An Evening Game Drive at Rhulani Safari Lodge – this is what everyone’s waiting for. After some hours of relaxing at the lodge you can grab some snacks, tea, coffe, cake or fruit at High Tea – before heading out on your evening safari in Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa.

I was lucky to be able to join evening game drives with all of Rhulani’s Guides / Rangers – Riaan, Sean and Alasdair. Every game drive is a new adventure and takes you into a different area of Madikwe Game Reserve. One night you might specifically look for Lions, the other night you are searching for Rhinos or doing some “Leoparding” – while spotting lots of other animal species along the way.

The first wildlife I spotted on my very first evening game drive at Rhulani was a group of Elephants with babies who were having fun at the waterhole – just a short drive away from the lodge – that was a great start. Further along the way, lots of Zebras and Impalas were greeting us while we were exploring a specific area of Madikwe Game Reserve. There was also a Giraffe walking right in front of us in the warm afternoon sun - crossing our path to meet her friends who gathered around a bush on the other side.

On another day, we were lucky enough to spot several White Rhinos, a large Elephant herd as well as Gnus (Wildebeest) and Zebras (one of them pregnant), all gathering in the African savanna. 

Some Warthogs were running past us and a Buffalo was hiding in the bush.

A little Black-backed Jackal baby was standing on a fallen tree, watching us – and as usual – we spotted lots of birds, from the “Kamikaze Bird” (Red-crested Korhaan) to the Grey “Go- Away-Bird”  – we have seen them all. (The Kamikaze Bird is named after its mating display – it flies straight up in the air, then closes its wings and then plummets to the ground - only at the last moment it starts opening its wings and starts gliding again. The “Go-Away-Bird” is named after the sound of its call).

Finally, there came the day that I could see Cheetahs – 2 males were lying in the shade of a tree. Happy times.

Then it was time for our sundowner and some beautiful sunset views. Our drink of choice (which we selected before going on safari) was waiting for us. We enjoyed our sundowner, had some snacks, a fun time and watched the setting sun before continuing our search for wildlife in the Madikwe bush. 

Now it was time to look for Lions. Their tracks were in the sand and in a short time we spotted 2 male Lions right beside us. They decided to stroll along the path right in front of us – they probably just wanted to appear in the spotlight. I was waiting for a Lion to roar – no such luck, yet. Maybe next time.

On our way back, some Impalas were looking at us in the spotlight – we wished them good luck not to get eaten over night. We spotted some more Elephants and then arrived at the entrance of Rhulani Safari Lodge – that was beautifully lit with torches and lanterns. Rhulani Lodge’s safari guests could enjoy their Welcome-Back Drink and a delicious dinner after their evening game drive in Madikwe Game Reserve.

All of Rhulani’s Rangers absolutely love what they do, have a passion for nature and wildlife and go out of their way to find wildlife for you in the bush. They read animal spoors, track wildlife, mix you delicious sundowner drinks and provide a safari experience in the South African bush that you will never forget. Enjoy yur evening game drive at Rhulani Safari Lodge in Madikwe.

I tried to shoot a video of a roaring Lion during one of the game drives for this Blog Article … there were lots of Lions … but none of them was roaring … they were probably too busy eating their kill from last night… Hopefully I can hear one of them on another evening game drive, soon. 

In the meanwhile, watch Alasdair’s video of a roaring Lion in Madikwe – also wait for the Lion posing in the end of the video.

Photography / Content: Dagmar Roscher

Video (Roaring Lion): Alasdair