Slowly all traces of a once prominent presence just disappear...

Of those I've looked at and read reviews of so far the one I like the most is Ngala Tented (especially for its small size) -- I did not realize it only has 6 to a vehicle so that is a plus as well. But I can't figure out where it is located. It looks to be somewhere not far from Orpen gate of Kruger, but is it inside or outside the park itself and is it north, south, east, or west of Orpen and how far? (We have a great detailed map of the area and are just trying to figure out where it's situated.) I do think it is more than we want to spend but it seems to have many positives.

Here is a &Beyond map showing location of Ngala camps. It is just below/borders the Timbavati Reserve. Or about 20 miles north of the Sabi Sand Reserve. It is not in Kruger, it borders Kruger on the east.
http://www.andbeyondafrica.com/luxur...me_reserve_map

This page show their 2009 rates-
http://www.andbeyondafrica.com/luxur..._reserve/rates
Click to get 2010 rates. Your August time frame is 5,315 Rand pppn, or around $700. Check for long stay deals. $700 pppn opens up many more camps than your original look at $500 camps.

regards - tom

Tom is correct - Ngala Tented is offering a long stay deal valid for travel in August 2010 - pay for 3 nights and receive a 4th night free. It really is a beautiful lodge and I'm sure you'll have a great time there, Lisa!
Mike Karantonis

Hi Lisa,

we stay at Ngala Tented for 3 days this past September.We really enjoyed it but you cannot compare with the Kwando feel or the Botswana feel( i think you will not get that wild and remote feeling is this reserves)

The Camp is very close to the north of the Orpen Gate,is 5 minutes driving from the Orpen road and is located in the souther part of the reserve.
The Timvabati Reserve is bordering Kruger NP with no fence( just like the SabiSand) so animals can move in and out of the reserve,for example the day before our arrival a pride with 19 lions that had been around for a month had moved to Kruger and 2 male cheetah(that we did not get to see )came from Kruger to the Timbavati the day we where leaving.

The tents are very nice,i will say too nice and not rustic for sure(They have AC but not phone or TV ,thank goodness) but somehow they have a nice atmosphere like the rest of the camp.
They are a bit close together,not a big deal for me.There where most days and nights impalas,bushbucks,baboons,vervet monkeys in front of our veranda and from the pool or the dining area we saw elephants,giraffes ,kudus and other antelopes in the dry Timvabati rever bed.
¡One day my son and a guest from another tent saw a serval cat under my son´s tent !

There where 2 things we really ,really like about this camp. One was the wildlife viewing which was great and of course is the most important for me while on safari and the other one was the people,they where just fantastic ,from the managers to the guide and the rest of the staff.

When we booked this camp they did not have the stay 4 pay 3 deal(this was only at Ngala Lodge ) but they had a stay 3 get private game drives, which we enjoyed a lot and is was great for our photography.

Good luck with your planning.

Paco.

Paco - At Ngala Tented how may times did you see lions and leopards? Rhino, buffalo?

regards - tom

Tom,
We saw 3 leopards ,a pride with 9 lions and one very shy male that was part of a 4 male lion coalition that they haven't seen before in the area.

We only saw one rhino but we wanted to look for other things(like elephants) since we had seen many at Phinda and Kirkmans,our guide offer us to go and see a family of 3 rhinos .
We did see also 3 herds off buffalos but not big herds.

We spend one full afternoon at a hyena den that was great,one full morning with the lion pride ( no flat cats) and a couple hours with the male leopard brothers,apart from the best elephant sightings of the trip.


To me is more about the quality of the sightings that the number and i think we where lucky here.

Paco.

Thanks Paco. Agree quality of sightings much more important than count. Flat cat lions are of little interest after the first minute.

regards - tom

Well, the buy 3 stay 4 would make it at least in the realm of possibility.

On the other hand, for the same price or less I think we could probably stay at Elephant Plains and have private drives for the whole time...which is tempting.

Paco, thank you for your thoughts about Ngala Tented. Do you have any photos?

Lisa,

We had a great trip in 2006 which ended with three nights at Ngala Tented. Here is a link to my trip report (scroll down to find Ngala) with a link to a few photos.

We really enjoyed our time there. If you go, ask for tent #1--it's closest to the riverbed and has no other tent on one side.

I just want to chime in that we stayed at Ngala Tented in 2007 and followed a pride of lions and their cubs for seemingly hours. Our guide and tracker had so much enthusiasm that we just could not believe since they had to do this so many times a day. They would not give up, and even both got out on foot to find them (leaving us in the rover - scary!) and jumped back in - flying through brush and grass to find them. It was totally awesome and a highlight for us.

Like Paco said, the staff and mgt. was awesome. We had 4 in our jeep for one day; two days private, as other guests departed and we loved it.

If you could find a good deal go for it.

FP

Lisa - EP sells out really fast, so if you want to do that do it quickly. We were at Arathusa this year and enjoyed it for about the same price as EP. Stayed at Ngala Safari Lodge in 2006 after Bots - it was not great after the experience in Bots, but they have no single supplement and we had 2 singles. But I have a very warm place in my heart for it as we saw our first rhinos there.... for us just amazing. Wish we could have gone to Tented. But if it's about the wildlife, I'd try for something in Sabi Sand.

From Sabi Sand Windtuin.

Londolozi and Singita still part of SSGR, but didn't want to help pay for the site (promoting their competitors)so declined to be invloved.

The good news is that EP does have space available.

The bad news is that they will not allow only two people to book a private vehicle, they require at least 4 in the vehicle. (You can't even buy the other two spaces in the vehicle.)

Back to the drawing board.

I seriously think the days of camps being almost always full are behind us for a couple of years at least.

It appears that most operators are now really beginning to suffer, many had camps pre-booked last year, now the bookings for next year are really drying up.

I think there might be opportunities for flexible travelers next year.

Hi Matt

Of course I will be there in December 2009! Where else would I be? I have missed my half-yearly visit due to three nieces getting married this year but next year will go for a month to MM from the middle of July 2010 and then in January 2011 due to my niece's social preferences over Xmas 2010.
I have not been on this forum for weeks so that is why I am only responding now, so was not ignoring the question asked. I am still going to Mashatu this December with niece Madeline, and Becky and I will still be going to Mashatu as well in January 2011.

In my opinion, my wildlife viewing without trackers this past Xmas/January 2009, was just as good as ever before.

Time is getting closer and closer, and I cannot wait to be back enjoying my time at MM and Mashatu - places where I seem to be able to forget about all my health issues!!!

Kind regards

Kaye

KayeN - thanks, interesting your opinion of MM wildlife viewing without trackers. Rather what I would expect. The best "trackers" are the Motorola radios on several vehicles out and about.

regards - tom
ps - and have missed -you- on the forum!!!

I was just on the gomo gomo website, and they had 2 pangolin sightings in their september report. They were pretty excited! I haven't heard much about Gomo Gomo since they moved to Timbavati, but for the price, it sure looks like a good value. Maybe a consideration.

FWIW, Gomo Gomo is no longer in the Timbavati but nearby in the Klaserie Reserve.
http://www.gomogomo.co.za/frameset.html
Their rates are still attractive at around $200pppn.

I can't seem to find the name of the camp that is now where Gomo Gomo used to be in the Timbavati. Anybody?

regards -tom

Oh - I missed that about GG. Thought it was in Sabi and moved to Timbavati, but I was incorrect - it moved from Timbavati to Klasserie. Oops. tom - I bet a new high end place will open up soon. Bad timing.