Ulusaba

Ulusaba from the inside

Our visit to Paula’s place was a true taste of how the other half live. The laid back bush life! No traffic jams and road rage, the only road blocks you come across are Elephants in your path!



Sabi Sands Traffic



The village itself is only meters away from the office, so no transport required. The shop is on their doorstep and therefore no need to shop in advance! You take a wonder over and pick what you fancy for dinner from the large fridge and freezer containers which supply the resorts. Then up the path back to the house to whip up some good home-made food!

After settling in and meeting the Ulusaba family, Paula arranged with one of the rangers (her neighbor!) to take us out on a game drive with his guests that evening which gave us an opportunity to check out Richard Branson’s Rock Lodge! And what a truly amazing spectacle from the sky! 



View from Rock Lodge

The bar at Rock Lodge

On that evening drive we came across a very tired elephant, which clearly had been grazing all day and needed a rest on the tree!



Very tired elephant

 Then to our surprise, we came around the corner to some impala that shot out of the bushes and ran across the road in front of us. You know the saying, where there is smoke, there is fire! Well the little chaps were running away from the big cats! We were privileged enough to see three cheetah cubs (2 year olds) in the open planes. Apparently a really rare sighting as Cheetah has not come through their reserve in almost 3 years!

the extra special cheetah sighting

After yet another awesome drive, we made our way back to the village to enjoy a true bush fire braai with all the residents, which can clearly go on into the wee hours of the morning! Exhausted from a long day, we retired to wake up to the breakfast table set out on the patio for us!

We had a free day to do as we pleased, so decided to take a drive out of the reserve and visited the nearby Protea Hotel, Kruger Gate where we enjoyed lunch in the tree house and relaxed and had cocktails on the deck!

Steven & Paula feet-up chilling out on the deck

Did a bit of curio shop browsing and then back to the village to explore the second resort, Safari Lodge. We packed some drinks and snacks and made our way along the suspension bridges, and raised wooden walkways, sharing the pathway with squirrels.

Paula & I on our way back from the Treehouse

Enjoyed some sundowners with the hippo and elephant at the little dam.

The hippo pool at the treehouse

Then returned for home made pizza’s and a good old night-in! early to bed for us to return home the next day.

What an awesome holiday! We are left with such fond memories and hope to return to the beautiful part of the world real soon!

Thanks Paula and the Ulusaba family!
Love you lots.XXX