Exciting Close Animal Encounters At Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve
We enjoyed so many amazing close animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve on our stay at the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge.
When we visited Africa the first time, we did 3 great game drives – Shimba Hills Park in Kenya, the Huhluwe Game Reserve in Richards Bay and the Aquila Game Reserve from Cape Town. We saw 4 of the Big 5 animals and many others but missed seeing leopards. We always wanted to return to Africa for more wildlife experiences.
Our stay at the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge for 4 days provided us with two game drives a day. Our ranger Ruan and the tracker Donald ensured we saw so much on each outing. We got very very close to all of the big 5 on numerous occasions and saw many other animals too. And some days, we did not even have to leave the safari lodge for stunning animal sightings.
Seeing Animals In Africa
We did several game drives in different parts of Africa before this African adventure. While large groups of animals were often at a distance and some wildlife scurried off at any sound, we learned that it was not unusual to get close encounters with wildlife. But at all times it was important to remember they were wild animals!
The Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve had 4 different lodges located in the South-Western section of the Greater Kruger National Park. Staying on the private reserve provided so many advantages over game drives in the main Kruger park. The rangers and trackers were highly trained and really knew the paths and wildlife in the park. The open vehicles provided much better visibility for animal sightings, especially when we only have 4 people in our jeep. And in the private park, the rangers never had to follow just the fixed roads. When they could safely take a jeep off-road, we had some great opportunities to track the wildlife.
We got so many close animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve. Animals at this private resort were quite used to the sound of the jeeps and felt unthreatened with jeeps stopped by them. Often we sat for 20 minutes or more and just watched the animals. We never felt like we disturbed their routine.
Most animals we saw were quite comfortable with the jeeps stopped close by. They wandered up to and past the jeep. We were surprised when they often stopped and looked right at us. Some of the animals were a bit shyer. The Impala ran in packs close to the jeep as long as we kept driving. But ran off if we stopped. The warthogs were shy and always ran away.
We were reminded often that these were wild animals. We were cautioned to remain still. And it was strictly forbidden to stand up or consider leaving the jeep. This was brought home to us when our jeep was stopped between the mother lioness and her cubs. Any movement by us was considered a threat to the cubs and we would have been at real risk of attack.
But when we followed the rules and processes in place at our safari lodge, we were amazed that we got some amazingly close animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve.
We Saw The Big 5 And More
On our previous visit to Africa, we saw 4 of Africa’s Big 5 – elephants, rhinos, buffalo and lions. But we never saw a leopard. Our ranger Ruan knew we really did not want to leave without seeing leopards and was determined to close this gap. At the end of our 4 day stay, we had extremely close encounters with all of the Big 5!
The other big animal on the resort was hippos. When we visited the Aquila Game Reserve outside of Cape Town on a previous visit, we were delighted when we found hippos rolling in a shallow mud pool. On our stay at the Thorntree River Lodge in Zambia on this trip, we only saw the hippos in the water. Ears flapped and occasionally we caught a yawn. Sadly on this stay at the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge we again only caught sight of hippos in the water.
We were intrigued with the number of antelope family animals we saw – Impala, Kudu, Eland, Nyala and Waterbuck. Blue Wildebeest and warthogs kept their distance when the jeep stopped. Large groups of zebra and lone giraffes crossed our path.
We learned that predator animals had sharp teeth, claws and venom that enhanced their ability to catch food. We were surprised to know that predators typically had eyes on the front of their face and thus humans were typically considered to be predators. On several occasions we saw the wild dog and hyena predators on the hunt.
The number of sightings of animals kept us excited every day. We were amazed with all the close animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve.
Elephants Were Everywhere
On this African adventure, we saw our first elephants on a game drive day trip on our Rovos Luxury Train trip from Pretoria to Victoria Falls. When we stayed at the safari lodge in Zambia, we saw more elephants. And even had some elephants wander through the lodge property.
When we arrived, we were warned that wild animals roamed around the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge. But when they strolled past the patio at lunch one day we were still caught by surprise. Elephants were frequent visitors for water at the small pond and one day an elephant even walked us to our room!
We saw elephants on virtually every morning and evening game drive. Most of the time we saw one or two lumbering past. And it was always a treat when an elephant just came so close to our jeep.
When we were packed and ready to go, a family of elephants made one final appearance on the resort. Adorable and such a treat!
Close animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve gave us amazing views of elephants of all sizes.
