My husband and I were fortunate enough to experience Ulusaba in early December. Unlike most guests who fly directly into Ulusaba airstrip, we decided to drive from Johannesburg - an experience in itself. Upon arrival at Ulusaba, we were met by Michelle who took us to Rock Lodge and so began the most amazing 44 hours of our lives!

Knox took us to our room (Rock 2) and we quickly got into our safari gear and headed back to Michelle in the jeep. She took us to meet our ranger (Calvin) and tracker (John). Within minutes we were at a leopard kill! Amazing! We proceeded that evening to see white rhino with a baby. We enjoyed sundowner drinks on the side of a river with hippos.

After an excellent meal with fellow guests, we retired to our room. Next morning we were up bright and early ready for our 5am wake-up call, followed by a 5:30am departure to experience the bush again. Elephants, lions, termite mounds, large snails.....and then.....a surprise pancake with champagne breakfast - outstanding.

Our final safari drive was on a rainy morning, but it was possibly the best one of all because we saw a leopard up a tree being stalked by a lion and then Calvin and John pulled out all the stops to get us to see zebras, which I had said were one of the animals I really wanted to see (along with leopards). Wow!

Our room was great and the bathroom was also fantastic. I especially liked the shower gel/shampoo/body lotion that were provided. You really don't need to take your own as they are very nice quality. In addition, mosquito spray was provided. We didn't really take advantage of the mini-bar that was in the room, nor the laundry service that is included. The swimming pool was lovely too. Comfortable sun loungers that you could fall asleep on (and I did!).

You spend a lot of time with your Ranger/Tracker and the other guests assigned to your jeep (approx 7 hours a day). We had a lovely group of people in our vehicle. John made us feel so safe and his ability to spot animals (including insects) in the dark is phenomenal. Calvin is excellent - very knowledgeable about the bush as a whole ecosystem. They make a terrific team and we would definitely request them again.

I cannot express how impressed we were by Ulusaba and Rock Lodge. It truly is a magical place. The staff are more like friends there to ensure you are well looked after. The 44 hours we spent at Ulusaba were amazing and we are already talking about returning. A huge heartfelt thank you to everyone who made our visit so memorable - a great team.

My husband and I just returned from a 4-night stay at the Rock Lodge as part of our honeymoon. Here are some of our thoughts on it...

What we loved:-
(1) Great staff - Staff were very friendly throughout the lodge and our ranger (Ricoh) and tracker (Orange) were immensely entertaining and answered all our questions very patiently.

(2) Game Drives - We got paired with another 4 people (1 jeep sits 6) for all the game drives and they were lovely people. Thanks to Ricoh and Orange, we spotted the Big 5 within 2 days and saw them repeatedly after as well. It is great that they go off-track to spot the Big 5 and the proximity between us (i.e. the jeep) and the animals are quite nerve wrecking. For example, we could have just reached our hand down and touch the leopard! For someone who's only seen leopards behind huge cages, high walls and electric fences in the zoo, it's really quite amazing. On our 3rd day, they started taking an order list of whatever animals we wanted to see. One of the guests in our jeep mentioned she wanted to see a zebra and they looked high and low during the evening game drive (apparently zebras are a rare sight in the game reserve), and they found a bunch of them! Just spectacular. It is great that the rangers are in touch with each other through their walkie talkies and they buzz the station with news of animal sightings. We also love the fact that they control 2 jeeps to each sighting spot so as not to crowd the animals - so no one hogs the view and we all get a turn to see the animals.

(3) Rooms & location - We were upgraded to the Master Suite at the lodge and it was beautiful! It was so huge, with a small dipping pool, our own deck and a living room with floor to ceiling sliding glass doors so we get great views of the bush. With our binoculars, we spotted hippos and once even an elephant drinking at the waterhole.

(4) Food - Amazing. The reviews here are very accurate. They feed you oh so much and you can't help trying everything and stuffing yourself because the food (and wine) is amazing! Though I must say, for couples looking to spend some alone time together, it may be quite challenging at Ulusaba. Game drives and meals are done on a group basis - you barely get any alone time together unless you skip the game drives (***Not recommended! You may just miss spotting the rare animals, which defeats the whole purpose of going on a safari). Also, they wait for the whole group (i.e. everyone staying at Cliff Lodge and Rock Lodge) to gather before they start dinner, so if you're starving and a group has not returned from their game drive, you will just have to wait till they're back - which we felt was quite unnecessary and inconsiderate.

Some room for improvement:-
(1) Lighting in the room - During the day, it's fine, but at night it was pretty dim. My husband was using a torch light to search for stuff in our bags and in the cupboard.

(2) Housekeeping - Could be more meticulous. One night, there were a couple of 8-inch millipedes wandering around our room. The next night, there were a cluster of eggs (not sure whether they're from an insect or a reptile) on a rack and there were an army of ants having a go at it. The following morning, we saw some droppings around (they may already have been there at night but given that lighting was dim, we probably missed it) before we left for our game drive. When we got back after breakfast, which is also after housekeeping has came in, the animal droppings were still there - untouched. We took note after these few incidents that whenever housekeeping came in, they leave the door wide open - perhaps it doesn't happen every time, but that could be one of the contributing factors. We understand that we are in the bush and the animals / reptiles / insects will come... but perhaps steps should be taken to minimize that.

All in all, we had a great time despite the above! Definitely an experience of a lifetime and we look forward to our next safari!