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There aren’t many places you can include a trip to the food garden to forage for your lunchtime salad to this list – unless your getaway includes a few nights at Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa.
On a recent visit (May 2024) this is exactly where we found ourselves at the end of a two-and-a-half hour trip from Joburg on a Wednesday afternoon: garden shears in hand, filling our food baskets with all manner of fragrant herbs, edible flowers, and vibrant vegetables.
It’s only one of the reasons the newly built reception area hits all the right notes upon arrival. There are welcome glasses of bubbly; a lunch of mini-pies that go down brilliantly with the fresh salad, cheese board, breads, and assortment of meats; and the quiet that slowly wraps itself around you as you shake off the city life left behind.
After lunch, it’s all aboard the game drive vehicle as your trip to the lodge in the heart of Welgevonden Game Reserve doubles as your first game drive.
“How good are you at finding leopards?” we wanted to know before setting off on our afternoon drive. “Very good,” came the reassuring response from our personal guide for the two days, Jakes Bornman. Leopards are notoriously difficult to spot but Bornman had been on this one’s trail for the past few days. The sun had already set by now, but as we pulled up to a riverbank framed by overhead trees, Bornman was quick with his torch, and we had just enough time to spy the male leopard swiftly drag his wildebeest kill up a tree and slink into the shadows beyond. We didn’t spot him again, but this once was a gift enough; a better welcome we could not have asked for.
Stretching across 35,000 hectares of protected land, Welgevonden Game Reserve in Limpopo’s Waterberg region is not just home to the Big Five; owing to the success of its anti-poaching initiatives, the reserve boasts an impressive white rhino population. For some perspective, we spotted more rhinos than we did elephants during our two days – something unheard of in the Kruger National Park, by comparison. Add to this more than 350 bird species and 2,000 plant species and it makes for a slice of game drive heaven.
Nutella pancakes? Check. Bush coffee (a delightful blend of filter coffee, hot chocolate, and Amarula)? Check. This is how morning drives usually play out when you set off with the team from Mhondoro to smooth over the rough parts of getting up at the crack of dawn and setting off into an icy cold autumn morning. Once the sun appears on the horizon and you spot your first pair of lionesses basking in its glorious rays, the snappy air is quickly forgotten as you slip into the serenity of the world around you.
Afternoon game drives are no less magical, and perhaps ours was a little more dramatic than usual owing to the lucky spotting of a male lion camouflaged in the silhouette of bush shrubbery in the last of the day’s light on our second day on the reserve. “Is that a lion?” came the question from my neighbour on the game drive vehicle. He was nearly impossible to spot, and it was only when he opened his terrifying jaws for a lazy yawn that we knew for certain we’d struck gold.
Our finder’s reward proved even greater when he did a check-in call with the lionesses we’d spotted earlier. Raw power ripping from his throat, it’s the kind of call that reverberates through the plains and demands a response in turn. “We’re here,” I imagine the translated response came from the lionesses. Well-fed and content with their efforts for the day, this is how we left them as we returned to the lodge, ready to satisfy our own hunger pangs.
But Bornman’s impressive skills for tracking down the big cats had not yet waned. “The cheetah brothers,” came our next request before setting out on the drive a few hours prior. The pair had last been spotted two weeks ago and our ask seemed a bit far-fetched. After the leopard, we didn’t dare be greedy, but we couldn’t help ourselves.
And then, there they were: as we made our way back to the lodge, night fully formed around us, the brothers appeared, trotting out of nowhere, right across the road from us, right past our vehicle’s headlights, and into the bushes to our right. It would appear they were on a hunting spree, a remarkably strange occurrence indeed, given the late hour.
There’s not much that can add to such viewing splendour – except perhaps returning to your own suite or being greeted on the steps of your exclusive-use villa by the affable Timmy Masinge, your personal butler and all-round feel-good guy.
Mhondoro can sleep 24 guests in a range of guest suites that feature trimmings like heated plunge pools and daybeds with views of the waterhole and a private villa that sleeps six.
A stay in the villa comes with the services of said butler, a personal chef, and housekeeping staff. With a private gym and massage room, a deck with a heated swimming pool and sun loungers, and plenty of space to unwind outside of your comfortable room, there is no need to venture to the general lodge area, unless you want to visit the star deck to star gaze at night or the game viewing hide.
Connected to the main lodge via an underground tunnel, it makes for a fun excursion as you wind your way down the stairs, through a lit passage, and into the concealed hide where the eye-level view of the waterhole offers superb game viewing with a perspective you’re not likely to find just anywhere. It’s a photographer’s haven, complete with camera rests and a fridge filled with refreshments, while quiet nooks beckon to book lovers or a weary soul in need of the peace only nature can offer.
If this doesn’t do the trick, a boma dinner around a fire under the open night sky surely will. A fine feast, good company, and shared laughs are the prelude to the bubble bath that awaits when you finally reach your room after a long yet rewarding day. It's the ultimate turndown service, with little luxuries that linger with you long after you leave. With that, consider yourself warned: this is the kind of treatment you’ll want to return for.
Rates for suites sleeping two start from R7,330 p.p.p.n. Exclusive use of the villa from R65,017 p.n. for one to four guests. Rates include all meals, select beverages, and daily safari activities.
The lodge is child-friendly and features an open-air play area enclosed by an elephant fence and indoor playroom with games. Special children’s activities and babysitting services can also be arranged. Children under six may not be accommodated on scheduled game drives when other guests are joining on the same vehicle. Bumble game drives may be arranged for families with small children.
Apart from daily game drives, guided walks are offered by special arrangement. For reservations and booking inquiries, phone +27 87 150 2314, email res@mhondoro.com, or visit the website.
*We were invited to stay at Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa. The views expressed here are our own.
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