One of the reasons that I love traveling is because there is truly something for everyone. In July 2022 I traveled to South Africa to experience a bucket list trip of African safaris, where I stayed in the bush. There are many kinds of safari trips in several parts of Africa. The trips vary greatly depending on location, time of year, and budget. I knew that I wanted to travel to South Africa, and I knew that I wanted to stay in the bush. I was also honest with myself that I am more of a glamping kind of girl! Five star in the bush was my plan and my two selections did not disappoint.

First, Lion Sands at Narina Lodge, located in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, is the five-star resort of dreams. Nestled along the Sabie river, the lodge is made up of only 9 suites which makes for a very intimate experience. The one-hour flight from Johannesburg to Skukuza lands you at a small air strip where we were met by our driver, who would be our safari guide, for our stay. On arrival at the lodge, we were met by our butler with a refreshing drink and then given the schedule for the lodge, which quite frankly I was not prepared.

Here’s the schedule for safaris, morning safari is at 6:30am with a 6:00am wake up call. There is fruit, coffee, and tea available prior to your morning drive, with breakfast after you return about 9:30-10:00am. You then have time to rest with lunch at 12:30. There is tea at 3:00pm with light snacks prior to the evening drive at 3:30pm. Dinner is after you return from the evening drive. All meals took place in the lodge with the exception of our bush barbeque our last night -more on that later.

We chose July for our trip because it fit our schedule. People often ask me the best time for a trip and my usual answer is it depends, but usually the best time for your trip is when you can travel. July is the South African winter with temperatures in the 40 degree range in the morning so to answer your question, it is cold in the morning. Our driver was kind enough to provide us with a hot water bottle and blanket.

My advice, pack warm clothes and layer. It warms up while on the drive and the reverse is true in the evening. Temperatures in the afternoon run from 60 to 70 degrees, which makes for a nice drive-and then as the sun drops so do the temperatures. You will need those layers for the evening ride as the air turns cold again.

Our suite at Lions Sands Narina was exquisite. Upon entering the suite, you see the beautiful four poster bed with mosquito netting. There is a separate living room area with a refrigerator, snacks, and drinks alongside. There was also a sofa and huge desk which was a great place to charge all of our devices. The floor to ceiling windows allows one to see the river and the hippos bathing just across from us. Walking out onto the deck there was a cute plunge pool, however we were told that the elephants like to walk by and drink so maybe stay out of the pool! The deck was a nice spot to relax after the morning drive, but we were told to stay off the deck at night. One of the things we were told when we arrived was that we were not to leave our suites at night without an escort. That little reminder that despite the beauty, we were in the bush.

All of the meals were prepared with the freshest ingredients. The menus were quite varied with vegetarian options as well. On our last night there was a bush barbeque that included steaks, fresh salads and drinks. The best part of that dinner was that we were seated by safari so that we ate with the same group from our safari drives. Having our driver/guide at our table was extra special hearing about his history and stories of his experiences with wildlife. I also had that, we are in the bush reminder, when he asked to change seats with me so that he could face the group in the event that we had any animal visitors.

The safari drives at Kruger were pretty spectacular.

Aside from the terrain and breadth of the landscape, I have to give credit to our guide at Lions Sands Narina. His experience as a guide provided a lot of insight into the safari experience. For example, someone asked about following an elephant at one point, and he was quick to point out that we were in the animal’s world. He said that he never wanted to be in a position that endangered the guests and potential harm to an animal just so we could see a particular animal. We saw him watch the animals prior to approaching. Along with our lookout, our guide paid attention to tracks in the road and the sounds of the bush.Honestly, I could leave it at that because when we went on drives at our second location, Madikwe Safari Lodge, there was a distinctive difference between the two.

Our second location was Madikwe Safari Lodge, also located in South Africa. We flew from Lions Sands to Johannesburg and then hopped a one-hour flight to Madikwe. As you prepare to land at Madikwe you immediately see that the landscape is desert, nothing like the lush landscape at Kruger National Park, home to Lions Sands.

In terms of the lodging, our cabin at Madikwe was pleasant, smaller than our previous room, but cute with an in-room fireplace. Funny enough, the two sites had a prior relationship, so both places provided similar beautiful welcome notes on the bed on arrival, in room refrigerators, snacks, and complimentary water bottles. As the nights were cool, it was a nice treat to return to our room after dinner to find a roaring fire in the fireplace. Madikwe also provided a barbeque for the guests, except it was on the first night of our stay and it was right at our lodge, as opposed to out in the bush. Food at Madikwe was also good and quite fresh but the lodges themselves provided little to no opportunity to see any wildlife. The position of the lodge that we stayed in gave us a view of terrain, but no way to see animals.

Safari drives were strikingly different at Madikwe driving for long periods without any animal sightings, which is not so unusual on a drive, but the landscape at Madikwe is pretty flat without much else to see. Compared to our drives at Lions Sands, where the landscape of Kruger alone is very beautiful with trees, streams, and lush plant life. Animals while present at Madikwe, were not present in the same density as we saw at Lions Sands. One difference may be in the fact that Kruger is a National Park and Madikwe is privately owned and a much smaller property.

Madikwe did have an amazing watering hole near the main lodge, which was frequented by elephants, giraffes and zebras. Guests from all of the Madikwe lodges can walk over to the main lodge to have breakfast. For dinner, one night my husband and me were treated to a romantic dinner for two in the library.

Two very different experiences but we enjoyed them both, for different reasons. I frequently tell clients that no place is perfect for everyone, and this experience was certainly proof of that. Two outstanding properties, different in many aspects.