Elephant Plains Review and Walkthrough of Game Lodge and Safari in Sabi Sands

Let me take you on a tour of our game lodge, Elephant Plains in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve which is right next door to Kruger National Park. This is an all-inclusive experience which has incredible accommodations (our Manyeleti Honeymoon Suite), all meals covered, 2 game drives and a bushwalk every day.
When planning our honeymoon, I really didn't know what to expect even after booking this property. It came as a recommendation and I'm so glad we ended up with Elephant Plains because not only was it an amazing experience, the price was also much more reasonable compared to other lodges we looked. What really stands out for me is the friendly staff, our guide, tracker, the food, and ultimately how easy it was for us to spot the Big 5 and other animals throughout our 4 day/3 night safari experience.
Shoutouts go out to our guide Morné who was also gracious enough to allow me to interview him. Our tracker, Dion and waiter Ishmael were also fabulous. Nkomo!
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#krugerpark #sabisands #safari

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

Do you have any other questions about Elephant Plains Game Lodge in Sabi Sands that I wasn't able to cover? If so just drop a comment below and I'll get back to you right away!

[@chandrakanthc793]

Are there any specific places that we were allowed to see, where the Mapogos basically resided during their reign?

[@WINDOWS94198]

Whats up with the lions there

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

@Tim Blaauw we rented a car from Johannesburg and drove to Elephant Plains. Otherwise you can book a transfer from the lodge.

[@darrengiltrow8725]

I took my family to Elephant Plains for my 50th Birthday last August,we stayed four nights and had the Manyaleti Suite and two Luxury suites, I agree with everything said in this blog and we had the most fabulous time, having been on Safari before, the sightings here are off the scale and we saw above and beyond the big 5 a Pangolin and Wild Dogs. We also saw two different Leopard pairs up trees with their kill an awesome experience. Rangers and food etc. are great but I must give special praise to Ishmael our supervisor/server for all the attention to detail he gave at mealtimes and our ranger Gerrit Ackerman who was excellent. Highly recommend this lodge.

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

Darren Giltrow so amazing to hear that you were there literally a few months before we were there. Such an amazing experience and yes I totally agree about Ishmael as well. He served us and was absolutely amazing.

[@chandrakanthc793]

I wish you get more subscribers and views.Thank you for the walk-through of the place.

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

Thanks so much!!

[@b.hagedash7973]

It really is a magical area. I've been following the day-to-day goings on of the animals for the last 3 years on Djuma (two properties to the right of Elephant plains) on SafariLive which films its daily KZbin live safari shows and The Djuma Private Game Reserve 24 hour live cam which are situated there.

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

It sure is! SafariLive is so amazing - I watch it from time to time too. How is Djuma as a property??

[@b.hagedash7973]

@@GoingAwesomePlaces It's great but like the rest of the Sabi Sands a bit too densely roaded for my taste.

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

@@b.hagedash7973 Ah that's good to know! I haven't been to any other reserves so I didn't have a base of comparison. I did enjoy how it was less busy than Kruger but it sounds like other reserves are even more spread out.

[@DRAUSSENsein]

*_Wow, a terrific lacation in the middle of nature, incredibly beautiful and super exciting safari! Great video, all-round success, great performance. Greetings from Germany, Angela_*

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

Thank you again Angela for watching! Hopefully it gives you a real look into what a game lodge in South Africa is like :)

[@kimberlysyoutization]

Great video!

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@hannahparker484]

Thank you. Really informative :)

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

I’m glad it was helpful. When are you thinking about going?

[@hannahparker484]

@@GoingAwesomePlaces thank you. Unsure with the pandemic at the moment but hoping in 2022. :)

[@hannahparker484]

Need to do some research in best time of year to go and where to stay. Found your videos really helpful

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

@@hannahparker484 for best time to go the locals told me basically to just avoid summer when it gets way too hot. I thought our timing in November was perfect!

[@johnwilliams5466]

Are the game drives included in the hotel price or do you pay for them separately?

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

They’re included so in effect it’s all-inclusive here

[@kakadu482]

How much area they cover in game drive? It's a bad things in Sabi Sand, some lodges have a limited area. What about Elephant Plains?

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

Elephant Plains works closely with its neighbours - Arathusa, and I believe Djuma and Sungita (I could be wrong) but I remember them being able to radio other lodges where they essentially share info and so they can cross into each other’s land for game drives. There was plenty of area to cover. The farther you go, the more time you waste driving so it actually made sense for most game drives to be as close as possible to maximize viewing. Hope that helps!

[@thetravelingbrowns748]

Can you do a video or give us some idea of what we should pack? :)

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

Have you had a chance to read my post ( )? I didn't write specifically about packing and eventually I want to get back to my South Africa content but in terms of what you need are: neutral coloured clothing but honestly not the end of the world if you have bright colours. We pretty much wore short sleeves with long pants everyday plus a hat. I think the biggest thing I learned was that the stereotypical safari look isn't really a thing anymore. People just wear whatever on safaris and it's totally okay. The key is just to have something breatheable and to have layers because the mornings could get chilly so you'll see that I also wear a fleece/zip up. If it rains, they'll have rain ponchos so don't need to worry too much about that. Oh and I forgot about shoes. I recommend low-cut waterproof hiking shoes. It's pretty rare that'll you be wearing flip flops. I hope that helps??

[@Fauss]

The male lion we saw, was that one of the Majingilanes? Or maybe they were already gone..

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

I don’t believe it was or at least our guide didn’t mention it - that or my memory is starting to fade!

[@annebooyse1112]

So this is only 4*?☺

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

I’d give at a 4.5!

[@thejb395]

What a great video!

[@GoingAwesomePlaces]

Thank you so much!! This was several years ago but is still one of our most memorable trips we've done to date