During their recent visit to the Waterberg area of South Africa, Tracey & Paul Campbell were delighted to stay at Hanglip Mountain Lodge in the Entabeni Safari Conservancy. 

Entabeni is a 22,000 hectare reserve located less than three hours north of Johannesburg, and there is a wide range of accommodation on offer including luxury ensuite tents, family units, and 5* luxury lodges.  This is a malaria-free area, and this along with excellent game viewing and additional activities including horseback safaris, quadbiking and lake cruises will make this area very popular with families, couples, and honeymooners alike.

We are delighted to now be able to include more information on the increasingly popular Welgevonden Reserve which is located just three hours north of Durban in the Malaria Free Wtaerberg area of South Africa.

Tracey & Paul have recently returned from this region and were very impressed by the beautiful reserve, excellent game viewing, and the standard of the lodges in the region…we are sure you will love it too! 

Personal highlights for Tracey & Paul were the stay at Clifftop Lodge (which is immaculate) and a wonderful sighting of a lioness with her two young cubs….magical!

We are delighted to be able to offer another special offer to any guests looking for a short notice safari.

Jaci’s Safari Lodge and Jaci’s Tree Lodge are two of the best known and most popular lodges in the malaria-free Madikwe Game reserve (particularly amongst people looking for a family safari), and guests who can travel between 1 April and 30 April 2008 can now save around 24% vs the regular price.

The short notice rate of R2850 per person per night includes all meals, teas and game drives/walks, “jungle drive” and child-minding services.

The rate quoted is per person sharing and excludes any road or air transfers to and from the lodge, all airport taxes and applicable Madikwe entrance fees.

We have added a number of new photos of safari lodges in some of South Africa’s malaria-free safari areas.

In the Waterberg area:

Clifftop Lodge
Entabeni Earthsong Lodge
Shibula Lodge
Shidzidzi and Nungubane Game Lodges

Safari Lodges near Port Elizabeth:

Reed Valley Bush Lodge
Reed Valley Inn
Kwandwe Melton Manor

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.

With the school half-term holidays only a few weeks away, and Easter following on shortly afterwards, we thought this would be a good time to look at the most popular safari lodges for families visiting South Africa’s malaria-free regions.

A quick glance at the listing below show that the game reserves in the Eastern Cape (Kariega, Kwandwe, Lalibela, Shamwari, and Amakhala) are particularly popular with families, and safari lodges in this area take the first 7 spots. This highlights the great appeal of South Africa’s most popular family holiday route  which is a few days in Cape Town, followed by some time exploring the Garden Route Coastline and a safari in one of these malaria free reserves.

The remainder of the top 10 is made up with lodges in the Madikwe reserve up in the far north of the country on the border with South Africa, and somewhat surprisingly no lodges from The Waterberg area feature at all despite it’s convenient location just a couple of hours outside Johannesburg.

The Kruger area and KwaZulu-Natal are both considered low-risk malaria areas and are therefore excluded from this listing.

The full listing is:

1 ) Kariega Lodge
2 ) Kwandwe Ecca Lodge
3 ) Mark’s Camp
4 ) Long Lee Manor
5 ) Woodbury Lodge
6 ) Amakhala Safari Lodge
7 ) Leeuwenbosch
8 ) Little Madikwe
9 ) Jaci’s Tree Lodge
10 ) Madikwe River Lodge

This listing is ranked on the number of nights children under 12 have spent at each lodge based on recent bookings made by Travel Butlers.

The Waterberg has been described as South Africa’s best keep secret. Its rugged beauty, together with its diversity in plant and animal life, has led to the development of the Waterberg Nature Conservancy, an amalgamation of conservation areas covering more than 150,000 hectares.

The safari lodges of the Waterberg are an ideal safari destination for visitors to South Africa who will be arriving or departing through Johannesburg, or spending some time at Sun City. The Waterberg is also a malaria-free area, making the lodges a great choice for families and others who want to enjoy the African wildlife without the worry of taking anti-malarial precautions.