Game Drives

The game drive is the centre of the day at Sausage Tree. You head out twice — in the cool of the early morning, and again in the late afternoon as the light turns — on an open 4x4 with an experienced guide and tracker who have read this country season by season. The camp sits inside the Olifants West Nature Reserve, with traversing rights open to the wider Greater Kruger and a stretch of the Olifants River running through our country.

This is Big Five country. With luck and good tracking the drives turn up elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard, alongside the everyday cast of giraffe, zebra, warthog, kudu and impala, and a long list of birds. Down along the river you will often find hippo and crocodile, and now and then something special — the much sought-after Pel’s Fishing Owl among them. No guarantees; the bush keeps its own diary. That is rather the point.

A good drive is not only about the big animals. Your guide will happily talk birds, insects, trees and the small things most people drive straight past, because that is where a lot of the best stories live. As the afternoon drive winds down, sundowners and a few snacks come out while the sun drops over the bush.

Every booking with Sausage Tree contributes R50 to Daktari Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage.