I am looking to do a 4 night Safari in/near Kruger National Park. Mala Mala game reserve has been recommended but is over $10k more than Motswari Lodge. (And more expensive than any other lodge I have seen) Is it really worth the extra money? Would you consider another game reserve? We don't require high end at all!!! Thanks!
Posted by
London, UK
417 posts
Mala Mala is lovely and great if you need to be spoiled, but there are many different lodges around Kruger, at varying prices. They all provide good accommodation and meals, but the important thing when you go on safari is the game drives, usually (very) early morning and late afternoon. Your guide will do his/her best to take you where the game is and chat and educate you on the way. It’s great to go back to your room and relax in between or to watch animals if there’s a nearby waterhole. Most places would have swimming pools or plunge pools for you to cool off in if it’s hot, and a lounge area to relax in.
If you google game lodges Kruger, you should find many options, and also organised tours. Have a great time, there’s nothing like it!
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Amanda R, thank you for your response. I have researched a lot of lodges in Kruger National Park - they all seem great. Do you have any specific recommendations for a lodge with great game drives & game viewing?
Posted by
San Francisco
191 posts
We’ve been to mala mala and it was fabulous. We went during August, the dry season, and the river that runs thru mala mala attracted a lot of animals from adjacent Kruger. We saw the Big 5 on nearly all our game drives.
Posted by
1105 posts
If you are going into Kruger itself on game drives those drives will be on the same roads as you can drive your own car. There is no special access to the game drives. Difference between game drives and going yourself is that the guides have radios and can call each other on sightings.
We drove Kruger ourselves over 16 days staying at 6 different camps inside Kruger. We drove 6-10 hours a day all over. Saw every animal you would want to see.
As far as cost, do you feel you need the luxury of $10k more at one place than another? That $10k is more money than we spent for 3 weeks in S.A. with those 16 days in Kruger including airfares. We went for the animals, not the champagne.
Posted by
CA
2150 posts
We stayed at Kruger Park Lodge years ago. It’s just outside the park entrance near Hazyview. We chose to drive ourselves into the park each morning when the parked opened. We saw everything but rhino. Others at the lodge never saw elephants but saw rhino. We saw elephants all day every day so go figure. The lodge offered guided tours and we took a night tour to another park ( can’t remember the name). There were daily tours into Kruger too. There are places to stay inside the park but I have no information on them. We did see them as we drove around and stopped at the convenience stores, etc. you don’t need to spend 10 grand to see thousands and thousands of animals. It’s best to go in the late winter and very early spring as the brush/ bushes aren’t full of greenery and you can see the animals better through the dormant bushes. We went in July for 11 days. It was amazing!
Posted by
OP
4 posts
TreeMoss2,
Not there for the champagne & we don't need high end bells & whistles. We do want quality game drives & to see the animals.
Posted by
1105 posts
Well then. You answered your own question on that $10k difference in price you inquired about. I only wrote champagne because it seems for an extra 10k you should have that.
Posted by
8322 posts
My son and his friend did Kruger and liked it.
Not sure were Maia Masa is.
After he did Kruger, he and his friend did a safari with us in Kenya and Tanzania and he said our safari was better than Kruger.
Go to East Africa when the Great Migration takes place in early August, it is AMAZING.