​Expert Reviews – Manyeleti GR

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Expert
Harriet Nimmo   –  
South Africa ZA
Visited: November

Harriet is a zoologist with more than 20 years’ experience. She has the privilege of working with the world’s top wildlife photographers and photo-guides.

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Undiscovered Kruger gem
Overall rating
4/5

This little known private game reserve is sandwiched between Kruger National Park, Sabi Sands and Timbavati private reserves. The wildlife viewing is as good as its more famous neighbours – although as there are fewer visitors, the game is perhaps a little less habituated. With a little luck, visitors have a chance of seeing lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, buffalo as well as wild dog and cheetah. The reserve is unfenced and so game is free to come and go from the surrounding reserves.
There are a choice of lodges ranging from the sublime Tintswalo to the charming, off-grid, rustic Pungwe. I loved Pungwe for its simple, back to nature feel with elephants munching outside my tent at night.

During apartheid, Manyeleti was the only reserve accessible to non-whites – and since then it has somehow stayed in the tourism shadow. It is an undiscovered gem, poised for great things.

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Expert
James Bainbridge   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: July

James is a travel writer and author of many Lonely Planet guides, including senior author of the guide to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.

Dependable Lion Sightings & a Rhino Programme
Overall rating
4/5

This 270km2/105mi2 reserve may share borders, as well as free-roaming wildlife, with two of South Africa’s most exclusive private reserves, Sabi Sands and Timbavati, but it’s run by the provincial government. That means you can pay a conservation fee at the gate and drive in for a few hours of big-cat spotting, without having to splurge on a high-end safari lodge.

Kruger National Park is another predator-filled neighbour of Manyeleti, leading to a steady stream of thrilling sightings. Leopards in trees, lions chewing on a zebra carcass, hyenas fighting jackals over carrion, quietly grazing white rhinos, curious giraffes and playful elephants are all present and correct. The famous white lions of Timbavati sometimes wander through, and Manyeleti has a rhino conservation programme, encompassing dehorning, educating local communities and even battling poachers with drones and a Bat Hawk light aircraft.

I stayed at Tintswalo Safari Lodge, which is well recommended for a classic experience of the African bush, with just eight elegant suites and a maximum of six passengers per safari vehicle. Whether tracking a leopard through the veld or breakfasting among the acacia, Manyeleti proved to be a gloriously diverse part of lion country, its riverine forests, dry grasslands and open-skied plains attracting a range of predators and prey.

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Average Expert Rating

  • 3.5/5
  • Wildlife
  • Scenery
  • Bush Vibe
  • Birding

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