Kariega & Shamwari March 2021

Kariega Private Game Reserve

My first destination on my March trip in 2021 was the Kariega Private Game Reserve. I stayed in the Settlers Drift Lodge, which is the flagship lodge and opened recently before the pandemic. The accommodation was beautiful - a tented luxury villa out in the bush. The interior was amazing - but I had to share it with some 8-legged not so little - but harmless - friends.

Kariega features an own river and boat safari and regular game drives. The food was amazing. The game drive vehicles were open-roofed, which is great to take pictures - but not so great, if it rains or the car is being hit by a bigger animal. Under the line I‘ve enjoyed to see another lodge in another private game reserve. But I would prefer Shamwari in the same region over it.

Another downside for Kariega is the splitting in two zones. One with lions and the other one without. Most of the spectacular sightings are in the zone far away from the lodge - so you need to drive at least around 30 minutes to get there - trough some gates. This gives you the feeling to be in a zoo - whenever this is not the complete truth, because it‘s still a huge area to cover and never easy to see what you wanna see. If you are a photographer, be aware, that not all of the rangers have an eye for photography. Some of them just wanna show you the animals. Sometimes without good lighting, from the back or they don‘t care about moving the car, when you are still trying to get some nice pictures.

But under the line, it was a great place to discover. But from a photographers perspective, I don‘t think I would go there again. But maybe I have to try it again to see, whether this was just a one-time fail of my ranger at the time being.

Shamwari Private Game Reserve

Maybe my favorite Private Game Reserve so far - located around a one hour drive away from Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha). After a 45 minute drive from Kariega, I‘ve arrived at Shamwari. The only lodge opened by that time, was the Long Lee Manor lodge (because of Covid). The upside was: Almost no other vehicles were on the road by that time. The downside: We had to search for all the animals on our own, because there was not much of communication with the missing other vehicles and guests.

Shamwari spreads over 200 km2 and does a lot for conservation. It was already my third time at Shamwari in March 2021 - I‘ve stayed there already in 2005 and again in 2017. I was always happy to be there and with our great ranger Gerhard, I didn‘t miss the chance to get some great pictures. It‘s a great combination as well (if you like to save some money) with Addo Elephant Park.

The first time I was there, I was only able to afford one night at the Bayethe Lodge in 2005. But the value for money is fantastic! All the game drives, the meals and local drinks (including the fantastic Cape wines) are included in the rates. The Riverdene Lodge has a fantastic kids playground, if you are traveling as a family. I made use of it on my other trip in August with two of my three girls. A big thumbs up and recommendation!

Conclusion

If you like to see more than one private game reserve or park in the Eastern Cape, go to Addo Elephant park (if you like to keep the budget low) and combine it with Kariega first and do Shamwari at the end. All of them are malaria free and the best order to save the best for the big finale. Maybe I should give Kariega a second chance. It was a nice place to start my journey and the lodge, the service and food was fantastic (beside of the spiders and the non-photography-addicted ranger). But Shamwari is just great in general. Just the food could be a bit more creative and local.