Mohlabetsi Safari Lodge Hoedspruit

After two nights in the Kruger park 'lodges', our group moved to the Mohlabetsi Lodge, which is located in the Balule Nature Reserve which is part of the Greater Kruger National Park! The accommodations in the Kruger park where fine, nothing special, but not horrible either, but as soon as my group arrived at Mohlabetsi, we knew we were in for a treat.

The place is beautiful! We were greeted as we pulled up, by our beautiful host (she's engaged to our guide, but still...) and the owner of the lodge, Tony. We had welcome drinks and then got a quick orientation. It is an intimate lodge, not a large lodge, yet it still has everything one could want, a pool, restaurant (awesome food!!!), a small bar, a gift shop, massage treatments, etc.

Our small group of 6 unanimously agreed that we wish we had stayed there a few more nights, rather than staying on Kruger. The host were fantastic, our guide actually cooked our dinner and breakfast, to include a flaming, banana desert (I forget the name), which he hammed up and put on a little show, but it was great!

I was traveling by myself, but had the good fortune of being with three French girls and a fantastic British couple, we all had a great time at the lodge and wished we had more time there. I think for a couple, this would be a really nice place to spend a few days.

The rooms(African rondawels) were very nice, clean, comfortable,and neatly decorated. You could tell a good amount of personal touch went into the rooms(I'm a single guy and decorating isn't my thing and I noticed,so I'm sure the more discerning eye would really appreciate the effort).

The bed was comfortable,not amazing, but comfortable. Plenty of closet space and the rooms are a nice size. The bathroom sink, mirror is integrated into the room, with a small,private toilet room. The shower is located outside of the room. You can look out towards the reserve land over an approximately 5-foot privacy wall, which at first was a little odd, because you feel exposed,but you realize no one can see your shower area and the natural aspect of it was actually quite relaxing. The water was always hot with fantastic pressure (I love a hot, powerful shower).

There is a large lawn, with lawn chairs and chaise lounges that looks out to a nearby watering hole, so you can hear and see the animals right near the lodge, it was a very cool setting.

We went out on two open vehicle safaris, an evening and a day. The evening drive consisted of stopping for "Sundowner toast" and the day safari had a "Sunrise coffee/tea" break. The truck, a Land Cruiser, was very comfortable and a blast to ride in, especially in the very last seats, a bit of a roller coaster experience (if you like that stuff), but very stable up closer to the driver.

What really made the safari on private land different than that on Kruger, was that if the driver wanted he could go off the roads to get closer to the animals. We were VERY close to some Elephant families and a Rhino. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any Lions, but so it goes.

Our last morning there, we did a short (1hr) nature walk near the lodge. Our guide filled us full of interesting knowledge, such as which leaves could be used in a tea, which helped stop diarrhea, and which made the best expedient toilet paper! We stopped and he wrestled a crocodile for us too. Ok, that's a lie, but he did show us the little guy that was in the pond near the lodge.

If, no, WHEN I go back to Africa for another safari adventure, I will definitely look into enjoying either another stay at the Mohlabetsi or if I'm in another country, I hope I can find a lodge that was as nice and fun as the Mohlabetsi Safari Lodge.