Ulusaba Private Game Reserve, Luxury safari lodge in Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa
Ulusaba Private Game Reserve is a private game reserve within the Sabi Sand, a fenced wildlife area bordering Kruger National Park in South Africa. It has two separate lodges on the property: Rock Lodge, built on top of a rocky hill, and Safari Lodge, set at ground level along the Mabrak riverbed.
The rocky hill where Rock Lodge now stands was used by Shangaan warriors as a lookout point, long before any lodge was built there. The site later became a private safari property and was eventually incorporated into the Sabi Sand, which itself shares an open border with Kruger National Park.
The name Ulusaba comes from the Shangaan language and means 'place of little fear', a phrase that still feels fitting when watching lions pass just below the lodge at dusk. Guests at Safari Lodge sleep in rooms built among the trees, close enough to the Mabrak riverbed to hear elephants moving through the bush at night.
Both lodges are reached via a private airstrip or a long drive on dirt roads, so it helps to plan the journey in advance. A stay of at least two or three nights gives enough time for wildlife patterns to vary, since no two game drives in this area follow the same route.
Rock Lodge sits high enough that guests sometimes watch eagles at eye level from the terrace without moving from their seats. The rooms there are linked by rope bridges that wind around the rock formation rather than cutting across open ground.
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