South Africa’s Eastern Cape probably isn’t the obvious choice for a safari adventure, but at Schotia Safaris private game reserve I’m sure I saw almost every animal I’d have spotted at South Africa’s much more famous Kruger National Park. And it was a spectacular and memorable experience I’d highly recommend.
When planning our trip to South Africa my friend and I knew we wanted to spend time in Cape Town, the Winelands and the Garden Route. Adding Kruger to that itinerary meant a flight to Johannesburg and a lengthy drive. Then we discovered that Schotia Safaris is just a three-hour drive from Plettenberg Bay, our last stop on the Garden Route. And even better, despite being a private reserve, it was very affordable.
Schotia Safaris is the oldest private game reserve in South Africa’s Eastern Cape and borders the eastern side of Addo Elephant National Park. According to the website, it’s probably the most densely stocked reserve in Africa with over 40 mammal species and around 2000 animals. You can go for an afternoon visit and do the Schotia Tooth & Claw four-hour guided game drive followed by dinner. Or like us, you can book a package that includes an overnight stay with an extra early morning drive at Schotia and then another one in the national park. Either way, you check in at Schotia at 2.30pm to start your drive in a comfortable open Land Rover.
Almost immediately after setting off, we spotted some beautiful zebras who were very happy to walk close to our vehicle. We also started to see antelope and during our visit, we learned how many different types of antelope there are in South Africa. We saw nyala, sable, waterbucks, impalas, wilderbeest and eland, which all looked quite different to each other.
Another highlight was Schotia’s gorgeous giraffes. They are such graceful animals with their long necks. Seeing them in the wild, grazing and cohabiting happily alongside the antelope and zebra was amazing.
A more exciting and slightly scary encounter was with a huge buffalo who didn’t look at all happy to see us. Our ranger guide was watching the buffalo very carefully to get us out of there if needed!
Our guide then took us to what seemed to be an empty pond. But while we watched and waited we started to see the eyes of a hippopotamus! Very slowly he moved out of the water revealing a bit more of himself each time. He looked pretty scary too but we were assured we could move faster!
After more wildlife spotting including a crocodile and a family of warthogs, we headed to the lapa, a large thatched open-air structure where the Schotia team served dinner. It was a great opportunity to chat with guests who were on other trucks and compare notes about what we’d seen.
After dinner the day guests were taken back to reception while we headed out for our night drive. We didn’t see any new animals with one massive exception. Our guide managed to find a lioness and her cubs. We had to be very quiet as we watched the magnificent creature caring for her young.
We were then dropped off at our Bush Lodge accommodation and were surprised to find how big and comfortable it was with two separate sleeping areas for us to use. But we were so wired from everything we’d seen, I don’t think either of us slept much at all!
The following morning we had an early start for our final game drive at Schotia and we were on the hunt for elephants. None had been spotted the day before and our guide said they were hiding in the bush. Sounds ridiculous that elephants could hide, but it’s true. That morning they were spotted and we quickly headed in their direction to meet the family. Baby elephants are always so cute!
Then there was another call on the radio as a male lion had now been spotted. So it was a quick scramble back along the track to find the lioness’s mate. We did and it was well worth the rushing around.
The final game drive of our visit to Schotia was into the Addo Elephant National Park. But first, we went for breakfast at the nearby Nanaga Farmstall. We’d called in there for lunch on our way to Schotia the day before and it’s a great place to shop and eat. There’s a counter that sells a range of very cheap roosterkoeks (a traditional South African bread) with different fillings.
Once inside Addo, the sense of scale compared to the Schotia reserve is quickly apparent. We entered the park at Colchester and were on a decent road with dense African bush on either side. We couldn’t spot anything but luckily our Addo guide Roger was an expert and knew where to go. He explained that people who self-drive in the park tend to drive slowly hoping to spot animals, but the rangers know where to go and also have an app to share sightings in real time. Fairly quickly we found some zebras and red hartebeest antelopes.
Other animals we spotted included the yellow-tailed mongoose, which looks not unlike a meerkat. And we also got closer to some warthogs than we had at Schotia, even though the little blighters moved very fast!
Unsurprisingly given the name of the park, there are around 500 elephants at Addo so our guide was very keen to track some down for us. At one point he spotted fresh dung on the road and said they must be near. Then we tried a watering hole where, in hot weather, as many as 200 elephants can gather. There were none but of course, Roger wasn’t giving up. Eventually, his persistence was rewarded and our fabulous safari adventure ended in the company of Addo’s gorgeous elephants.
For more posts about this trip visit the South Africa section of my blog. And if you like elephants, you might also be interested in a post about a safari in Sri Lanka.