TJinSOMA

Thanks for all the advice to date Fodorites. I spoke with a travel agent today that a friend has used (Rothschilds Safaris) and thought they were very knowledgeable and unbiased. Since we're going to be in Durban seeing friends, they advices three nights in Phinda Private Game Reserve (Forest Lodge) and then either Londolozi or Sabi Sabi Little Bush Camp.

Has anyone stayed at the Forest Lodge at Phinda - seems very nice, but a little more refined (we like luxury but also want to feel as if we're in Africa)? Separately - any thoughts on which Londolozi is better (or would it make sense to split nights between Londolozi and the Little Bush Camp?

We have five to six nights total for the safari. Thanks

Safari_Craig

If you are talking about Rothschilds Safaris in Denver, they are a reputable safari agency and you are in good hands. They are competitors of my company and they are upstanding and they operate without bias as far as I know (i.e. they don’t secretly own any services in Africa that they “recommend”).

I have been to every lodge on Phinda (Forrest, Rock, Vlei, Mountain, and Homestead). They are all unique and different. Vlei is my favorite and Forrest is my least favorite because of the funky looking glass rooms. This is strictly personal taste. The guests at all the lodges game-drive on the same land and draw from the same pool of vehicles, guides, and trackers. So, there is no difference in the safari experience. You can expect to see plenty of Cheetah and Rhino which, in my experience, is Phinda’s strength. I saw 31 cheetah in one game drive on my most recent visit.

I have been to the Sabi Sands many times. It offers an excellent big five safari and, when combined with Phinda, will make IMO one of the best six day safari possible in South Africa. The only sticky issue if you are price sensitive is that the charter flight from Phinda to Sabi Sands is about $1,000 per person. If you don’t use this flight you will lose almost an entire day getting from Phinda to Sabi Sands. Also, Phinda has stay4pay3 rates so if you stay 3 nights you are throwing away a 100% free (no strings attached) night at the lodge.

With all that said, if you don’t want to pay for the two ecosystems I still recommend the Sabi Sands as the number choice for a one-and-only safari. You could stay four days a place like MalaMala or Londolozi and not run out of land to explore. There are daily flights from Durban/DUR to Nelspruit/MQP which is the gateway to the Kruger National Park and Sabi Sands (Southern Sections). I have been to every lodge at Londolozi and all their properties are unique and different. If you want to spend the money, Private Granite is over the top amazing. Perhaps also consider Lion Sands and MalaMala. I have not been to Sabi Sabi since the 80s and Little Bush was not there back then. One difference between Sabi Sabi and Londolozi is that Sabi Sabi does not have a river which can enhance the experience. The Sand River flows right through camp at Londolozi.

Hope this helps. Have fun.

Craig Beal – owner – Travel Beyond

TJinSOMA

Craig - really appreciate the thoughtful reply and advice.

Safari_Craig

Pleasure.

mytmoss

Craig has made some great points in his comments. I have been to both Phinda and Londolozi. Phinda gives you great opportunities to see both cheetah and black rhino which you may not see in Sabi Sands. I really liked Phinda however when I was there, the leopard sightings were poor. I have heard they are better now, but I have not been there in years.

That being said, I love Londolozi and the Sabi Sands. I would recommend that over both Sabi Sabi and Mala Mala, especially the latter even though Mala Mala has large traversing rights.

Craig also mentioned Lion Sands which is my favorite lodge of all the choices. If I were to choose, it would between Londolozi or Lion Sands.

Mike

Leopardress

Hi there - I also prefer Vlei Lodge - smaller and by the sounds more suited to what you are looking for. Londolozi is great - another camp that I like in the Sabi Sand is Savanna Lodge - they have a great team of rangers. Enjoy your holiday, Anthea

atravelynn

Phinda wildlife viewing for me was similar to what Mytoss experienced.

I agree with Craig:
"(Sabi Sands) offers an excellent big five safari and, when combined with Phinda, will make IMO one of the best six day safari possible in South Africa [might I add anywhere]. The only sticky issue if you are price sensitive is that the charter flight from Phinda to Sabi Sands is about $1,000 per person. If you don’t use this flight you will lose almost an entire day getting from Phinda to Sabi Sands." I had to o/nt in Joburg between the 2 places.

Here are a few comments I have made about Forest Lodge.

<i>The single-wire fence around Forest Lodge kept elephants at bay but did not deter the vervets, crested guinea fowl, impala, red duikers, or nyala (which I have decided is my new favorite antelope, especially the bulls) from roaming through the sand forest and providing excellent views right from our glass cottage suites.

I spent most of my pre-lunch downtime roaming the paths and looking at the wildlife. After lunch it got pretty quiet.

On one pre-lunch excursion walking around the paths of Forest Lodge I watched two male nyalas chasing a couple of females around in hopes of romance. One female eluded her suitor with some quick moves that had the bull racing through the woods until he pivoted around a bend and suddenly encountered me. Skidding to a stop in the soft sand and stared right at me. I put an immediate halt to any intentions he might have had by explaining, “No you don’t! You want someone with white vertical stripes and much thinner legs.”

That was some of the action out on the paths, but you could have equally good viewing by just staying inside and looking out of your own glass walls or sitting on your balcony. Or at least that’s what I understood. The first few days at Forest Lodge, nobody came over by my house even though I’d seen nyala and impala grouped around the other cottages when I’d walk around. I was feeling a little unwanted when about the third day I was inside reading and looked up to see I was surrounded by an impala herd. When they are in the forest, where we hardly ever get to see them, they are very relaxed, sitting down, and doing a lot of grooming of themselves and each other. It was a delight to watch them for almost an hour before they moved off.

Then the next day nyala (my new favorite antelope) were camped out around my cottage. I was so proud of my own personal nyala herd that I was strutting around the cottage, pointing and announcing, “Four females to the east! Mother and twins on the south! Big nyala bull making his way to the north side!” I had no idea which direction was which, but it didn’t matter because there was nobody there to hear me anyway.

I’ve only alluded to the glass cottage suites, but they are masterpieces where art meets architecture. Mine was #7 and I couldn’t see advantages or disadvantages to any of the cottages, except the one right next to reception (not sure what number that was) would have the most foot traffic.


Why Forest Lodge? Forest (north) and Mountain (south) are the lower priced. Vlei (north) and Rock (south) are the higher priced lodges with fewer guests. So I knew it would be a Forest or Mountain tossup. This forum seemed to favor Forest. I also read where the Forest Lodge had won awards for environmental and design reasons. I had never been to a sand forest, where Forest Lodge is located, but I have been to mountains. If you stayed in the south there is a sand forest down there somewhere.


To fully experience all of Phinda’s habitats, it is best to split your visit as follows: The north has Vlei (high end) and Forest Lodge (moderate) and the south has Rock (high end) and Mountain (moderate). You have to be staying at Forest or Vlei for the rhino tracking because these two properties are closest to the broadleaf forest habitat, where the rhinos are commonly found in the morning. I spent one whole week at Forest Lodge and enjoyed 3 exciting rhino tracking safaris, finding at least one rhino on each outing."