4 Day Value Sabi Sand Safari

Upon arrival in Johannesburg, an African Sky representative meets you and assists with check-in for your flight to the Greater Kruger area. From the Lowveld airport, you continue by road into the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, one of South Africa’s premier private reserves sharing an unfenced boundary with Kruger National Park. The drive into the central sector leads to Nkorho Bush Lodge, a relaxed, homely camp overlooking an active waterhole that regularly attracts plains game and the occasional elephant or buffalo.

After a warm welcome and time to settle into your chalet, high tea is served before you set off on your first open 4x4 game drive. The late-afternoon light is ideal for photography as your ranger and tracker search for the reserve’s famous Big Five and its notably good leopard sightings. As the sun sets, you pause for sundowners in the bush before continuing by spotlight, looking for nocturnal animals on the way back to the lodge. Dinner is enjoyed in the dining area or around the boma fire, rounding off your first day on safari.

Your day begins before sunrise with a wake-up call, followed by coffee and rusks before heading out on morning safari. Sabi Sand’s mix of woodland, grassland, and riverine habitat supports healthy populations of elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion, and leopard, along with a wealth of antelope and birdlife. Because the reserve is privately managed, your ranger can leave the road in certain areas for special sightings, increasing the chances of close encounters and memorable photographic opportunities.

After several hours of game viewing, you return to Nkorho for a hearty breakfast and some free time. You may choose to relax by the pool, watch wildlife at the waterhole from the deck, or simply enjoy the quiet of the bush from your room. In the mid-afternoon, high tea is served before you embark on another open 4x4 drive that extends into early evening. As night falls, spotlights are used to locate nocturnal species like civet, genet, or even hunting predators, before you return to the lodge for dinner and a peaceful night in the bush.

Another dawn brings the sounds of the African bush to life outside your room. After a light pre-drive snack, you set out on a morning safari, revisiting productive areas or exploring new parts of the northern Sabi Sand. With each outing, your ranger builds a picture of recent animal movements, which can lead to rewarding sightings of lion prides on the move, elephants at waterholes, or graceful giraffes browsing in the early light. You return to the lodge for breakfast and the opportunity to relax during the late morning.

Depending on lodge scheduling and conditions, you may also have the option to join a guided bush walk after breakfast. On foot, your guide introduces you to tracks, plants, bird calls, and other subtle signs that are easily missed from a vehicle. The afternoon is again free for rest and photography before tea and your final sunset game drive. This last drive is an ideal time to appreciate how much you have seen and learned in just a few days. Back at Nkorho, dinner is enjoyed in sociable surroundings, often accompanied by stories from the day’s sightings and the broader history of the Sabi Sand.

Your final morning begins with one last early game drive, giving you a final chance to search for any species that may have eluded you, or to simply enjoy time with favorite animals in the soft dawn light. It is often a reflective drive, with opportunities to take in the scenery and savor the atmosphere of the reserve before saying goodbye. After returning to the lodge, you sit down to a relaxed breakfast and complete check-out.

Thereafter, you are transferred by road back through the Sabi Sand and Greater Kruger landscapes toward the airport for your onward flight to Johannesburg. As you fly back to the city, the patchwork of bushveld below serves as a final reminder of the wilderness you have just experienced. On arrival at O. R. Tambo International Airport, your Value Sabi Sand Safari comes to an end, though the memories of intimate lodge hospitality and close-up wildlife encounters are likely to remain with you long after your journey home.