Set in the foothills of the majestic Waterberg mountain range, the 22000ha Entabeni Game Reserve is a preferred destination for Johannesburg and Pretoria city visitors seeking a luxury safari experience and without travelling great distances.
Entabeni is located in the Limpopo province of South Africa and a short distance from the main north-south highway that runs between Pretoria and the Zimbabwean border.
Each of the game lodges at the Entabeni Game Reserve offer unique accommodation, from stilted houses high up in the tree canopy to absolute extravagance.
The word Entabeni means Place of the Mountain, fitting considering its location, and the reserve proudly encompasses 5 separate ecosystems. It’s a place where high valleys drop down into warm basins and savannah makes way for wetlands and thickly wooded plains. The area is a true reflection of Africa as a whole, a biosphere where all living creatures co-exist.
Top 6 reasons to visit Entabeni Nature Reserve
1. Game viewing holds an endless fascination for human beings where so often, the unpredictable happens. Join a game drive through the reserve to watch the plentiful animals that include the Big 5 (lion, rhino, leopard, elephant and buffalo) and many other smaller mammal species.
2. Birding can be enjoyed from your private deck or along the banks of the Entabeni Lake. The area has over 350 recorded species, enough to keep birders happy for weeks!
3. Playing a round of golf at the Legend Golf and Safari Resort is one you won’t forget in a hurry. Wild animals roam the fairways, each of which have been designed by a golfing great. Golf Digest magazine rated 3 holes on this course as the ‘most terrifying, frightening, fear-inducing holes in golf’. You won’t be disappointed.
4. Take boat cruise on the Entabeni Lake to watch the hippos and crocodiles along the banks. If fortunate, you may see a fish eagle catching prey on the water or crocodiles on the hunt.
5. The contemporary restaurants at many of the Entabeni lodges employ top chefs to prepare local cuisine. Enjoy a pre-dinner drink at one of the lively bars and after an excellent meal, end the evening off with a nightcap in a boma, relating the day’s stories around an evening fire.
6. Makapansgat is a UNESCO world heritage site where significant hominid fossil discoveries were made. Start your tour at the Arend Dieperink Museum in Mokopane to view the finds, then take the tour of 3 caves, the last one the scene of a horrific battle in 1854 between Voortrekkers and Ndebele clans.
Transport
Entabeni Game Reserve has its own private landing strip for flights to and from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. This airport is 240km from Entabeni for those wanting to travel by car. There are car rental agencies located at OR Tambo airport and Johannesburg and Pretoria city centres, otherwise order a vehicle online. A 4x4 rental is the recommended option for travelling in this area.
Did you know?
The Legend Golf and Safari Resort has probably the world’s most unique 19th hole. Golfers are transported via helicopter up to Hangklip Mountain at 430m high where a small tee box is located. Using sophisticated camera technology, the ball is tracked down to the green which is shaped into the map of Africa.
The Waterberg is where an unusual tree is to be found; the pale green bark of the fever tree makes it conspicuous amongst other trees and is called the fever tree after past travellers incorrectly thought it was the cause of fever. The tree grows near to undisturbed water sources that often carry a tropical disease in parasitic worms called bilharzia.
Entabeni is a malaria-free zone.
