Kruger National Park

Ngala

Ngala is a private game reserve within Kruger National Park northeast of Johannesburg. The flight to it was in a Cessna Caravan and took about an hour an a half. When we arrived at the airstrip, we were met by the person who would serve as our guide throughout our stay, and were transported to the lodge about five minutes away. The accommodations were wonderful and, as at Grootbos, the food was sumptuous. Here’s a shot of our room:

The service here is very personal and highly attentive. We couldn’t have enjoyed our stay here more. For as long as I have known Susan, she has dreamed of going on a photo safari in Africa. During the past two days, and for the next two, her dreams are being realized. We have gone out in the Land Rover 4 times and have seen warthog, baboon, lion, giraffe, impala, leopard, cheetah, elephant, kudu, Cape buffalo, zebra and scores of birds. Here’s Susan enjoying the lions:


We shared the jeep with a newlywed couple from Mexico City and they were a great pleasure to spend time with. Alex and Tere are the kind of people that are instantly likeable. Also, Alex is “into” video games so he and the boys were able to have some serious conversations about Guitar Hero and such. It would be a pleasure to cross paths with them again.

Alex & Tere in the middle... on the right are Leonie our guide, and Barney our spotter/tracker

By the time our visit was done, we had seen all of “the big five” except the rhino. By the way, the big five are lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and Cape buffalo.

Malamala

The flight to Malamala lasted about fifteen minutes but would have been less if we had not made an interim stop at a lodge about 6km further down the road. The preserve is just to the south of Ngala and borders Kruger National Park. The accommodations here were luxurious and we were all four able to stay in the same hut. This was a bonus as, at both places, you cannot leave your rooms during the night due to the fact that there is nothing to restrict any animals from entering camp. It was nice for all of us to be together.

Here’s a view from the main lodge sitting area:

As at Ngala, our days were spent going on game drives and eating. During our first outing here we followed a pair of hunting cheetah. They never found anything to eat, but it was interesting watching them look. It’s just as well, though, because observing that part of nature wasn’t really a part of Susan’s dreams. Lachlan did a good job of photographing one of them.


During the outing we also saw another pride of lions and a hippo out of the water… but no rhino. That wouldn’t happen (finally) until the first outing the next morning. For the afternoon drive we were joined by a newly-arrived guest. The outing started out comparatively slowly but, by the time it was over, we had seen all of the big five again… plus we got to see a male lion.

The food at Malamala was as good as any of our other stops and, like them, there is always way too much of it. The evening meal here is served in the boma and they make quite an event of it. Breakfast and lunch are served in the regular way and are always filled with too many things to choose from. Among the more exotic things we have tried at both camps are: roasted kudu, cottage pie made with impala and roasted ostrich.

The visit to Africa comes to an end and tomorrow we are off to Asia.