4 Day Greater Kruger Unplugged: Balule Reserve Open-vehicle Safari and Guided Walk in South Africa
Amazing Safari Holiday South Africa
Slip away for four days of relaxation in the unspoiled African bush. Stay at a tented safari lodge in Balule Nature Reserve and enjoy exciting wildlife adventures in Greater Kruger Park. This four-day Greater Kruger Safari to Balule offers an authentic bush experience.
Key information
- Private or group safari
- Minimum group size: 1 person
- Maximum group size: 8 persons
- Children over the age of 11 years are permitted on this safari. The minimum age of young adults who may participate in bush walks is 16 years old.
- Starting point and ending point: O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB)
- Services of an English-speaking guide
Highlights
- Morning and afternoon game drives in open safari vehicles
- One morning walk with an armed and qualified ranger guide
- See iconic animals that have become known as the Big Five
- Witness Balule Game Reserve, part of the Greater Kruger Park
- Knowledgeable and experienced guides
- 3 nights accommodation in a tented safari
- Daily meals as per the itinerary with tea and coffee
- Shared return road shuttle from O.R. Tambo airport
Styles
Accommodation
Facilities
- Bar
- Dining area
- Garden
- Lounge
- Free Wi-Fi
- Internet access
- Wireless internet
nDzuti Tented Bush Camp
The safari camp, located in Balule Nature Reserve, offers simple tented accommodation in a wild environment. The tented camp provides a genuine African bush experience with basic facilities. It is an unfenced bush camp where animals can roam freely. The camp overlooks a flood-lit waterhole visited by wildlife and birds, day and night.
This is the ideal place to get close to nature and immerse yourself in the African wilderness. Camp facilities include a small splash pool and hammocks, as well as a shady, thatch-roofed lounge area set on a platform.
As often as possible, meals are served al fresco, either in the lantern-lit boma around the campfire or in the well-established garden under shady trees. There is also a cash bar available for drinks. And if you can't bear to be separated from the outside world, there is Wi-Fi available at the camp.
Guests are accommodated in Meru-style tents with electricity. Each has its own open-air (yet private) bathroom adjacent to it, where you can take a hot shower under the stars, as well as a small patio area under canvas. The patios have two comfortable handmade chairs and overlook the waterhole. These are walk-in tents under canvas, in traditional African safari style.
The bathrooms have basins and flush toilets, with towels and amenities provided. The tents have two windows with mosquito netting to allow the breeze in but keep the insects out. The tents are also fitted with sturdy beds with quality linen and basic furnishings (side tables, bedside lamps, luggage racks, and mats).
Why stay with nDzuti Safari Camp?
Accommodation at nDzuti bush camp is in twin-bedded classic safari tents. The tents are permanent mini-Meru style canvas rooms erected on a concrete base and with an adjacent bathroom.
Each tent has a small furnished wooden deck with a view over the waterhole in front of the camp. On the same concrete base is the bathroom, a screened open-air space with a flush toilet, wash hand basin, and hot shower.
The tents have screened windows with canvas drops. They are furnished with twin beds, floor mats, and luggage racks. Electric lights and plug points are installed on the bedside table. The beds have fine percale linen, warm duvets, and extra blankets for wintertime.
nDzuti tented bush camp has four tents set out with a view over the waterhole. There is no fence around the camp, which dictates their child policy of no children under 10 years old. There is a lawned and shaded garden, with some tall mopane and other iconic trees like baobab and fever trees.
They also have an outdoor lounge area under an umbrella as well as a lounge in the main lodge on the upper level. There is a boma with a fire pit and camp chairs where guests eat evening meals. There is also an indoor dining room and bar.
The garden has some hammocks, a day bed, and a small splash pool. The tents have a small furnished wooden deck out the front. There is electricity in the tents and the main building, as well as peripheral soft lighting shining outwards from the camp's extent.
- 4 safari tents in the camp - Private safari camp with only four tents in the Greater Kruger reserve
- Dining by the evening fire - Dine and wine around a lovely warm evening fire at the boma
- Private outdoor bathrooms - Elegant outdoor bathrooms with privacy in mind, looking at the stars
- Private deck waterhole viewing - View all the day and night animals coming to drink at the camp's private waterhole
Program
This package includes a shared road transfer from Johannesburg airport. The shuttle leaves O.R. Tambo at 07:30 and after a five to six-hour drive, it arrives at the Balule Reserve Gate. A guide from nDzuti will meet you and drive the short distance to the safari camp for a late lunch and then an afternoon game drive.
