Pondoro Game Lodge

Pondoro Game Lodge offers an intimate and luxurious safari like no other, it is truly a bespoke experience. It is the perfect destination for those who are looking for a romantic and exclusive getaway, whilst offering guests a wide range of activities such as safari drives to romantic picnics at the treehouse hide.

The Greater Kruger National Park is a renowned reserve and home to the famous Big Five in addition to hundreds of species of other fauna and flora. Situated on the banks of the Olifants River, Pondoro Game Lodge is the perfect place to sit back and relax and become one with nature.

Pondoro has expert rangers and trackers that conduct the morning and evening game drives. The intimate knowledge that these game experts have to add a new layer of understanding to the experience and inevitably leading to a new appreciation of the wonderous plans and animals within the reserve.

The accommodation offering at Pondoro includes 5 truly luxurious suites, 3 chalets, and 1  treehouse hide. All suites are air-conditioned and offer modern comforts in an exquisite African wildlife setting. Each suite has a private patio, lounge area, an outside shower and Jacuzzi built into the wooden deck in front of the suites facing the river. All chalets have en-suite bathrooms with a shower and bath overlooking the river, air-conditioning, mosquito nets and a wooden deck.

Spend a night in the romantic Treehouse Hide. The hide overlooks a spot lit waterhole in the middle of the bush and is a must for those with a taste for adventure. Your adventure will begin after dinner with a late-night drive to the hide. You will be picked up again during the morning safari.

The Serenity Spa at the lodge offers an indulgent escape from the wild, where one is surrounded by elegant décor and cascading waterfalls to create a relaxing ambient environment.

There are no boundary fences between the Balule Private Nature Reserve and the Kruger National Park making this reserve extremely diverse in terms of wildlife. The game drives at Pondoro traverse an area of 10 000 hectares and the strict vehicle limits at sightings ensure the exclusivity of the game viewing experience. Off-road driving on most areas enables the best possible view of any exceptional sighting and rangers are constantly in 2-way radio communication with each other to keep track of animal movements.

For the more adventurous, a nature walk with an armed guide would add the thrill of encountering animals on foot.

About the Balule Nature Reserve

Balule Nature Reserve was established by a group of like-minded, private landowners in the early 1990s. From the start, their objective was to create a larger, open system with no fences to hinder animal movement thus creating a much healthier habitat for fauna and flora.

The Reserve has since grown from the initial 11,000 ha to 55,000 ha, approximately 150 km of fences have been removed and it consists of both private and commercial properties. In 2004, the Eastern boundary fence was removed and Balule was officially incorporated into the Kruger National Park (established in 1898).

Thus, Balule is now part of an open system that covers over 2 million hectares in South Africa and is widely regarded as one of the most successful conservation areas in the world.

Balule is mostly made up of mixed Acacia and Combretum woodlands, which sustain 94 mammals, 280 birds, 72 reptiles, and 128 tree species, not to mention the insect, fish, amphibian, and other plant species.