Vuyani Safari Lodge is a boutique luxury lodge in the Moditlo Private Game Reserve in South Africa. With only 10 suites it offers a more personal and exclusive safari experience. From the moment we arrived the service and attention to detail was outstanding. The lodge itself was stunning and the rooms were so comfortable and beautifully decorated. The pool area, the spa, and the communal dining - all 5 star. Because it is a smaller and more intimate lodge, you get to know the other guests as well as the staff. The drives were exhilarating going off the main roads and through the dense bush. We rarely saw other jeeps and really felt like we were alone with the wildlife. Our driver and tracker were both amazing - their knowledge and enthusiasm for wildlife made the drives that much more exciting. We got within arms length of rhinos, cheetahs, lions, elephants and giraffes (to name a few).
We would get up at 4am for our first drive of the day and at the halfway point our jeep would stop somewhere scenic for a morning coffee/tea and snack break. The afternoons were free time and we spent our days at the elephant sanctuary, at the spa, or sitting by the pool. Our evening drives began in the late afternoon/early evening and on our breaks the driver and tracker would make us cocktails of our choice and we would watch the sunset with the wildlife. One evening our group was standing around the jeep enjoying our cocktails as it began to get dark and a curious group of rhinos approached us. At one point we could no longer see them but rather hear them sniffing and walking around us - that memory will stay with me forever!
On our last day we were able to walk with a pair of cheetahs through the bush, it was the perfect ending to a perfect trip. Vuyani is truly an enclave of paradise and I would highly recommend it if you are planning a luxury safari in South Africa.
