Truly an amazing, uplifting experience! I told my husband that I was sorry as I could never top this vacation!
Airport/Transfers:
You are met by your ranger at the airport, greeted with a hearty welcome and a glass of champagne. A great way to start off your day after arrival. The ranger takes you to the lodge so you can settle in before your first evening game drive.
Lodge:
Oh my! What’s to be said that has not been already. We got a chance to view both Safari and Rock Lodges and while both of them are incredible for different reasons, I must say my preference resides with Safari Lodge for its luxury in the bush feel! You are so close to the action and the sound of animals in the mornings is a wonderful thing to wake to! The rope bridges really add to the feel of the exclusivity of the lodge and they are quite fun to cross after your wine in the evenings. It has a real open feel in all of the rooms and there are real trees that some of the rooms are built around growing and swaying in the rooms themselves! There is a natural beauty in the use of wood and rock, yet a contemporary look in some areas as well.
Rooms:
We were fortunate enough to view all 3 types of rooms. Our room was the Elephant room. I would book that same room every time. We loved it! We also saw one of the River rooms and 2 of the Safari rooms. All 3 are lovely. The main differences between the rooms are size and privacy. The safari rooms are a bit smaller, especially in the bathroom area and they are closer and on the path of the main lodge. That being said, the rooms are still absolutly lovely and the back porches have great animal viewings. The River rooms are the largest rooms and the furthest away from the main lodge, so the most private. I would say if you can do it, the Elephant room which is not quite as large as River, but still fairly big and still very private is worth the extra over the safari rooms. The open shower and bathtub with animal viewing opportunities exists in all 3 room types and are fabulous! I wanted to take the bathroom (and the view) home with me, sadly, they do not allow this nor will they let you take home the remarkably beautiful and comfortable beds. Just amazing.
Staff:
The friendliest, kindest, most amazing people. They make you feel right at home and you truly want for nothing! Some of them had schedules that allowed them to join us for some of the dinners and this was one of the highlights of our trips. Getting to know the people that live there, work there and see the soul of the place in them, was a wonderful experience. Ulusaba would not be what it is without their efforts.
Ranger and Tracker:
Although all the Rangers and trackers are wonderful, we praise the name of Trevor and Jack! We swear they must have X-Ray vision and secret powers to accomplish what they do and to know what they know! These two work extraordinarily well together as a team. There was nothing they would not do to track down an animal, yet both of them very respectful of the animals and would not do anything to jeopardize the animal or interfere with its ordinary behavior or disturb them in any way. We loved that! They both contained so much knowledge about so many things and were fun as well! Although there are stated amounts of time for the game drive, they certainly would not rush you back when something amazing was happening and they always seemed to locate something amazing! You can see they trust each other and the chemistry between them enhances the whole experience. Thank you Trevor and Jack, the only 2 we would ever want again!
Overall experience:
We traveled for 26 hours total to get there and spent only 4 nights. We would travel another 26 hours to spend only 2 nights if that’s all we could get. That’s how amazing the entire experience was and we hope to get back there again!
