Prior to actually going on our honeymoon to Africa, I kept saying that we were going to Africa because it’s “one of those places you only go to once in your life.” After our honeymoon, I can confidently say that if I never safari again in my life I will seriously be devastated! :) But in all honesty, Safari is hands down the coolest and most serene thing I’ve ever done in my life.

We decided to Safari in Sabi Sands, which is a private game reserve within Krueger National Park. What makes Sabi Sands so special is that your ranger can go off-roading, which means you will be extremely close to the animals. Additionally, they have a lot of restrictions in terms of what they can or cannot do. For example, only 3 jeeps can be near each other at one time. Have you ever seen photos of Safari where there are like 7 jeeps around a lion? You will NOT have this problem in Sabi Sands. Often times, we were the only jeep sitting mere inches from a family of elephants.

We stayed at Dulini River Lodge and it was truly incredible – the property, the rooms, the staff, the food, the guides, absolutely everything. There are 6 suites on the property, and we were extremely lucky as there was only one other couple there besides us. The other couple had safari’d many times and paid (a lot of extra $$) for private game drives each day, which meant that my husband and I also got private game drives (without having to pay for it!) Our Guide/Ranger & Tracker were extremely knowledgeable. They answered all of our questions and told us every single thing about every single animal we saw. The fun part of having all of our drives private is that often we’d hop in the jeep at 6AM and they’d say, “Katie, what do you want to see today? Let’s go find it.” How cool is that?

We did 4 full days of Safari, and I could have easily done more, although by this time we had seen a majority of the animals and I didn’t feel like I missed out on anything. Although, we never saw Cheetah’s!

If you’re heading on Safari and don’t know what to expect, here’s a typical day:

4:59AM: It’s time to wake up! Your phone will ring for your morning wake-up call.

5:30AM: You will meet your ranger, tracker, and other guests for coffee, fruit, and a quick granola bar.

5:45AM: It's time for your morning Safari. Sit back, relax, and I highly recommend bringing a professional camera (even if you rent one from Lens Rentals, because you will want to take photos of all of these beautiful animals). We were lucky enough to see the Big 5 within the first two game drives. The Big 5 includes elephants, lions, water buffalo, leopards, and rhinos.

8:00AM: You’ll make a quick pit stop during your morning game drive for more coffee. Our ranger and tracker always packed juice, and additional snacks to munch on. They truly think of every little detail to make your experience luxurious.

9:00AM: Arrive back at the lodge for breakfast. Our first day, we noticed that the expert Safari couple at our lodge asked for Champagne upon return. This is a total pro-move and we asked for it every day following. It’s so nice to walk back into the lodge post morning safari to a nice glass of bubbly. Each morning, your ranger will join you for breakfast which is really incredible as it offers the opportunity to ask any additional questions about your game drive and the animals, or get to know your ranger more -- their culture, family, traditions, etc. The entire staff at Dulini were hardworking, positive, and a true joy to be around. I actually cried the day we left, I did not want to leave the positive energy that I was lucky enough to experience here.

10:00AM - 3:00PM: This is your chance to relax! Each day we did a little something different during this mid-day break. On our first day, we napped the entire time (I don’t recommend doing this, but we were desperately tired!) One our second day, we laid out, had some drinks, and spent time in our private pool. And the last day we did a mix of both. A little lounging plus a little napping. The beautiful thing about our property was that we could see animals from our deck. So during the afternoons we watched rhinos, elephants, and water buffalo in the distance. We also fit in a light lunch during this break at some point. Usually around 2:30PM we were hungry again and ready for some food.

3:30PM: You’ll join your ranger at the lodge for High Tea prior to your evening game drive

4:00PM: Time for your evening Safari ride. We were usually a bit more excited for this one as we were more awake and ready to go! One night we saw an entire family of 15 elephants (babies and all!) within a foot of us. We just sat there for probably 30 minutes watching them while our Ranger told us every detail about them. The ranger and tracker are so incredibly knowledgeable.

7:00PM: You’ll stop somewhere serene and beautiful and get out of the jeep to “stretch your legs” – AKA have cocktails and snacks at sunset. I was nervous doing this the first night as you’re in the Park, and I was terrified an animal was going to come up and join us!

8:00PM: You’ll arrive back to the lodge and make plans for dinner. We usually ate dinner around 8:30PM, giving us a little time to go back to the room and clean up. Each night dinner was a little different. One night, they surprised us with dinner in our room, on two of the nights we had really lovely cook-outs with the entire staff — including drinks and dancing, and one night we ate at the lodge.

It’s honestly hard for me to put into words what this experience felt like. I’ve never felt so close to God, or a higher power, than I did here. There’s something about being among the animals, in complete silence as the sun is rising, that is truly the most calm and happy I’ve ever felt in my life. And the staff at Dulini had a lot to do with this. Every time we were with them for a meal, or during our game drives, I was reminded of how positive and happy people can be — especially people who don’t have everything we have. They dream of living in America and probably can’t even fathom the life we live. It reminded me to be grateful for the little things. I left this place in tears, crying to the airport because I was so sad it was over. But, I made Jonathan promise me that someday we would come back.

Pro-Tip

Layers, layers and more layers! We went in the dead of Summer (January/February) and the temps were predicted to be 90s/100s everyday, so I brought shorts, dresses, etc. I was pretty cold for the majority of game drives and wish I would have had pants or at least layers. You know those snap away pants you probably made fun of when your dad wore them? Looking back, I would have died for some of those ;)

I’d recommend bringing (or renting) a professional camera -- and not depending on your iPhone. You’re going to want to zoom in and get up close with these animals, it’s absolutely incredible.

Our jeep was well-equipped and had blankets, waters, umbrellas, & binoculars. We were ready for anything!

A typical day on Safari