South Africa in safari mode: February/March 2026 (page 1 of 9)

Hi everyone,

With my girlfriend Christelle, we’ve chosen South Africa for our first trip to Southern Africa, focusing on safaris—after a long debate with a Cape Town/Kruger combo. But that would’ve meant cutting out St Lucia, which would’ve been harder to fit into another trip. And St Lucia—thanks to Michel and all those travel journals—we really wanted to go there.

So our 11-night itinerary ended up like this, mostly shaped by school holidays: - 3 nights in St Lucia - 1 night in Hluhluwe - 1 night at Mkhaya Game Reserve (Eswatini) - 1 night at Hlane Royal National Park (Eswatini) - 3 nights in Kruger (Berg en Dal / Satara / Tamboti) - 1 night at Shindzela Tented Camp in the Timbavati private reserve - 1 final night in Kruger at Lower Sabie

All of this in the off-season and rainy season, just a month after catastrophic floods that killed over 150 people and seriously damaged Kruger’s infrastructure.

I’ll jump straight to St Lucia and skip the loooong journey to get there (with a layover in Frankfurt, landing in Johannesburg, a domestic flight to Durban, and the rest by rental SUV—First Car Rental, perfect, no complaints).

To motivate readers—especially some familiar faces here—I’ll drop in a first photo.

So here we are, arriving on Sunday, February 22nd in the late afternoon in St Lucia. We were a bit wiped out, but the drive was good despite left-hand driving and the fatigue.

Driving wasn’t easy—constantly mixing up the windshield wipers and turn signals 🙂, even by the end of the trip.

Before the trip, we were a little worried about the destination’s safety, like many others. But on our route, we never felt particularly in danger.

We settled into Sunset Lodge, where we rented a bungalow, and immediately felt like it was going to be great.





The garden view is stunning, and we jumped straight into the pool. Going from a French winter to St Lucia—it could be a lot worse... Even though we had a feeling we wouldn’t be alone for long.





After grabbing a few groceries, we headed straight to the ski boat club restaurant. Apparently, you can sometimes spot crocs and hippos there. Well, we struck out on that front—the vegetation had taken over—but it became our official hangout: great food (the best fish and chips we’ve ever had), cheap, and with an amazing view.





It was still early, and despite the fatigue, we set off on our first safari through the side streets off the main road, hoping to catch a glimpse of the local star that roams St Lucia’s streets at night. After an hour with no luck, we decided to head back to bed when we came face-to-face with our first hippo.





Not your average lawnmower, huh? 🙂 When it grazes, the sound is impressive. It passed within two meters of our car. Apparently, you’re safe in a car.

Hi Pascale!

I’m definitely in—happy to join! 😎

after hesitating for a long time between that and a Cape Town/Kruger combo.

It’s tough making choices! That’s what we’ll be doing (the combo) next October.

We’d already been to St. Lucia (back in 2009)… but didn’t spot any hippos at night. On the other hand, Isimangaliso was a great surprise!

Hey Pascale,

I can’t resist the call of a Savanna Dry! !😉

Hi Pascale, I’m boarding too 😊 First steps in Southern Africa—just be careful not to catch the *Africano-virus* 😉

We’re settling in at Sunset Lodge where we rented a bungalow, and we can just tell it’s gonna work out.

Hello!

When you see the photos, it’s weird—you can just feel it’s gonna work out too 😉

I really loved St. Lucia, that small seaside town vibe on a human scale, its huge beaches, and especially the nearby reserve!! Not to mention, of course, its evening visitors…

I’m in, obviously, and no connection to Savannah even though I suspect it’s meant for me—my reputation here is definitely sealed 😕

Welcome Muriel! Yeah, it’s tough to give up. We tried to see if we could fit all three in, but we’d have been rushing the whole time

I know it well! Welcome Agnès 🙂

Welcome Isabelle! The next step will happen as early as October—this time, heading to Namibia!

It's amazing, Bruno, you're a mind reader! 😛

Second day

First South African wake-up in KwaZulu-Natal, right in Zulu country. Big day ahead, the sun is shining, let's go!

We start the morning with a quick dip in the pool. It *is* vacation after all! But we don’t linger because we’ve booked a cruise on the estuary. Lake St Lucia is part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The cruise is one of the town’s highlight activities. Try to go at sunset because the animals are more active (we didn’t have a choice).

The landscape is really pretty with mangroves, lots of reeds filled with nests—it’s peaceful and calming.





We saw hippos galore, but no luck—no crocodiles, even though they’re definitely in the area.

A baby hippo gave us a nearly toothless smile.



Back in St Lucia, we stocked up on fruit from street vendors. Bananas, pineapples, avocados, and especially passion fruits—we still have fond taste memories of those.



The little town is charming. It’s mostly made up of one main street with side streets full of guesthouses—so many options! Ours is quiet, at the end of the main road. Some locals are pretty unusual compared to back home.

This afternoon will be dedicated to exploring the Western Shores, just outside the city. It’s a bush area (see Michel’s travel journal for all the details) and our first safari 🙂.

I didn’t have any particular expectations for this place, since most tourists focus on the Eastern part with Cape Vidal.

I was wrong. A wonderful discovery: we’re here in the off-season, so we’ll only cross paths with one other car in 3 hours. And it’s beautiful—palm trees everywhere, nature as far as the eye can see.



In St Lucia, you can come across the Big 4 (no lions here). As for wildlife, in the Western Shores, we had some great sightings—especially since it was our first time, so we got excited quickly.







We spotted our first three elephants. They were far away but on a hilltop in the late afternoon light.



And also a herd of buffalo in the tall grass.



The reserve closes at 7 PM, but by 7 PM, it’s pitch black. It’s 6:30 PM, and we’re quite far from the gate. We take one last loop and end up face-to-face with three giraffes in our headlights—just as surprised as we are. A moment we’ll remember forever.



The drive back was a bit tricky because birds are everywhere at dusk, completely panicked by the car lights. We made it through the gates at exactly 7 PM, then drove back to St Lucia in the dark.

Welcome Isabelle! The next step will be in October, heading to Namibia this time

Wow, Namibia... pure bliss! 😊

If you don’t mind, I’ll be driving for this South African adventure.

With great pleasure! 🙂

End of the second day

We leave the Western Shores at 7 PM. We head straight to the boat club restaurant, which also makes amazing wood-fired pizzas to go. We indeed have a meet-up at 8 PM at the Lodge for a night drive in the Eastern Shores.

We didn’t see many animals quantitatively during the drive.

Our first zebras



A crocodile settled in the middle of the path, refusing to move. Here, nature is queen, and it’s our driver/guide who backs up.



But we mostly encountered a small animal that quickly climbed to the top of our favorites list.



A real star!



The drive was a highlight because our driver knows the bush like the back of his hand. It’s the only guided drive we did where the driver really went off the beaten path. Sometimes, he was more like a rally driver when he spotted the eyes of a hyena in the dark. And what about the deafening sounds around us—frogs croaking, cicadas, or crickets... The feeling of being exactly where we were meant to be.

Back at the lodge, we check the garden to see if there’s an uninvited guest, since the garden overlooks the estuary and isn’t fenced off.

Bingo!



We stay safely on the elevated terrace by the pool, though not without some concern—wondering if a hippo could climb the wooden steps... Then we head back to our bungalow after this amazing day.

Hey Pascale,

First off, I was like, "Awesome, Holigirl’s new adventures!"

But I’ll admit, it quickly turned into, "Ugh, damn it, I knew we should’ve gone to St. Lucia" 😅. I love everything you’re describing!

Okay, we’d already done nearly 5,000 km in 20 days—couldn’t do any more!

But you’re just confirming how much we want to go back to this country, if our lucky star aligns!

Looking forward to reading the rest 😊.

Christelle

Hi Christelle!

So glad you're here at last! 🙂

I can confirm we really loved St Lucia—just like most other travelers we met, who all have great memories of it. It’s such a charming little town, perfect for wandering around and enjoying the surroundings. A lovely break during a trip to South Africa.

Day 3: Eastern Shores

Today’s plan was the Eastern Shores section, just outside the city—a real mix of bush and ocean. It attracts more visitors than the Western section, though even in the off-season, the crowds are still very manageable.

For bush landscapes, I preferred the Western side—it’s wilder. That said, the Eastern Shores definitely offer more varied scenery.





There are a few spots where you can get out of the car to picnic or take in the view (always at your own risk, since it’s not fenced). It’s nice to stretch your legs a bit...

At the end of the reserve, we reached Cape Vidal—a massive beach all to ourselves.



It was really windy, and the signs didn’t exactly encourage swimming 🤪



Between the hippos, crocs, sharks, hyenas, and leopards, we’re just glad to still be alive!

Especially since we had a real scare with the elephants on the road—a herd with babies.



Everything was going fine—we kept our distance and turned off the engine to avoid disturbing them. Then a red car came barreling toward us, and the elephants acted like they were going to charge it.



Except the mom wasn’t happy and started giving *us* the side-eye...



And then we heard branches cracking in the bushes around us. We weren’t alone. Couldn’t restart the automatic car—total panic! I was freaked out by elephants the whole trip 😏 (we saw them every day—they’re everywhere!)

In the Eastern part, we were spoiled by the animals.

Romantic buffaloes, for example (especially since we won’t see many more later in the trip)





Some handsome warthogs, sturdier than those in St Lucia

Zebras at sunset





On the way back, we came face to face with 4 white rhinos by the side of the road, and we were able to observe them at leisure. After about fifteen minutes, they finally crossed, surrounding our car. You feel so small in that moment. The white rhino grazes on grass. And it grazes all the time, so getting great photos isn’t easy. They all have their horns cut off—it’s sad, but at least they’re alive (the horn grows back, apparently, like our nails and hair).



We ended the day with a stunning sunset that made the surrounding nature breathtaking. It was our last full day in St Lucia, which we’d leave the next day with regret, though we were also excited to see what the rest of the trip had in store.