Animal Encounters At Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve Brought Us Close To Lion Prides
On our first visit to Africa, we saw male lions as they snoozed under a tree and had several lionesses wander close to our jeep. On our game drive day trip to Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe on our Rovos Luxury Train trip we glimpsed lions lazing about at a distance. But our experience at the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge was so much better.
Our first view of lions got us excited. We saw several in the woods close to where we stopped and we waited for them to wander out. But they settled down in the bush and we wondered who was watching who!
On the second morning, we headed to the large watering hole and found a group of lions lazing by the water as the sun came up. The adult males appeared to snooze and the females were stretched out on their backs while the cute cubs played. Every now and then one of the adults looked up before they plopped back down.
Lion Sightings Gave Us Insight Into Animal Life
On our third morning, the first sight we got was a fresh buffalo kill made by the lions overnight. The lioness was still eating her fill. But the sated males lay flat out with extended bellies. Every now and then a lion cleaned up themselves. Or allowed another lion to lick them clean.
But we were not yet done with lions. Later on this game drive we found another pride of lions. And this group had a number of rambunctious cubs. We were careful when the cubs wandered to the other side of our jeep out of sight from the mother lioness. We did not want to be perceived as any kind of a threat. The mother lion called to the cubs and like most children, they took their time returning to mom. And then wandered off again.
Our lion encounters gave us many “ahhhhh” moments. They often looked so cute and cuddly. And then we got a glimpse of the sharp lion teeth and were quickly reminded how dangerous this king of the beasts was. Such amazing close animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve.
Our First Leopard Encounter
Leopards were the only of the Big 5 we really wanted to see when we visited the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge. On our first night game drive, we watched for the leopards in the fields and up in the trees. But we came back disappointed. On our second morning out, every jeep was tracking down the leopards that were sighted during the night.
When we got to the right spot, we were rewarded with a real sight. Our first view was of a leopard as it lounged in the tree.
But then we spotted the remains of the leopard’s hunt. While the carcass was well picked upon, there was still much to feed the small leopards in this group. It was a bit wild when we heard the chomping and then saw a leopard with his bone!
We were so excited when we finally got our first sight of these 3 leopards. While we searched for more on other game drives, we were glad we left with these amazing memories of close animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve.
Watching A Buffalo Herd
We got our first view of buffalo close-up on a game drive in Kenya on our first visit to Africa. It was fascinating sight to be close to these big animals.
On our game drives around Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge, we saw a few lone buffalos as they wandered in the fields. These were often buffalos that were separated from the herds or big bulls who were kicked out of groups.
But on one of our night game drives, we were delighted when we found a very large group of buffalo grazing as the sun went down. We watched them and they watched us.
We were fascinated to see this large herd of buffalo so close on our animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve.
Rhinos By The Watering Hole
On our third morning game drive, we headed back to the large watering hole. This was a great spot to find animals filling up with water early in the day. When we arrived we saw a group of rhinos and we knew we were in for a treat. We watched as they drank their fill and then wandered past the stopped jeeps.
One of the jeeps had a group of trainee rangers. They sure got a real treat as the rhinos stopped close and posed.
We had our first encounter with rhinos on a game drive at Aquila Game Reserve outside Cape Town on a previous trip. But it was great to see them in such a large group and have such a close-up experience. The view of them wandering right past the jeeps was a special memory from our animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve.
Variety In The Antelope Family Animal Encounters At Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve
We were intrigued with the number of antelope family animals we saw on our game drives. We were not surprised to find large groups of Impala. They generally moved in large herds. If we drove past, they galloped along with us. But when we stopped, they scattered quickly.
We saw an interesting variety of other antelope family animals on the different game drives. Generally we saw a lone animal or a pair wander past. The Kudu were interesting with their twisted corkscrew horns. Eland had spiral horns. The white face defined the Nyala while the white butt and distinctive smell identified a Waterbuck. The Wildebeest’s blue colour was easy to distinguish.
By sheer number, we saw the most antelope family animals on our animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve.
We Were Always On The Lookout For Giraffes And Zebras
We saw both giraffes and zebras on our previous visit to Africa. But we never tired of seeing these beautiful and interesting animals.
A giraffe greeted us on the driveway when we stayed at the safari lodge in Zambia and we had a few more sightings on that stay. But we knew that giraffes were a little more difficult to find at the time of year we visited Africa. The trees were still all full of leaves and the giraffes had the perfect camouflage. But we were always thrilled when we caught sight of them a few times.
