Umkumbe Safari

On February 9th, we stayed overnight at the Vrede Hotel before our early morning flight to Skukuza (Kruger National Park). The hotel was reasonably priced and we would recommend it. The staff were friendly and efficient, and the room was spacious, clean, and had a comfortable bed. The hotel’s location, just a 5-minute shuttle ride to Cape Town airport, made it an ideal location for us.

The Airlink flight to Skukuza was 2.5 hours, with only a few passengers on board. We arrived on time, but when it came to our Vomba Transfer to Umkumbe Riverside Safari Lodge, things went awry . When I called Vomba to check on our transfer, they were surprised to hear from me. It turned out our reservation had been cancelled, and the full payment I made had been refunded. After several calls and emails, I learned that someone had posed as me and sent a convincing email. The scammer claimed my family had been in a fatal car crash in South Korea, leading Vomba to process the refund to a bank account instead of back to the credit card I used. Fortunately for us, everything was sorted out in the end although it took 1 1/2 hours for Vomba to finally pick us up. Vomba learned the hard way, as they were out the refunded amount.

This was our first time at Umkumbe Riverside Safari lodge. Umkumbe, meaning “Rhino”, is a small private safari lodge (6 chalets) located on the Sand River in the heart of the Sabi Private Game Reserve. It is considered one of the most reasonably priced private safari lodges, especially compared to neighbouring ultra-luxury lodges of Mala Mala and Londolozi,  which are 4+ times more expensive.

Umkumbe offers basic accommodations and food, and the rangers and trackers take on additional duties around the lodge, such as gardening, moving luggage, and assisting with buffet setup and clean-up. This helps keep the prices more reasonable. The open safari vehicles usually hold 9 guests, with the middle seat used when necessary. We were fortunate to have only 3 other people in our vehicle, which made the experience more comfortable and much easier for taking photos.

We had two game drives at Umkumbe—one right after we arrived, and another early the next morning before heading to Inyati. Our guide, Ty, was great and thanks to him (and good luck), we had incredible sightings.

Would we recommend Umkumbe Safari River Lodge? Yes, especially when you factor in the pricing and the quality of the game drives. Our friends Wendy and Gord stayed at Umkumbe Bush Lodge, which is right next door to River Lodge, and they also enjoyed their stay. The Bush Lodge is a “luxury tented camp – glamping”. The accommodations are a bit nicer and the food is a bit better than the River Lodge even though the cost is slightly less. The game drives are pretty much the same since both properties are on the Sabie Game Reserve (SGR). We initially were told that River Lodge and the Bush Lodge were under totally different ownership, but we later learned that they are actually owned by siblings but run separately.

Now, onto more Umkumbe game drive photos.

It was tough choosing which photos to include because we had so many incredible sightings in such a short time. We truly felt lucky.

Deb, thank you for finding Umkumbe for us. Rich and Karen, we’re sure you’ll love your time there, though we’re not sure if Umkumbe is quite ready for the two of you!

Next posts will be from Inyati in a few days time.