Opinion: Makhasa Private Game Lodge

After over 1 month in South Africa, we have finally made it to our safari!

How was it?

Well to start, we drove for over 3 hours from Durban to a luxury game resort called Makhasa Private Game Lodge. When we first arrived we were treated with warm towels and welcome drinks. After we drank up, we were anxious to see lots of African wildlife but only small deer-like animals, called nyalas, were currently by the lodge. Next we were taken to our rooms to relax and wait for our lunch. I was starving! Our lunch on the first day, which was a salad and pita. I thought it was really small and weak and did not fill anybody up for more than 2 hours.
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After that was the moment we were all waiting for, our first safari!
When we went into our safari vehicle at 3:00 pm, we immediately observed loads of hoofed animals like zebras and nyalas, but the most interesting animal we saw on that game drive was a large male leopard. The leopard was really cool to see up close and was also on our list of animals we were hoping to see as apart of the Big 5. As a result of the lack of lunch, we had to stop in a wide open field to snack. When our guide told us that he had snacks we were surprised, but when he had a whole drink bar in the truck we were even more impressed. My family and I enjoyed drinks and sitting watching our first African safari sunset.

After our afternoon game drive, we came back to nice warm towels as well as more welcome drinks. We enjoyed nice dinners every single night with delicious, homemade meals.   ​  

As for the game drives, following the first day, it was pretty boring. Every single day we had to wake up at the crack of dawn to freezing weather and a wave of weariness. To be frank, I passed out for the 3 other days each morning, but luckily we didn't really see much and I was disappointed. .On our last game drive we had a scary encounter with a rhino that almost hit our vehicle. We were driving back to the game lodge after our evening drive and unexpectedly came across a herd of rhinos on the road. They were impossible to see in the pitch black but luckily our experienced guide stopped in time to avoid hitting the rhino. I think we scared them as much as they frightened us! Our mistake was going to a national park before we went on our safari, so we were used to all of the elephants, zebras, warthogs and other animals. On our 3rd day we also saw 2 cheetahs, a mother and child, just relaxing by the road. In all, our safari was fun for 1-2 days and that was about it. I would recommend this place for about 1-2 days and I would definitely not recommend staying at Makhasa game resort for any longer.


**Disclaimer: this is the opinion of the author and does not speak for the rest of his family:)**