We often saw groups of zebras (a “dazzle”) off in the distance. But occasionally we found them eating close to the road and they were content to let us watch as they grazed. It was great when we found a group of pregnant zebras and knew the zebra numbers would increase. We learned that zebras were actually black with white stripes. And that the black and white colour helped with temperature regulation.
While we loved finding the Big 5 on our game drives, it was always a treat when we discovered giraffes and zebras on our animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve.
Other Animal Encounters At Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve
We never knew what we might see on our safari day trips.
As we drove, we often caught sight of warthogs in small groups. If they were close to the jeep, they quickly ran away. One day we returned to the resort and found a group of warthogs at the entrance. Funny to find them under the “guest” sign!
It was exciting when we found African Wild Dogs one morning. Wild dogs are an endangered species and sightings were rare. We also saw a group of hyenas waiting for the lions to be finished with their kill. And one day we found a lone jackal. We were fascinated when we caught sight of these predators.
As we drove at night, we often found rabbits darting over the road. While we found a lot of baboons on our safari lodge stay in Zambia, we only rarely found them on our day trips. Wild birds were always in the air. And one day we stopped and watched a vulture spread its wings.
On our night game drives, the tracker Donald swept his flashlight across the path and into the trees as we drove. Donald and our ranger Ruan watched with keen eyes. But we were never sure what they saw on such quick passes of the flashlight. But we learned to not doubt their ability to spot wildlife when they stopped for a small green chameleon on a branch by the side of the road!
It was amazing to have so many wild animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve. We learned so much about so many different species on our visit to Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge.
A Really Close Look At The Animals
On our day trips and around the resort, we got a great look at animal life. Because we saw so many animals up close, we were quite amazed at the quality of the pictures we took with just our iPhones.
But we were so glad we travelled with the Canon EOS R6 Mark II and the 100-400 mm zoom lens. This camera expanded our view of the animals we saw. We got so many amazing close up pictures.
The close up views we got of lions and leopards devouring their prey was quite fascinating. It was somewhat easier when we watched the elephants and giraffes strip the trees bare of leaves. We saw the elephants drawing water through their trunk. And when the hippos surfaced, they sprayed the water out.
Elephants batted their eyelashes. And lions bared their teeth. We saw the dirt the animals rolled in to keep the bugs at bay. And saw faces filled with flies.
We learned how to tell male from female zebras apart. All we had to do was check out the butt! The males had a thin black stripe between the buttocks and the females had a much broader and longer black stripe under the tail.
The resort also offered a walking safari. For our team, they would stop on the way back from the morning game drive and people could walk back. Our ranger Ruan took his gun and provided some protection when travelling on food.
We were totally fascinated when we reviewed our close up pics. It was another facet of our wild animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve.
We Had So Many Great Close Animal Encounters At Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve
We had such high expectations for animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve. On this great African adventure, we wanted to see leopards to finish our Big 5 sightings. We were stunned to be rewarded with close-up views of all of the Big 5. And that was not the end of our great animal experiences on this stay at the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge.
We went away awed by the glimpse we got into the wildlife of Africa.
Did you experience close animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve? Were you as amazed as we were?
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Wow! What an incredible adventure and experience. So many amazing close (very close!) animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve. Your photos are so awesome. I can’t believe how close you were. I would love to see these animals up close especially the elephants.
We were truly amazed at how close we got to the wildlife at the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge. Definitely the adventure we wanted.
Wow! What an amazing adventure! Most people will never be that close to a rhino in the wild. I’m adding the Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve to my bucket list!
Every new wildlife adventure was a great treat for sure. The Rhino experience was so cool indeed.
As someone traveling to Africa this year for the first time, I really appreciate you sharing this post, I am doing a safari and this is really insightful. I’m amazed how close you can get to the animals!
You are going to love your safari in Africa. We sure loved how close we got to all of the animals.
Wow! How beautiful are they! I haven’t been to any part of Africa yet but this will be a good start!
Thank you for sharing!
This was our second trip to Africa and it surely did not disappoint.
You really got up close to so many different animals! That is a neat vehicle to do the safari on. What an amazing experience, and your photos are great!
Thanks! It was great to get so close to the animals that we got great shots on our iPhone and with the other camera with the zoom lens. An amazing experience.
What an incredible adventure! Your photos are amazing, and it’s really quite shocking how close you were! It looks like such a fabulous experience. Thank you for sharing!
The close encounters with the wildlife was quite unreal and an amazing experience. We were so glad we booked this great safari stay at Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge.
Question on your 100-400 lens. Did you find you were taking all your pics at 400, or because animals were always so close you were taking more at lower zoom? Any other words of wisdom on photography equipment or camera settings for safari?
Because the animals were so close we took a lot on the iPhone and did not need to zoom to 400. The zoom only got some of the really close things like the elephant eye lashes. Not necessary but cool.
Wow, these are some seriously close animal encounters! It looks like an incredible experience! Although I think I’d feel slightly nervous with some of those animals getting that close! The lioness and her cubs do look absolutely adorable though – what an incredible thing to witness!
I was a little nervous about the animals we found right on the game lodge. But learned to be cautious and staff were all around keeping an eye on wandering animals. But in the jeep, the tracker and ranger were really keeping us safe.
Wow! How incredible, you really had a lot of close animal encounters. I’m glad you got to see leopards this time around.
We too were so glad we got to finally see leopards. But also saw so much more.
The animals were kind to show up for you on your second and third mornings. I don’t think I’ve seen the lions lazing like that and the cubs look so cute playing like that. And look at that leopard. So beautiful! Sabi Sabi looks like the best place for experiencing the wild animals!
I must admit the lion sightings were stunning and we loved the cubs. We saw lions before but at quite a distance. On this trip we got such a close experience.
Wow, incredible how many animals you saw! And amazing that your guide was able to spot the chameleon on the night drive. What an eye!
We were truly amazed at how well the tracker and ranger did at finding us great animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge. Each trip was such a great new adventure.
This looks like an absolutely incredible adventure. I have been on safaris but never to this location. You managed to see so much and what wonderful memories you have made. Also the lion cubs look adorable.
We were so happy we planned a 4 day stay at the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge. The animal encounters were truly amazing.
wow! This looks like a bucket list experience! Would love to bring my zoom lens and capture some of these wild animals! Thank you for putting this together and sharing 🙂
This truly was a bucket list adventure. We were amazed at how much we saw so close. But the zoom lens did take the animal encounters at Sabi Sabi to another level!
this is incredible! As someone who is firmly against animal exploitation – i am glad to see there are still ways to marvel at these majestic animals in their own habitat. I cant believe how close you got!
We too worry about animal exploitation. But this private reserve gave us an amazing up close look at African animal really in their own natural environment.
You really chose the right game reserve for leopard sightings. We had great sighting when we stayed there too!
We were so glad that Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge exceeded all of our expectations for up close animal encounters. So glad we booked this.
This is such a beautiful post, love to see all the animals! We will be visiting South Africa in October and will definitely check it out. Fingers crossed that we will find the big 5 too <3
I hope you have a great visit to South Africa. This was our second visit and we really enjoyed it. And saw so much wildlife up close.
Wow! It is true that to get close encounters with wildlife it quite unusual. My kids would be in awe of this experience: they are already 5 and 6 years old, but I am still not sure whether it´s better to wait few more years before taking them to Africa
I would probably wait until your kids are a bit older. Even some teens at the resort did not deal well with 3 hour safari trips twice a day. But a great one to plan later as a family trip.
This sounds like an incredible experience at the Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve. All the animals look amazing, but the leopards are so unique to see.
It was great to finally see leopards on this trip. And so many other animals so close up at Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge.
I have read the comments and I am amazed that you took these wildlife pics with your iPhone. You must have been close. I particularly loved the photos of the big cats.
I too was amazed at how many great shots I got with my iPhone. It was good to have the zoom lens for the really close shots though. An incredible experience.
It seems you have had a very special experience at Sabi Sabi Earh Lodge. So many close animal encounters feel just fantastic. I would love to go back to Africa someday to have experience similar to yours. Thanks for sharing!
We were so glad we got back to Africa and planned some safari stays. Such an amazing experience at Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge.
Gorgeous photos, and impressive you were able to spot that chameleon! I never knew there were so many different kinds of antelope in Africa.
We learned so much from our knowledgeable ranger on our game drives. Made the animal encounters at Sabi Sabi Earth so much more interesting.
I admire you photography skills so much. Amazing. You are so lucky to have gotten so close, especially the Rhinos! wow. I also love that image of your husband in the mirror. Very inspirational post.
Thanks! We had the most amazing experiences on this trip to Africa. One to remember for sure!
These pictures are incredible! My daughter is going on an African safari next month, she’s so excited. Great post!
