How's things?: The most perfect Adventurelust safari at Umkumbe Bush Lodge

When planning the first safari of 2022 with my business Adventurelust, I knew I wanted to get an epic crew together, do a proper safari in a private reserve in Kruger, and have incredible animal sightings… mainly leopards. Alllll the leopards.

So when an opportunity came up to visit THE Sabi Sands Game Reserve, the most iconic reserve in the Kruger region known for the highest concentration of leopards, it felt like the stars had aligned for me — my hashtag of this trip is #yearoftheleopardess after all, and that my friends, is how you manifest ;)

Our destination was Umkumbe Bush Lodge, a beautiful, peaceful, rustic, glamping experience in the Sabi Sands, with luxury tents, a pool and boma area, and plenty of space for chilling, working on Wi-Fi (my group is made up of a few digital nomads). I actually stayed at Umkumbe’s sister lodge last year so knew I loved the area and the vibe, and was so excited to go back.

It had been awhile since my last safari so I was dying to get back out into the bush, but I was also a little nervous. What if we didn’t have the best sightings? What if the members of my group didn’t get along? What if I had hyped it too much in my head and on social media? What if (god forbid) MY HASHTAG WAS A FRAUD AND WE DIDN’T SEE LEOPARDS?!

But guys guys guys, let’s not forget how the universe works!!!! I SHOULD KNOW THIS BY NOW. Basically every safari I’ve been on (even that part of the sentence is crazy for a Canadian like me to say) has been incredible and exceeded expectations in one way or another. You can never see it all, nature will always surprise you, and there is no ceiling to the safari magic. Plus we all know I have a wildlife horseshoe stuck up my butt. Remember our dolphin sighting in Galapagos??? The wildlife gods ALWAYS show up for me.

As it turned out, every single expectation was blown out of the water. This safari.. was perfect. I always say “this is my best safari” and it’s difficult to say because how can I compare my first wild dog sighting, to the litter of puppies, to the elephants surrounding the pool while I drank my G+T, to my first ever safari with the adorable curious baby elephant, to that feeling of my first every leopard. Every safari is unique. But I do think this was my FAVE safari. my most fun safari!

A huge part of it was the people. Our Adventurelust crew of Nick, Karen, and Taylor all immediately clicked, it was just like a group of friends going on a getaway rather than an official tour group. It was nothing but good vibes, the first safari of its kind for all 3 of them, and we were all just happy to be there. We had so many laughs and had the best time. On top of that, the Umkumbe team is just a bunch of legends. Gabriel, Juan, and Abel (who passed every “intern test” with flying colours) kept us comfortable and entertained throughout the whole experience, it just felt like best buds going on game drives. How epic. Also, how’s things??

It was so amazing to be back in the bush, feeling the breeze, hearing the sounds, just right back in that safari bliss. Coffee stops, sundowners, morning yoga on the deck, chilled afternoons, it’s exactly what the soul doctor ordered.

But our sightings… our sightings were next level. I mean i NEVER.

Right when we arrived to Umkumbe, we saw giraffes, elephants, impalas, and (baby!) warthogs from the deck. Our first game drive was nonstop sightings.

But our first morning is when the real action began.

Overnight, we heard lions roaring from our tent. We sprinted to the game vehicle for a 5am start, drove around and eventually… found Mufasa, the king, himself. Laying perfectly on the path, roaring in full force. It was bone chilling. You could see his breath. A lion roaring was one of the main things I had left on my bucket list, and it happened right at golden hour on that first morning. So so incredible.

And if that wasn’t enough, same game drive, completely unexpected — our first leopard. Perfectly poised on a mound for us to stare at in awe. She was so so gorgeous. “It was a lot”, as I express in this video.

After that, we saw leopards every day for the next 3 days. We saw our beautiful little angel named after a wagon, she is the sweetheart of the Sabi Sands, only 15 months old but so sleek and beautiful and a boss babe. I am OBSESSED with that leopard.  (Wonder what she’s up to right now. Do you think she’s thinking of me? Anyway)

Our sightings were just really special. After a lot of big cat action, we had a more chilled game drive where we appreciated the smaller things — we also saw a genet (my first!), two owls, dwarf mongooses, and we all were just enjoying soaking it in. We also had a very intimate ellie encounter where I did not breathe for approx 2 mins. The skies were moody and dramatic and magic.

On our third day, we went into Kruger National Park — I’d never been there before! It is definitely a different experience to the private reserves, where you can go off road, the paths are dirt instead of pavement, can get out of the vehicle for coffee stops and sundowners, etc. But it was so amazing to see THE Kruger National Park. It is so vast and way more beautiful than I expected, and of course the wildlife gods showed up. Two lion sightings, hippos (out of water!), crocs, so many ellies we stopped point out ellies (including a couple super cute and sassy ones trotting across the road).

But the sighting I will never ever forget, I rewatched on my reel 100x, still can’t believe happened — a baby leopard. Hiding in the grass until it was safe and then ran to follow its mama’s lead as it crossed the road. Our vehicle was placed PERFECTLY.

Then finally at the end, as we were all happy and exhausted, the final animal I’d been requesting from my safari bucket list. Wild dogs. These always make me cry, but that is a story for another time :) Just so so special to see them, this made my safari complete.

I couldn’t be more grateful to Brett from Stars of Africa, safari marketing guru, for arranging this incredible experience, and it’s only the beginning of our partnership!! STAY TUNNNNEEDD. Also major thank you to Umkumbe for having us and my Adventurelust crew for joining and bringing the best vibes. I’m thinking about hosting round 2 in May — anyone keen?!?!

Until next time :):)