A different type of safari: Discovering the magic of the Karoo at Roam Game Reserve

It was a few days after I returned to Cape Town from my dream safari in Kruger, where I had vowed to make safariing my lifestyle.

An opportunity for a new safari experience came up, and you know I was in in a heartbeat. Say no more, I need zero details, you say safari, I am there. Pop the bubbly let’s do this.

I was off to the Great Karoo, which is an other-worldy semi-desert region just a 5-hour drive from Cape Town; you could make it a weekend trip. My destination was Roam Game Reserve, a Sun Destinations brand just like the lodges I had stayed at in Kruger (nThambo and Africa on Foot) which delivered the luxury safari experience I knew was my lifelong destiny. I’ve budget safariied before and trust me, ya girl needs a little R&R to go with her wildlife spotting. And by R&R I mean champagne.

Anyway.

I couldn’t believe I was going back to another luxurious safari retreat, and my soul was oh so thankful to be back in the African bush so soon.

Sundowners in the African bush. Nothin’ betta.

The lodge at Roam Game Reserve was everything I dreamed of and have come to expect due to these new undeserving standards that I’ve somehow set: stunning, clean, modern, with incredible views, and serving three delicious meals a day. Everything is impeccable at these resorts — they have tourism down to a tee, from your timed arrival to the welcome drink to the incredible food and thoughtful decor to the turn-down service. You are so taken care of and you just feel like royalty the entire time. And don’t even get me started on my personal fave safari component (don’t tell the animals): those magical sundowners. Okay the animals first, and then sundowners.

The STUNNING lodge Roam Game Reserve. An absolute dream.

The best part of my experience here was just the PEACE. The ONLY sounds you hear are nature. The breathtaking unspoiled landscape stretches as far as the eye can see.

I was at Roam with Coworking Safari, which consisted of myself and a group of digital nomads from Wi-Fi Tribe. After our morning drive or activity we just chilled at the beautiful lodge all day, working, relaxing by the pool, taking in the sounds of the birds and the soft wind against the leaves of the bushes. Ahhhh writing this takes me right back and I just remember that feeling of being sooo immersed in nature. I just loved sitting on the pool deck and soaking in that silence.

The most tranquil spot to chill. How was this my life.

One day in the late afternoon we had the craziest thunder and lightning storm. The landscape here is so vast that you can see it raining on your neighbour’s farm before it even gets close to you — we saw the lightning approach us from sooooo far away. I can’t really explain the feeling of a fresh rainfall on the African plains — it’s freaking magic. You just have to experience it. It’s rare (our Roam hosts told us it had only rained a handful of times last year), but when it comes, it’s magic. Just ask Toto. Bless those rains.

Roam Game Reserve offers a different type of safari experience than Kruger. You won’t see the Big Five or much action. The animals on the 5,000-hectare reserve include giraffes <3, buffalo, zebras, ostriches, tortoises, kudu, springbok, and other antelope. There are tons of birds including my new favourite, longbilled lark, which is a “suicide bird” that, when called, zips up into the air and dive bombs like a suicide fall (for the record, my other favourite birds are quelea, which flutter up in giant flocks and look like they twinkle in the sky. These set the mood so perfectly for our drives in Kruger).

They are in the process of habituating a meerkat colony (sadly they didn’t come out when we went to view them one morning!), and the stars of the shows are 3 cheetahs! You can be almost guaranteed to find the cheetahs, as they are tagged with tracking collars for the guide to detect their location.

Roam offers unique wildlife experiences like tracking these cheetahs on foot, where you can stay just a few metres away from them in the wild because they’re habituated. It’s a bit unnerving, but did you know that there’s never been a case of a wild cheetah killing an adult human? Here are a few other fun cheetah facts:

they’re the fastest land animals, clocking in at 120 km/hr
they’re at the bottom of the cat food chain so they hunt during the day to avoid competing with predators like lions and leopards
these cheetahs have tracking collars because the neighbours don’t want them to get loose and be on the run, killing their livestock.

You also get up close and personal with species of birds through bird ringing, where you capture, record the data, ring, and release birds.

There are a few other amazing experiences offered at Roam that I’m going to keep a secret but here’s a lil sneak peek ;)

On your way back to Cape Town, you can take the scenic Route 62 — drive through the BREATHTAKING Meiringspoort (Meiring’s pass), do the 10-min hike to the waterfall, stop at the divey yet entertaining Ronnie’s Sex Shop for a drink and the quirky Diesel & Creme for lunch. You’ll pass through the ostrich capital, Oudtshoorn, and other towns that give you a glimpse of South Africa outside your Cape Town bubble.

This isn’t your typical safari experience in terms of the animal sightings — if you’re looking for the opening scene of Lion King, you’re at the wrong place — but if you’re looking for a rejuvenating, peaceful, luxury, experience just outside of Cape Town that pampers the soul, Roam is calling.

Obsessed with this office. Take me BACK!!!

Just past the pool is a waterhole where animals will come to drink :)

Ronnies Sex Shop, named to attract attention of road trippers along Route 62. Guess it works!

The funky, quirky, delish Diesel & Creme.