Hi There,

I have been to Southern Africa 30 times on safari and Phinda twice. I have been to every lodge on the reserve. If you go, I recommend not moving lodges and stay at Vlei for the entire time. Vlei is my favorite and, IMO, best for honeymoons. Although Phinda is a highly engineered ecosystem (it was a sugarcane farm in 1990) the land has been restored as well as possible to the pre-European state. You will have a good big five safari here and have a great chance of seeing black rhino, white rhino, and cheetah. Phinda has stay4pay3 for 2013 so I recommend a four nights stay. Be sure to spend a full day at the ocean as Phinda is very close to the coast.

It is NOT a six hour drive from Jo’burg and I do not recommend driving from there – it is more like nine hours. It is a one hour drive from Richard’s Bay (RCB) so I suggest flying JNB-RCB on SAA and rent a car at the RCB airport. It is also a 3.5 hour drive from Durban/DUR and I have done that drive as well.

In my opinion, if you only have time and money for ONE safari in Africa then I suggest a Sabi Sands lodge.

Craig Beal – owner – Travel Beyond
2011/2012 Travel & Leisure A-List agent for Zimbabwe and Botswana