Bushbaby Lodge

#BushbabyLodge #camping #thelazycampers Camping R120pp

Location: D49 Rd, Hluhluwe/Duma Zulu, South Africa

Situated in the savanna landscape of the northern section of KwaZulu Natal is a marvellous little bush lodge that offers wide open camping spaces, plenty of shade and wildlife on your doorstep. Bushbaby Lodge is located only 20min from the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve and is a fantastic place to setup up camp.

Getting there

Drive the N2 northbound out of Durban (for about 2-2.5 hours), take the off ramp after the Hluhluwe Total Petrol Station onto the D566 and turn right to go on the bridge over the highway (the road turns to dirt almost immediately but the road is easily accessible by all cars). At the T-junction, you will turn right and then take your first left and very shortly after you have turned you will come across Bushbaby Lodge on your left. Be sure to watch out for game (Giraffe, zebra and impala) while you drive the dirt road, you could have your first game sightings before you even venture into any of the reserves.

The Campsite

Bushbaby lodge offers fabulous campsites, one of the top campsites we have stayed at. The lodge offers two different camping areas but if it is available I recommend that you ask for the campsites near to the game fence and waterhole. The property has zebra, wildebeest, nyala and bushbuck on it. In the evenings the animals come to the watering hole to get water and food and the campsite is right next to the fence. One highlight was getting up in the middle of the night to go to the loo and seeing the zebra and nyala standing near the fence, what a treat to have game-viewing in the middle of the night on your doorstep (or tent-step).

The campsites are very spacious and sport plenty of shade as well as electrical points (you need a caravan plug), there is a communal braai area, communal kitchen with sinks, fridge, drinking water and bathrooms all neat and cleaned daily. The lodge also has a beautiful swimming pool to cool down in on those hot summer days (and they can get very hot!) and a little shop that sells curios and ice-cream (no ice though) and wood by the wheelbarrows (the boys thought this was fantastic). There is also a cozy restaurant where you can order meals.

Things to do

- Walk: take a leisurely walk around the property. Follow the multiple foot paths and do some game viewing by foot. Look out for antelope and birds as well as some of the exciting creepy-crawlies like ant-lions.

- Bushbaby viewing: every night at 7-7:30pm the owners of the lodge feed the bushbabies and you are invited to watch the feeding and meet their wide-eyed visitors. After the feeding the bushbabies make their way home through the campsite and screech and shout in the trees above you making it easy to spot them with a torch. This was a real treat, there are not many places where you can see wild bushbabies up close. -Swim: Bushbaby lodge has a sparkling swimming pool in the centre of their venue which is available to everyone who is staying at the lodge. This was a lifesaver as the temperatures in December were already reaching 30℃ and it was wonderful to be able to cool off in the pool. This kids who were staying at the lodge had a wonderful time playing games in the pool as well.

- Meals at the restaurant: situated near the pool under a majestic tree is the lodge’s intimate restaurant which serves 3 meals a day. We had a lovely breakfast which included eggs and bacon as well as fruit salad, yoghurt and cereal.

- Visit Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve: the reserve is only a 20min drive from Bushbaby Lodge so it is close enough for a day trip. Hluhluwe does not offer camping and so if you are planning to camp then Bushbaby lodge is a great place to set up basecamp and then drive to the park every day. Entrance into the park if you are South African is R105 per person (be sure to have ID documents with you) and well worth it as the park has the Big 5 on offer. We had a beautiful morning driving around the park: we saw vultures, zebra, elephant, a few rhinos, lots of buffalo, and were treated by an up-close-and-personal sighting of 3 lionesses and 1 male lion; so close in fact that we had to roll up our windows so that we did not become lunch.

I highly recommend a stay at Bushbaby Lodge. The venue is beautiful and peaceful, the owners are friendly and welcoming and the food was lovely (breakfast was delicious and dinner smelt fantastic). We thoroughly enjoyed the sightings of the bushbabies, who are so cute, and it was wonderful to have sundowners in our campsite and watch the animals right next to the fence. There are very few places where this type of experience is available and at such a good price.