About 2 hours and 30 minutes from Johannesburg just outside a small town called Bela Bela, meaning "Bath Bath" in the native language. The area is also known as Warmbaths. A scenic drive through sunflower and maize fields North of Johannesburg finds you in the well known "bushveld". Many privately owned game lodges are found in this area. I will be describing one of the wonderful lodges in this article.

Upon arrival, you will notice the typical bushveld wooden look of a lodge entrance. The entrance greets you with large clay pots and extravagant signage. Anything from the Large Eland to the small buck known as Impala. A lot of these buck can be viewed from photographs found in our blog.

For the bird watchers out there, various dams around the park create the perfect setting for these flying creatures with "hides" for your use while you observe them in their daily living. Picnic areas are also found throughout the park as you make your way through the bush. This particular park does not house any predators, therefore you are able to walk freely in the bush. However, there are still the dangers of snakes and other dangerous insects, so, take care when hiking. Make sure you wear think socks and strong hiking boots. During the day the sun can get very strong, so make sure you apply a lot of sun screen. Also take lots of drinking water with you, you do not want to get dehydrated.

During the Winter months - many of these game lodges are dry with little foliage, however in Summer rainy months, these areas are very green and over grown. This greenery supplies the animal life with plenty of food and shade during the hot Summer days. Once you enter the lodge/park you feel humbled by the grace of the area that has been untouched by man. To see these wonderful animals walking freely through their natural habitat creates a sense of peace and relaxation. In order to fully satisfy your experience, take along a book on the wildlife found in the area or the park you are visiting so you are able to identify what you are looking at in the wild.

The experience is quite amazing in these game lodges and private homes are available for rental. Prices vary from a few hundred Rands (Local South African Currency) up to a few thousand Rands depending on the Game Lodge and activities available. Not only are you able to drive around on your own within the parks boundaries, but you are able to take game drives and take part in other bushveld experiences. Some of these experiences range from Golf, Hiking trails, Game Drives to viewing Cheetah sprinting across the fields or petting baby Lions and Tigers. If you want to find out more about these wonderful game lodges/parks, click through to our blog for more information and amazing photographs of the wildlife. You will also be directed to online bookings to make these experiences real.