doughtwi

My wife and I are staying 6 days at Ezulwini Game lodge (which is adjacent to Kruger). We have a few extra days and nights and are not sure where to go/stay.

We will depart from Houdespurit airport and would like to stay within driving distance for our departure.

Any suggestions? thanks!

cary999

How about going into Kruger Park itself? Have you done that before? Did I mention that before in your thread?
http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...nths-to-go.cfm
What have you since considered and decided -not- to do (e.g. Great Escarpment)?

regards - tom

Gardyloo

I missed your earlier thread, else I would have chimed in...

We have stayed at both River and Billy's Lodge at Ezulwini. I'd recommend Billy's Lodge for the bulk of your stay if you have a choice; the River Lodge, while lovely, is quite a distance from the Balule exit to the R40, and when we were there (which was 5 years ago, so much may have changed) the road between Billy's and the River Lodge was extremely rough and time-consuming.

In our experience at two different lodges in Balule (Ezulwini, whose owner is a friend of a friend, and Pondoro, the neighboring - and to be frank a fancier - lodge) the wildlife viewing has been excellent. Not, perhaps, in the same league as the Sabi Sand Game Reserve to the south (where we've been several times) but certainly not disappointing in the least. I am not aware of any barriers to animals moving back and forth between Balule and neighboring reserves or Kruger Park itself; I'm sure you'll have a great time. There are several photos from Ezulwini on the page in my travel photo website covering a 2005 RTW trip we took: http://gardyloo.us/rtw05.htm

Regarding your immediate question, you can drive in about an hour or so to the Phalaborwa entrance to Kruger Park, from which you can reach the Olifants rest camp easily. The view from the main terrace (cafe etc.) at Olifants is stunning. That part of Kruger Park is much more wide-open than the landscape you'll see around Ezulwini.

For a non-Kruger excursion, I can't recommend highly enough the Panoramic Route - God's Window, Three Rondavels, etc. - which is very convenient to Hoedspruit. We especially like staying in Graskop, at the Graskop Hotel - http://www.graskophotel.co.za/ - which is conveniently within waddling distance of the original Harrie's Pancakes. You can certainly spend a couple of days visiting that area, the Blyde Canyon area, Pilgrim's Rest, etc. - without straying too far from Hoedspruit and Kruger.

christabir

Do you want another wildlife destination or something different? Lots of other bush camps in all price ranges, and of course Kruger, for you to go. Personally, Blyde River Canyon is a day or two, and go to another safari camp.

pixelpower

Hi Dough,

A while ago, I compiled a list of lodges/camps in the private reserves near Kruger. You can find it here; http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...und-kruger.cfm Hope that helps a bit.

I think your first action should be to contact Ezulwini though. Lots of lodges offer "combo deals" with other lodges in other game reserves. Some advertise them on their website. Some do not (so you gotta ask).

Out of the list of lodges mentioned above, we have chosen four, in four different reserves:
- Africa On Foot / Klaserie
- Shindzela / Timbavati
- Elephant Plains / Sabi Sands
- Pungwe / Manyeleti
A detailed report is here; http://safaritalk.net/index.php?showtopic=6408

In two months, we go again, and again we have chosen different lodges in different reserves:
- Umkumbe / Sabi Sands
- nThambo / Klaserie
- Simbavati / Timbavati

All the best,

J.