"Lion Sands Private Game Reserve" Mpumalanga Travelogue by glennkasner

We have just returned from another “safari” if one could call it that.
After driving up from Cape Town to Kruger National Park we stopped over at the Lion Sands Game Lodge. Now this is the way to do it in 5 star style.
Lion Sands is situated in the Sabi Sands reserve area on the western side of Kruger.

Happy Hippo

All boundry fences between Kruger and the adjacent game parks have been removed, allowing the animals freedom to move freely. As result of this, and the fact that the game drives are not restricted to regular roads only your chances of a successful experience are greatly enhanced.

Our first excursion, an afternoon drive resulted in us seeing a crocodile, hippopotamus, elephants, a selection of antelope and getting really close to a lonely leopard that had just enjoyed a good feed and was on his way to a nearby water hole. The guide’s excellent local knowledge enabled us to find our way to the water hole in time to see him quenching his thirst before once again disappearing into the night.
Thereafter it was back to camp for a splendid dinner in the dried up riverbed before retiring for the evening.

Pack of wild dogs

If we thought the afternoon drive was a special event, nothing was to prepare us for the early morning drive the following day.
We had barely started our adventure when our tracker spotted two wild dogs on the opposite side of the river. Apparently there are only about 350 of these animals in the Kruger National Park area and they are as elusive as the leopard. It looked as if they wanted to cross the river to our side so we moved to a more favourable vantage point to see if we could get closer to them. The next moment there were wild dogs for Africa as a pack comprising no less than 11 adults and 14 pups came frolicking down the track. This is a once in a lifetime experience and one that I will remember for the rest of my life.

From there we went on to get within metres of a pair of white rhino

We continued on to find a pride of seven lions lazing in the morning sun.

Then it was back to the lodge for a feast of a breakfast.