Travel Butlers African Safari Blog.

Sibuya Tented Camp, situated in the malaria-free Eastern Cape, is a 3,000 hectare ’sanctuary’ to an abundance of diverse wildlife from elephants to otters, and almost everything in between, including the other 4 members of the Big 5 - so lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino.

River Camp is ideal for families, as the children can be accommodated on fold-out sofa beds in the suites, and there is also a special 'entertainment tent' just for younger guests.

Rates from Travel Butlers for a stay in this camp start from just R2,130 per adult per night up until the end of August, and then increase on the 1st September to R2,420 per adult sharing. Single rooms attract a 50 supplement, and children under 3 stay free of charge, and up to 12 years pay half rate.

The Kichaka Luxury Game Lodge, in the malaria-free Eastern Cape, recently played host to one of South Africa’s newest stars, the actress Vanessa Haywood, who enjoyed a weekend here with her family and team from the SA TV show, Top Billing.

Vanessa stars in District 9, which has just been released worldwide, and has topped the US box office with over $160 m takings in just the first week. Movie buffs may also remember Vanessa from other movies such as Hey Boy and Blood Diamond.

Kichaka really made an impression on Vanessa. She was very impressed with the accommodation, cuisine and friendly service she received, and was blown away by the game viewing - she saw cheetah, elephants, lion, aardwolf to name a few !

Kichaka Lodge is ideally situated just over one hour from Port Elizabeth airport. Experienced rangers maximise every opportunity to ensure exceptional viewing during game drives on this established 7,500 hectare game reserve. Each of the 10 luxurious suites have been designed to provide every amenity and privacy. Each suite has a lounge area with large glass sliding doors on two sides which open wide, making these rooms part of the surrounding bush. There is also a large private viewing deck and private heated plunge pool.

Travel Butlers are pleased to now be working with Sibuya Tented Camp, in the malaria-free Eastern Cape.

The 3,000 hectare malaria-free reserve is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including the Big 5 of the African bush - elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo. Over 400 bird species have also been recorded.

A wide range of activities await guests, including guided game drives, fishing, canoeing, and horseback safaris. But the most unique part of a stay here is the 30 minute boat transfer to River or Forest Camp from the main reception area - during which, if you are lucky, you may see dolphins and turtles in the river mouth.

Accommodation is in safari tents, split between 2 camps - Forest and River. Children are welcome at River Camp.

If you are thinking of arranging a family holiday to South Africa, and including a couple of days at a safari lodge, you will be amazed at the number of lodges that do cater specifically for children - and by this, we mean not only just offering to put extra beds in the room for them to sleep on !

A growing number of safari lodges now offer children programmes for their younger guests. These obviously vary from lodge to lodge, but in general the majority of the programmes will include ‘bush bumbles’ - a shortened version of the adults game drive, plus the vehicle will not get as close to the larger animals of the African bush (such as elephants, lions, buffalo and rhino); short bush walks in search of insects and animal spoor (what child wouldn’t just LOVE the opportunity to be able to pick up some zebra dung !!), and story-telling about ‘Why the Elephant has a Trunk’ , ‘Why the Zebra has a Stripy Coat’ and ‘Why the Warthog is so Ugly’. Some lodges will offer kiddies bush picnics or special ‘themed’ meal times, some will even invite the children into the kitchen where the chef will help them bake cookies.

And all this goes on while the parents either enjoy their own game drives or just relax around the pool !

You can see a selection of lodges that Travel Butlers work with who offer such programmes by clicking HERE.

Even if you want to go to a lodge that doesn’t offer a bespoke children’s programme, there will always be babysitters on hand to look after the really young children during game drives. In general, all the lodges right across South Africa will not allow children younger than 5 to go on the long adult game drives (but the age restriction does vary from lodge to lodge so you do need to check with us before booking).

If you really do want to share the safari experience with your little ones, you can ask the lodge if you can hire a Land Rover for a day, and the ranger will only take you and your family out on your own game drives.

This will be an extra cost over and above the rate that you would normally pay, and whilst the lodge will do everything they can to accommodate this, they all do state that they cannot guarantee this service - purely for the reason that each lodge will normally have just one ’spare’ Land Rover - and if one of the vehicles that is due to take out the other guests breaks down, then the spare vehicle has to be used !