Your daughter is going to love her African safari trip. It was such a great experience this year.
What an amazing safari experience. I am surprised at how close you got to the animals.
We got so much closer to the wildlife than we expected. It really made for such an amazing adventure.
This is something at the very top of my bucket list! I will pin this. Sabi Sabi sound amazing. Thank you for sharing.
I hope you do get to plan an African safari trip. We had this on our travel wish list for some time and were so glad we finally got it booked. But it may tempt us back again!
Wooowww! Can´t believe you saw that many animals!! You are super lucky and I´m extremely jealous!
We were so happy with the different animals we saw on our stay at Sabi Sabi Earth Losge.
Wow!! This brings back some of the best memories I made last year during a safari at Maasai Mara in Kenya and I was able to see all the big 5 and literally had a cheetah and a just-fed lion outside my side of the jeep window!!! I plan to do the Southern Africa tour starting from South Africa. A safari is a once in a life experience so worth it.
Our Safari definitely was an amazing adventure. We were so glad we got so many great up close animal encounters on our visit to Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge.
I can almost imagine how scary it must have been to be stopped in the middle of the road by a mother lion. My heart would have skipped a beat! But it must have been so thrilling at the same time to get the chance to look closely at the pride. It’s incredible how the animals felt comfortable around the jeeps, allowing visitors to observe them in their natural habitat without disturbing them. I once visited a wildlife safari in the Philippines, but our encounters with lions, giraffes, and other big wildlife were from a much greater distance. Your experience in Sabi Sabi was truly unforgettable!
Our experience at Sabi Sabi truly was amazing. We just loved the chance to see so many animals relaxed with us so close by.
How amazing that you’ve got to see all Big 5, and you were in such close proximity! Sabi Sabi private game reserve seems to be incredible for wildlife spotting. I was lucky to spot all the Big 5 when I went on safari in Tanzania, but the rhinos were so far away. I could only see them properly though the binoculars. I can’t believe how close you were to the lions, and how open the jeeps were. What an amazing experience!
We were happy we finally finished seeing all the Big 5 in Africa. And we were so impressed at how close we got. Exactly the adventure we wanted on our stay at the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve.
Thanks for letting us know what zoom lens you used. The photos are amazing! I love that you saw so many elephants and that you were able to offroad a bit to get closer to animals and have better sightings. What an amazing trip!
We were amazed at how many animals we saw up close on our game drives at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve. But the zoom lens got us some stunning shots too.
I’ve been on safaris in India, but nothing like this. This is fascinating. I just can’t get over the fact that the animals were so close and what amazing shots you got. There are leopards in the hills around Delhi, but I have never seen one either. And to get that Zebra identification lesson! I am now wishing hard to go on a trip like this. The lions, the elephants, the rhinos, antelopes and more, what an amazing sight. Just like the jungle book coming alive.
We were indeed amazed at our safari experience at Sabi Sabi Game Reserve. We got so much great education too. Truly an amazing experience.
It was so wonderful seeing the animals again so close and it brought back so many beautiful memories. It was 19 years back that I had visited South Africa and then after a few days in Johannesburg and Pretoria we were in one of the safari parks for 3 nights. Seeing the lions so close was so thrilling then and it was again through your post. Loved it.
Glad to bring back such great memories of your safari in South Africa. It was a great experience for us to see so many animals up close.
What an incredible adventure and experience. My dad always wanted to visit Africa and do a Safari, unfortunately he never got the. chance. I hope to one day be able to go and fulfill his wish and mine. I am so glad you got to see all 5, especially the leopard. It really is amazing how they seems to be ok with the jeeps and hang around and even show off at times. Just incredible to experience this!
We were amazed at how comfortable the animals were with the jeeps so close. It made the experience so special. Hope you do get to experience it one day.
The Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve looks like a wonderful place to experience the Big5. Amazing, how close you could get with the jeeps for pictures. I absolutely love the leopard pictures and think about doing a Safari in the near future now.
We were delighted with our safari experience at Sabi Sabi Earth Resort. It exceeded all our expectations for close animal encounters.
Wow! This is such an amazing experience. Happy to know that you were able to have these really close encounters with the Big 5. I haven’t see a leopard in real life so, this is really exciting.
Though after seeing the buffalo killed by the lions, I am not sure if I have the heart for this.
We were really happy we finally saw leopards on this safari trip. But it was a bit strange to see the aftermath of the animal kills. But it did add reality to the things we saw.