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Amakhala Game Reserve in South Africa’s Eastern Cape offers a grand safari experience with lodges run by families who settled the land in the 19th century. Visitors can spot the “Big Five” and other animals, take boat trips and volunteer to monitor and improve the ecosystem. Addo National Elephant Park is a nearby attraction.
Of the dozens of safari lodges dotted across South Africa, Amakhala Game Reserve is one of the grandest deals in the Eastern Cape state, in the oceanside city of Port Elizabeth. Established in 1999 alone, the 18,000-acre (about 73 square km) African hinterland park is dotted with chalets from a dozen independent lodges, most with their own gourmet restaurants. Visitors can enjoy morning and evening guided game drives of the nature reserve and its iconic African animals, as well as boat trips along the Bushman River which runs through the property.
The animals found within the enclosure of Amakhala Game Reserve are a diverse assortment. This includes the so-called “Big Five” animals: lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and leopard, which early African hunters considered the most dangerous to hunt on foot. These are just the most important of the many animals that live in this protected area. It might be just as easy to spot a cheetah, crocodile, wildebeest, giraffe, zebra, monkey, or one of more than a dozen antelope species.
According to the management of Amakhala Game Reserve, many of the lodges are run by successive generations of families who first settled the land in the early 19th century, along with the British. The ecosystem here alternates between dense bushland, grassy savannah, and bare, rocky hillside to create an environment that is equally beneficial for the hunter and the prey. To ease your nerves, many of the lodges also have full bars.
Some of the conservation and animal monitoring efforts at Amakhala Game Reserve are carried out by a group of “volunteers”. For a small fee and a commitment of service, these workers receive discounted room and board and an up-close experience with the animals of Africa. Not only are these visitor-volunteers tasked with monitoring, counting and observing, but they also work to improve the ecosystem of this animal sanctuary by controlling erosion or repairing roads. Many also provide driving duties, either on the Bushman’s River boat or behind the wheel of one of the many roofless Land Rovers used in the park.
A much touted nearby attraction for visitors to Amakhala Game Reserve is the nearby Addo National Elephant Park. This park’s 444,700 acres (about 1,783 square km) make it the third largest reserve in the country and one of the oldest, established in 1931. Addo’s elephant population increased from 16 original inhabitants to about 550 in 2011.
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