Guided Game Drives

Getting up close with elephants

Spotting Burly Leopards

Local big cats of Ezulwini

Unforgettable Lion Pride Sighting

Synchronised waterhole drinks

Experience
Safari in Unique Ways

Safari activities at Ezulwini River Lodge revolve around morning and evening game drives in the private traverse of the Olifants West Nature Reserve, Greater Kruger, but there are many ways to keep busy during a stay at the lodge.

Twice-daily Game Drives: Guests can enjoy morning and afternoon game drives in 4x4 safari vehicles led by guide and tracker. Morning game drives begin at 06h00 and afternoon game drives depart from the lodge at 16h00. Drives include coffee stops and sundowner stops.

Photographic Opportunities: The Ezulwini Lodges are a photographer’s dream. Photographic opportunities exist while on drive and from the various viewpoints around the lodge.

Bird Watching: Due to various viewpoints at a lodge level, there are a multitude of bird watching spots from the lodge.

Unique
Wildlife Experiences

Daily Schedule

Details
Useful Info

When to go

The Limpopo Province winter months (May to September) are coldest in June and July with low temperatures of 5°C at night; however average daytime temperatures are around 24°C.

During the dry winter time, the bush thins out and water sources dry up. Animals flock to waterholes and available water sources like the Billy’s Lodge waterhole, making them easy to track. During the lush summer season, wildlife is more dispersed. Summer turns the bushveld into a veritable garden of Eden, and is prime birding season.

Summer occurs between October and March, peaking from December to February when temperatures soar into the high 30s (°C). This is the rainy season, which turns the earth into a lush green. Ezulwini Billy’s Lodge is a fantastic year-round safari destination.

What to pack

During the summer months the weather can be hot, while early morning game drives and night drives can be quite cool. You may want to bring a few things for every occasion.

Some of the essentials for a South Africa safari are mentioned below:

Comfortable, closed walking shoes
Sunblock in the form of SPF lotion and a hat
Neutral-coloured clothing for when you are out on safari
Light, airy clothing for midday heat
A bathing costume
Scarves and warm jackets for the winters (May to October)
Camera
Pair of binoculars

What to expect

Ezulwini Billy's Lodge is a safari retreat where the natural surroundings become a part of the lodge luxury and the beauty of the reserve embraces guests. Exclusive and peaceful, the lodge exhibits a natural charm with the addition of modern luxuries.

Billy's Lodge overlooks the reserve and incorporates natural wood into its structure, while the bar and the wine cellar add touches of opulence. In essence, the lodge offers a place to unwind in comfort and nature.

Guests can expect to be well looked after with superb cooking, guaranteed game viewing, warm hosting, and beautiful accommodation. With very unobtrusive fencing, the resident elephants come close, and the sense of safari is felt right from home.

What You'll See
Wildlife

Predators

There is no shortage of predator viewing in the region of the Kruger Park. The Olifants West's shared border with the National Park means guests have easy access to some of the best predator viewing in South Africa. Guests can expect to see an impressive variety of predators, including local lion prides.

The predators in the Kruger Park are habituated to vehicles and tourists, making sightings of big cats and wild canids a pleasure. In the privacy of the Olifants West Nature Reserve, guests can enjoy the personal experience they get from the sightings of lions and leopards. Cheetah, wild dog, spotted hyena, caracal, serval, honey badger, and crocodile are other predators to spot.

Mammals

The Olifants West Nature Reserve is within the boundaries of the Kruger National Park, where the largest diversity of large mammal species thrives.

Over 147 species traversing an area the size of Wales, guests are bound to have many close encounters with the likes of elephant, rhino, hippo, buffalo, zebra, kudu, giraffe, waterbuck, impala, and wildebeest.

Hippos love the Olifants River, which courses through the reserve, and can be seen bobbing in the water or basking on the riverbanks. The many trees and waterholes surrounding the lodges attract big tusker elephants famous in the area.

Birdlife

The Olifants River that flows through this area of the Olifants West Nature Reserve and right in front of River Lodge, attracts a huge variety of water-loving birds, while the gigantic fig and mahogany trees around the lodge are always alive with birdlife. Look out for herons and fish eagles from the viewing deck and watch swallows skimming the surface of the river.

During summer, many migratory birds flock to the Kruger in search of warmth and water, while the rest of the year the area is home to a plethora of resident species. A number of raptor and owl species are frequently seen, including scops owl, pearl-spotted owlet, giant eagle owl, fish eagle, brown snake eagle, bateleur and hawk eagle.

Info Brochures