When you make a booking at Rhulani Safari Lodge, the rate includes two daily game drives of 3 to 3.5 hours with a qualified ranger. These take place in an open landcruiser, which provides space for a maximum of ten guests. Is there a way to be totally alone in the bush, not mix up with other guests and reserve a private vehicle? The answer is "yes and no".

“Madikwe’s strategy is to offer a quiet and private experience with wildlife for our guests”, says Rhulani’s owner Rolf Steiner. As a consequence, the traffic in the reserve is reduced to a minimum, there is no public access and no visitors are allowed to enter without reservation at a lodge. Thus, the guests can enjoy unforgettable animal sightings without a traffic jam in front of a sleeping lion pride. “It is actually a very successful strategy which we fully support”, says Rolf.

As a result, the concessions of the game lodges, allowing them to drive around in the reserve, are limited. Rhulani is an 18 bed lodge and has two concessions. This means that at full occupancy, both vehicles are busy. "It may happen that you go completely alone on safari with your ranger, but usually a group of guests comes together on the vehicle and will share the same experiences", says Rolf. In most of the cases, this is actually very funny, and the panoramic view is anyway very good on any seat.

But what are the possibilities if you want to reserve a private vehicle, just for you? "For us, such a request means that we have to rent a third vehicle, hire a temporary ranger, and request an additional concession," says Rolf. This generates additional costs we have to charge to the guest. But the most difficult part is the preservation of an additional concessions. “The only option we have is to ask other lodges in the reserve if they can give us one of their concessions, which they will not need themselves the specific day.” There is however no guarantee, and we usually know that only about two weeks before the guest arrives.

Since from time to time we get requests for a private vehicle, we have now developed the following proposal:

1. For the private vehicle, we charge the guest a fixed daily fee which covers the costs for the additional vehicle, ranger and the concession (see current fee here)
2. Rhulani is not able to issue a guarantee for a private vehicle. The definitive answer will be given to the guest 14 days prior to check-in date.
3. In the event that Rhulani is not able to offer a private vehicle, the guest can then either accept the booking without having a private vehicle (and without additional fee), or cancel the booking free of charge.

We always try to meet the customers' needs as much as we can, and hope that this is an acceptable solution.