Kapama Private Game Reserve

Reached Kapama River Lodge at 2.00 p.m. on 25th October, 2019 in the afternoon. The moment we landed at Hoedspruit airport. We were met by Zoie, who introduced herself as our ranger for the days we were at Kapama. We stepped into a very comfortable canter that Zoie rode with absolute perfection. The Kapama Lodge being very close to the airport and spread on 13000 hectares of land. We reached Kapama Reserve in 15 minutes and to our amazement saw this beautiful resort with three swimming pools and a number of lounging areas, the forest surrounding the resort and a very courteous staff that surprisingly knew our names and our room number. Our room located in the spa suite 116 overlooked trees that we called Bird Magnet – we spotted on our very arrival black headed yellow Oriole, the Go away bird, the Yellow Rumped Bulbuls and the Purple Backed Starling, Drongos and to our surprise saw a number of Nyalas basking in the sun. We went on a total of 6 safaris – the first being on the very day we reached 25th afternoon at 4 p.m. had to assemble on ramp no. 3 that is where our canter was and Zoie and Jeffery were there prompt on time. Of course at the very onset saw some Zebras, Giraffes and a large number of Impalas but very soon saw three lions and then to our surprise after two hours of the safari had a break when Jeffery, who always perched on the canter assisting Zoie in maximum sighting laid a table with drinks and a bite to eat. Our picnic was very memorable. After this break drove with search lights and lo behold never did we experience such a thrilling night safari – saw two leopards, a very rare sighting and we saw them so close - an extremely fruitful safari. Jeffery happened to be an excellent assistant and Zoie rode the canter taking us through the undulated terrain. On 26th morning we commenced our safari at 6 in the morning. We were a group of 8 on the canter – 2 Indian, Canadians – a family of 4 from Sweden and us from Mumbai, India. The first sighting was Zebras and Giraffes and then we saw a lot of yellow billed hornbills and a number of vultures, warthogs and six lions basking in the sun oblivious to us surprisingly. The evening safari again commenced at 4 p.m. and this time again we saw two huge male lions and about twenty elephants, a number of Hippos. On 27th with morning safari we again saw a pride of the statuesque king of the jungle, Elephants, Zebras, Giraffes. However on this day in the evening we saw a Cheetah on the prowl and actually witnessed the chase of the Impalas and the Cheetah. Eventually saw the Cheetah catching the Impala by the neck kept hold onto the neck till he died. The circle of life but feeling sad for poor cute Impala. 28th October – Our last safari proved to be a sighting never before experienced of course in the six safaris into the forests that we had. We had the sighting of the lions every day but this morning we were wondering why we were seeing hordes of vultures on all trees and then we came across the huge Lioness feeding on the kill of a Giraffe. It was a very disturbing sight but then this is indeed the story of the jungle and the survival of the fittest and the circle of life. Our visit to Kruger ended with a very beautiful memory etched in our mind. The people primarily who made it special – our ranger was Zoie who was with us from the 25th to the 28th driving us, dining with us, stopping for a drink in the jungle and narrating stories about the animals and birds in the jungle. Jeffery who directed us to the right spotting. Never before had I seen such good sighting the group with us after the second safari were comfortable especially when in the evening we were having our dinner with the group every night and finally the staff of Kapama Reserve with their courtesy and absolute attention to detail made it so very personalized for us. I realised for all those who love wild life being a ranger is a superb career option. Also we were always told that Kruger pales in comparison to Masai Mara and Serengeti but having visited both earlier. Our trip to Kruger on the Kapama River Lodge and the manner in which we experienced the sighting left us with a feeling of wanting to revisit soon. Read less

Kapama game reserve has all the comodities on the lodges, and a magnifique environment for the safari. Our ranger Ian explain to us everything very nicely and with the tracker Phillip they made everything on their hand to look for the animals we wanted to see. They are very professional and respectful. We enjoyed a lot our stay here, everyone is very kind and the place is beautiful. We highly recommend Kapama Game Reserve for your Safari in Kruger. You will not regret it. Read less