Finally, for most families, the family-friendly lodges in the malaria-free regions, such as the Eastern Cape, the Waterberg and Madikwe, will offer the most appeal, as this will mean that the kiddies will not have to take malaria tablets before, during and after the safari part of the trip !

For a lot of visitors to South Africa, a very popular safari destination is to spend a couple of nights in one of the lodges of the Eastern Cape, as this can easily be combined with a visit to Cape Town and a trip along the Garden Route - and the area is also malaria-free, which especially for families is an important consideration

But which lodge or reserve do you select? There are so many to choose from – Shamwari, Kwandwe, Pumba, Amakhala, Lalibela, Kariega … so what are the main differences ?

This may, I hope, shed some light for potential visitors to this area !

The reserves of the Eastern Cape range in size – anything from 5,000 hectares to 25,000 hectares. They are all privately owned, which means that the rangers have the freedom to drive off-road if there is a particular sighting that they want their guests to get close to – a pride of lions snoozing under a tree, for example !

The reserves all operate independently from each other, and each therefore have their own wildlife stock - the larger reserves such as Shamwari and Kwandwe can obviously sustain more wildlife in terms of actual physical numbers, and can also sustain species such as wild dog, who need an incredibly large home territory to hunt over - but the privilege of this is reflected in the rates.

The smaller reserves such as Amakhala, Lalibela, Pumba and Kariega, which tend to be around the 5,000 - 8,000 hectare size, do have to limit the number of predators - for example, a small reserve can only sustain a few lion, or else they would find their entire buffalo population is wiped out very quickly by hungry lions !

If Shamwari or Kwandwe fall within your budget, then in all honesty a 2 or 3 night safari in one of these lodges would give you a more rounded safari experience by dint purely of the size. 

Staying in either of these reserves means you will generally not see the road / reserve perimeter fence line at all during your stay, whereas in the smaller reserves you may well come across the fence line during a game drive - especially in Amakhala, as the lions are kept in a separate 1,000 hectares on one side of the road, so to get between this and the main part of the reserve you do cross under the main N2 road via an underpass - which can detract from the overall feeling of being totally immersed in your bush / safari experience.

However, to be forewarned is to be prepared - we had some wonderful sightings when we stayed at Amakhala, which included a cheetah mum and 3 cubs on an impala kill just a few meters from the N2 – which more than compensated for the highway encounter !

Kariega is also a ’split’ reserve, with the lions and elephants being kept separate in one part of the reserve, but you don’t go near the N2 at all - however you do cross over a minor road between the 2 parts of the reserve.

Whichever lodge you choose, you will still come away with memories of a wildlife encounter that will last a lifetime.

The Pumba Game Reserve in the malaria-free Eastern Cape of South Africa is running a special offer during their next winter season (northern hemisphere summer!).

This offer includes 2 nights at the Pumba Private Game reserve near Port Elizabeth and 1 FREE night at either The Sands@ St Francis in the Eastern Cape or one of two hotels in Port Elizabeth: The Beach Hotel or Hacklewood Country House.

At Pumba, the rate include accommodation, all meals and selected drinks, and 2 game drives per day in 4×4 vehicles each day. The free night at the hotels is on a bed and breakfast basis.

We are delighted to confirm that we will be offering 3 nights for the price of 2 at safari lodges in the Kariega Reserve for people travelling between 1 May and 30 September.

The Kariega reserve is ideal for families who are enjoying a holiday in Cape Town or the Eastern Cape who are also looking to include a safari in their trip.

The reserve is malaria free, and the main lodge has a number of 2, 3, and 4 bedroom chalets where it is possible for larger families and groups requiring a single room to stay very cost effectively.

Also as the reserve has an area without more dangerous game in it (i.e. no lions or elephants) guests are also welcome to walk, cycle, or canoe through parts of the reserve which gives a great opportunity to see giraffes, zebra, antelope and other species without being stuck in a vehicle.

The reserve is also only one of two in the area which can offer river cruises, and is also only a short drive from the coast and beaches at Kenton-on-Sea.

Children of any age are welcome. Rates available on request. Children under 5 are not allowed on normal game drives. Babysitting services are available.