (3, 4, 5) as we have about 2 weeks and want to see other parts of the country. Did you feel safe? Thanks.
Lisa

cecil

Hi Lisa g

We effectively had 5 days at Zulu Nyala with two excursions outside the reserve during that time. More than that would have been too much and without the excursions it might have been a day or two too long. We saw all the wildlife in the reserve except for leopards. Zulu Nyala has no lions as they are too small a reserve.

Our ranger/guide was incredibly knowledgeable and for a city kid I learned a lot about wildlife and animal behavior.

The ranger/guide arranges your schedule and accompanies you on excursions and ours also picked us up in Durban.

I was a little nervous when one of the elephants decided to nudge the LandCruise with his tusk, but he was a little guy and the ranger was constantly watching to make sure we were okay.

It was my first trip to Africa and I will return!
Cecil

crystalsong

Cecil,
My husband and I will be staying at Zulu Nyala in a few months. Where is your trip review posted? We would very much like to read it. How was the food? What are the differences between the various venues in which one can stay; i.e., the private lodges, the game lodge, or the luxury tents?

Thank you.

ArthurSA

Yes, via Eermelo and Piet Retief, a little over 500km. About five hours.

ArthurSA

Typo. That's Ermelo.