It was hard leaving this small group of friends that I quickly grew so fond of, and the eleven of us pledged to keep in touch as we headed our separate ways at the Maun Airport. Our small group consisted of agents, journalists and photographers from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Andorra, Italy, Britain and the United States.
I boarded my plane to Johannesburg and connected with my flight to Kruger National Park, where I would enjoy the ultimate luxury safari.
I stayed at Singita Lebombo Lodge, situated in a remote private concession of Kruger National Park. This was my seventh trip to Africa, and I must say that Lebombo Lodge has the most dramatic landscape that I’ve seen while on safari. The contemporary glass walled rooms are perched along a rugged cliff facing the N’wanetsi River and the Lebombo Mountains. The view from my balcony was so breathtaking that I opted to sleep outside in my star bed in order to savor every second of my brief one night stay.
When I met my guide Deirdre for tea, she asked if there was anything specific that I hoped to see on our first drive together that afternoon. Normally, I’m happy to sit back and see what nature has in store for us, since no two game drives are ever the same. This time was a bit different as I wanted to see a white lion. Until recently, the white lion had not been seen in this area of Kruger National Park. I learned that there were sightings of this elusive and endangered animal in the remote private concession accessed by Lebombo Lodge.
As the conversation continued, our tracker for the day, Givin, chuckled as he winked at Deirdre and said, “Nothing like trying to find a needle in the haystack.”
I knew our chances of finding one were slim, but I still crossed my fingers. Little did I know that Deirdre and Givin saw one of the male white lions named Subadult the day before and had a general idea where to begin the search.
After enjoying delicious deserts and conversation with the other guests at the lodge, we jumped into the vehicle and started our quest. Deirdre stopped several times along the way to look at tracks in the sand. At one point, Givin even got out of the vehicle to track on foot. We had so much land to cover, that I had almost given up any hope of finding him. Then suddenly, there he was, sleeping with a pride of roughly eleven golden lions.
There were signs that the pride had just eaten a hardy lunch, and with a full belly, the white lion napped in satisfaction. I secretly wanted get out of the safari vehicle and nudge him so that he would sit up and pose for that one great photo!
I was just so thrilled to have even set eyes on him, since there are only 12 white lions left in the wild. How do I know this? Stay tuned for my next blog!
The Difference Between Kruger National Park and Sabi Sand Game Reserve
Kruger National Park and Sabi Sand Game Reserve are two of South Africa’s best wildlife areas, located side-by-side sharing an unfenced border. This enables the animals to roam freely in a massive conservation area that’s comparable to the state of New Jersey.
Both lodges host the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino), and both offer exceptional game viewing, but what sets them apart?
- Kruger National Park encompasses nearly 2 million hectares (5 million acres) and gives the safari a more authentic feel, featuring wild and untamed game spread out over a wide plot of land.
- Sabi Sand is much smaller than Kruger. This private concession is roughly 65,000 hectares (160,620 acres), and can fit into Kruger National Park over 30 times. This exclusive access gives clients more game viewing opportunities.
- As a national park, Kruger National Park permits day visitors as well as self-drive safaris and the park can get quite crowded (staying in a private concession within the park offers a more intimate gameviewing experience).
- At Sabi Sand, only those staying at one of their exclusive private lodges are permitted access to their private concessions which limit the number of vehicles you’ll encounter in the reserve.