Activities
What To Do
GAME DRIVE
Two daily game drives are part of the fully inclusive tariff and your skilled ranger and tracker do their best to find the animals of Africa for you to admire.
Expect a wake up call at between 5am and 5.30am and gather for tea or coffee and rusks before heading out at first light. If you are lucky, the big cats will still be around after their night of hunting. This is Big 5 country (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo) all of which are possible to see during a two-day safari in Kapama Game Reserve.
There are also many other species to be seen, large and small, as well as fascinating plants and colourful birds. Stop halfway through the morning game drive for hot drinks and rusks from the Landrover snack box and return at around 9am for breakfast. During the rest of the day, you are likely to see wildlife like nyala antelope and vervet monkeys around the lodges.
At about 3.30pm everybody convenes for high tea, before departing with the same ranger/tracker team for the day’s second African bush safari.
Enjoy a sundowner drink along the way (not included in the tariff), and get out of the vehicle to stretch your legs and watch the sun go down over the distant Drakensberg Mountains.
As darkness descends it’s time to return to the safety of the Landrover and let the tracker scan the landscape with a spotlight
picking out the glinting eyes of nocturnal animals. Return to the lodge at around 7pm, where there is time to freshen up before dinner.
BUSH WALKS
Get some African soil under your feet with a bush walk after breakfast. Explore the environment with your ranger, learn about curative properties of plants and identify animals from their footprints and dung. Large game is avoided when on foot but animals can often be seen from a safe distance.
HOT AIR BALLOON
The giant candy-striped balloons lift off at first light and drift at the mercy of the wind for about an hour. This usually means that you pass right over Kapama Game Reserve and the skill of the balloon pilot is such that you can skim the top of the trees and spot the wild animals below. The hot air balloon landing can be bumpy, so hold on tight then celebrate with a glass of bubbly. This memorable experience is highly recommended.
R2,400.00 per person (Adult)
ELEPHANT BACK SAFARI
This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here in Kapama Game Reserve to ride on the back of an African elephant. Meet the herd in the early morning or late afternoon and learn just how to get onto the back of an elephant and move to its rhythm as they walk through the bush. Elephants need to feed for many hours a day, so just because you are on top, this doesn’t stop them from pulling down branches and grabbing a trunk full of grass as they walk. They are the largest creatures in the African jungle so other animals that you may come across will give way to you. After walking for about an hour, the elephants will return you to the elephant boma. A video can be made of your experience for an additional fee.
R 1,350.00 per person including return transfer to your Kapama lodge subject to availability.
HOEDSPRUIT CENTRE FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES
This is an ideal activity for the restless to fill up a morning after breakfast. A guide will take your to the Hoedspruit Centre for Endangered Species facility where cheetah and a number of other rehabilitated animals can be viewed at close range. An educational video is shown to explain the projects undertaken by this unique establishment. A guided tour will follow to view the cheetah and other animals.
Standard Tour
R 300.00 (Adults)
R 225.00 (Kids)
ROMANTIC SLEEPOUT
Sleeping out under the African moon on the Kapama Romance Platform could be one of the most memorable nights of your life! Arrive at the double-story wooden platform, to a vision of billowing white mosquito netting surrounding a giant bed of white linen. It will take your breath away. This is your most private night in the bush; it is just you and the African animals in the wilderness.
You are quite safe, as the platform and luxury bathroom underneath (complete with flush toilet, rose-head shower and his ‘n hers basins) are animal-proof. You are nevertheless, supplied with a radio and cellphone for your peace of mind.
Arrive before sunset and drink champagne with your picnic dinner, or come after your lodge dinner and witness an African bush fairytale, with lanterns glowing in the darkness. Relax and absorb the sights and sounds of wild Africa before sinking into a slumber, punctuated by the roar of a lion.
As dawn breaks you can call your ranger on the radio or set an appointed time in advance.
R 3,500 Per couple additional to lodge accommodation rate. (Including private meal and bottle wine or sparkling wine).
FAMILY SAFARI
Kapama Lodge encourages families and we go out of our way to make sure the young ones have the time of their lives and the parents get their own satisfying safari experience.
•Kapama Lodge family safari suite has been especially designed to ensure that parents and children are accommodated in adjoining suites. This affords parents and children their own privacy within close proximity of each other.
•There is no need to share a bathroom as both rooms in the family safari suite have en-suite facilities.
•Children occupying their own room are not be penalised with adult surcharges.
•We also offer families their own exclusive game drives, in addition to the regular program.
•Child-friendly food and child snack packs keep children happy and dinners can even be served on your own private deck.
•Kapama Lodge has a large sand-floor playground and jungle jim with walls brightly painted with animal murals creating a safe place for children to play.
•Rangers can facilitate specialist activities like bark rubbings, spoor casting and other exciting bush experiences
Kiddies from 3 to 8 year old
•Little ones can play in our wonderful sand play area with jungle jim climbing frame, chalk boards and play stations surrounded by bright murals of African animals.
•Watch wildlife DVD’s or help bake biscuits in the kitchen.
•Short interpretive walks around the lodge garden empower the children with bird, tree and insect identification skills.
•Take part in supervised games and art activities like making collages with seeds and bark.