After lunch and as the day cools down, you will set off on the afternoon game drive of about three hours, returning after dark. You will cross a large section of Balule Game Reserve, part of the Greater Kruger Park, with a pleasing diversity of landscapes, from rocky outcrops to river frontage and hence, the corresponding wildlife is varied and rewarding.
All of the Big Five are found in this area and the chances of seeing them are good, but never guaranteed. Many other animals also abound there.
The daily schedule includes morning and afternoon game drives and one morning walk. During the bush walk, you can often stop to examine the spoor and visualize the sequence of events. Also stop for birds and listen to their calls and other sounds, learn about fascinating insect actions, discover the natural vegetation and its traditional uses, and hopefully, see some mammals.
Enjoy an open-air shower back in the camp and test your new birding skills. Have a light lunch and maybe a G&T to punctuate midday, and perhaps a nap before the afternoon drive. This will be nature-based relaxation of the simple kind. After the afternoon game drive, you will have dinner in the boma alongside the fire, listening to the sounds of the night.
Big Five
nDzuti Safari Camp has all of the iconic animals that have become known as the Big Five, as well as many other animals well worth seeing. It was originally a hunting concept from the days when hunters were drawn to Africa to shoot the five most dangerous animals on the continent.
Thankfully, much has changed, and nowadays, visitors to Africa get to see and appreciate far more than the Big Five. These animals are indeed exciting and awe-inspiring to view. At nDzuti, you will be fortunate to be in a good position to possibly track and find the elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, and leopard at their concession in Maske, Balule Nature Reserve.
The experienced, professional guides also offer nature walks if there is time available, noting that only guests sixteen years and older may participate.
Location
Balule Nature Reserve
On this safari, you will explore the Balule Nature Reserve from the tented camp in the eastern region, Maseke Game Reserve. Maseke is approximately 8,000 hectares in size and is part of the Greater Kruger Park. This wilderness area consists of community and privately owned game reserves, with Maseke bordering on the Olifants' north reserves.
The terrain is undulating, with prominent mountain ridges and rocky outcrops that make it an interesting area for wildlife viewing drives. The Olifants River courses through the reserve, attracting wildlife to its banks.
All of the private reserves in Greater Kruger share open borders with each other and with Kruger National Park, creating a vast landscape traversed by a huge collection of wildlife, including the Big Five.
Open plains attract wildebeest and zebra while elephant herds crowd forests of tall mopane trees. Rocky outcrops are home to the rare klipspringer antelope, baboon troops, and dassies - a magnet for leopards. All in all, Balule Nature Reserve is a diverse area that makes for an interesting and exciting safari.
Food
During this safari trip, you will be served daily meals as well as tea and coffee.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Coffee
- Tea
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
What's included
- Morning and afternoon game drives of approximately three hours each
- 1 morning walk with an armed and qualified ranger guide
- Shared return road shuttle from O.R. Tambo airport to Balule Reserve gate and then to nDzuti bush camp
- 3 nights accommodation nDzuti bush camp
- All meals and tea / coffee
What's not included
- Airfare
- Conservation levy of 450 ZAR per person per stay
- Drinks from the honesty bar and on sundowner stops
How to get there
Recommended Airports
O. R. Tambo International Airport
361 km
Transfer included
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB). Included in the price is a shared return road shuttle from this airport to Balule Reserve gate and then to nDzuti bush camp.
Collection and drop-off will be at the airport (Bus Terminal Building). Collection times on the first day will be at 07:30 and for drop-off, the time after your safari will be from 17:30 to 18:00.
nDzuti Safari Camp will meet you at the drop-off point and then transfer you over the remaining distance to the bush camp. The road transfer will take five to six hours.
For those who prefer to fly to Kruger, our closest airport is Hoespruit and we can arrange a transfer from there.
Arrival by car
There is always the option of renting a car and taking a drive to the camp, perhaps stopping for a night along the way and getting in some sightseeing along the Panorama Route.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 30% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookAllSafaris.com. All major credit cards supported.