August 2

An Incredible Sabi Sand Safari: Part I – Lion Sands Private Game Reserve

August 2, 2011

or – How I bagged a future wife

My nerves were starting to get the better of me. I’d been planning this safari and it’s purpose for nearly a year now and to my mind it could still all go wrong. Thankfully the safari bits, including transfers and accommodation, were already sorted with the help of Anton De Wit, the Rhino Africa reservations manager, so I had no worries regards that. Plaguing my mind, though, were questions of how to do it, when to do it and maybe a tiny bit of worry about how she – Tessa – would answer. Would I be able to keep it secret? Would she be surprised?

We landed at the Kruger Mpumalanga Airport on Saturday and our friendly Mfafa transfer driver regaled us with tales of the bush as we made our way from the airport to our first port of call in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve – the sensational Lion Sands Ivory Lodge. I was only half listening; the ring in it’s hiding place (deep inside my glasses case) was burning a hole in my pocket. This was going to be tough.

In my favour were several factors. Tessa had never been on a safari of this caliber and the lodges we were visiting are firmly placed in the upper echelons of Kruger Park Safari lodges. I was hoping the amazing luxury on offer would distract her from any thoughts that might give away our tour’s true purpose. I was right. From the moment our gracious host Robyn opened the doors of our suite at Ivory Lodge and Tessa caught her first glimpse of the decadent interior and fantastic view over the perennial river… her jaw was never far from the floor. Lion Sands is quite fantastic and, yes, jaw-droppingly good.

Lion Sands Ivory Lodge pool view
That's a pool with a view!
A Little Bee-eater
A Little Bee-eater
Me Looking at a giraffe
Getting up close to the local wildlife
Feedback on Ivory Lodge
Looks like we weren't the only one's raving about this place

Loving the view from Ivory Lodge

Game Drives & 6 Meals a Day!

All this worrying had worked up an appetite. With six chances to eat on an average day on safari, my hunger was soon sated. Our butler Jabulani (whose name means ‘Happiness’… how apt) was always on hand to see to our needs and his daily delivery of coffee made the early morning wake-up bearable. It’s essential to rise early and get out on the game drive, you don’t want to miss a thing!

Fortunately, our first game drive was an afternoon one and we were soon surrounded by the sights and sounds of the African bush. Not that our room wasn’t equally surrounded – on the second day we even watched a leopard sleeping and drinking from the river directly opposite our room. Elephants, fish eagles and even rhino made appearances too. On the game drives, we had the spotting prowess of Lucas and later Sam, our two trackers over the course of our three night stay, and we had the knowledge and experience of Izak our ranger. With fifteen years of experience as a ranger, Izak was a veritable fountain of knowledge and there was never a question we could ask that he didn’t know the answer to or couldn’t find out for us.

Top Safari Tip:
Your rangers are experienced and extremely knowledgeable – make the most of them, ask the burning bush questions you’ve been thinking about and they will provide the answers.

That first night we came face to face with a massive lion who regaled us with his best roar. If you’ve never heard a lion roar up close you’ve missed out. It’s so loud and deep your stomach churns!

Listen to a Lion Roaring on our Youtube Channel

Night game drive at Lion Sands
Night game drives at Lion Sands

A rhino at Lion Sands

A Lion sleeping

Family Run since 1933

Lion Sands Private Game Reserve is run by the More family and on our trip Mrs. More happened to send our vehicle in the right direction for not one but two awesome sightings! A leopard kill stolen by hyenas and the confrontation between them thereafter, and later on the same day, a serval hunting in the grass, the African cat I had always wanted to see.

Top Safari Tip:
The South African winter is a great time to go on safari in the Kruger National Park. There’s no rain, the grass is short and dry, the animals frequent water sources and best of all… very few mosquitoes!

A Serval
What an amazing sighting of a serval

Lion Paw

Leopard
This girl had her kill stolen by hyena
Hyena running away with food
The Hyena runs off with the leopards hard won food
Vulture looks on
While the vultures look on, hoping for scraps
Hyena young one
But the hyena has this little guy to feed, it's the circle of life

Private Dinners & Nerves

Throughout our three night stay at Ivory Lodge there was always that burning question in the back of my mind; when would be the best time to bend the knee?

At Lion Sands there is the fantastic Chalkley Treehouse where you can spend the night alone together under the African sky… that was one option. My golden opportunity came on our final night. We returned from a game drive to find Jabulani awaiting us at our suite and inside was a candlelit dinner for two, a roaring fire and a bath filled with foam, rose petals and surrounded by tea-light candles. But I faltered. The ring was hidden in the safe, I wasn’t quite ready… even several glasses of champagne couldn’t get my courage up! I was sure she suspected at this point, but my indecision and general fumbling served to throw her off the scent for a little longer.

The romance of Lion Sands Ivory Lodge was undeniable and despite my nerves getting the better of me, the safari had started on an incredible high with great animal sightings, fine dining and love in the air. A special thanks to Robyn, Izak, Jabulani, Sam and Lucas who made our stay so very special.

Would I get my act together? Find out in Part II & Part III.

A buffalo at Lion Sands

Lion at sunset

Some Important Links:
Read part II Here and Part III.
See more photographs from Lion Sands, the first part of our safari on Facebook or on Flickr

Read all about Lion Sands Ivory Lodge on our website
Read more about Lion Sands Private Game Reserve in our we recommend section
Watch our Lion Sands video on our Youtube channel

Contact Rhino Africa to book your own tailor-made tour


Tags


You may also enjoy 

About the author 

Craig Harding

Craig Harding is the general go-to guy at Rhino Africa. He's pretty chilled out so he's the right guy to have by your side on an intrepid adventure. He says 'the journey is the destination' so we just all nod and agree - it's better that way...

  • {"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}
    >