For Bill Drew and Sasha Maggs, every day at Abelana Game Reserve is an adventure. We may not have guests at the moment but patrolling the reserve and continuing the important task of keeping the reserve’s wildlife familiar with game viewers is all in a…
One of the things that sets Abelana River Lodge apart is its amazing food, thanks to head chef Juan Louis Kruger, known affectionately as “JL”. Born in Germiston and raised in Boksburg on Johannesburg’s busy East Rand, 28-year-old JL fell in love with food aged…
It’s been a bumper month for leopard sightings here at Abelana Game Reserve, with a number of these beautiful big cats spotted close to Abelana River Lodge in the north of the reserve and down in the south around Abelana Safari Camp. Throughout lockdown a skeleton team of staff have…
When it comes to records, the ostrich is an absolute champion! It’s the world’s biggest and heaviest bird, its fastest on two legs and lays the biggest egg… It has the largest eye of any land animal and blinks just once a minute! There’s a…
It’s hard to believe that winter is upon us and that 2020 is already virtually half over. The bush here at Abelana Game Reserve is beginning to thin out, with the rich autumnal colours slowly giving way to the browns of the dry season that…
Tipping the scales at a whopping 900kg or so and standing around 1,7m at the shoulder, a fully grown bull eland is the reigning heavyweight of the antelope world and a wonderful sight to behold. Abelana Game Reserve is home to this fascinating and eye-catching…
As the world’s largest land mammal, the African elephant is an absolute giant. Adult bulls can reach up to 4m high at the shoulders and can weigh-in at up to seven tonnes! That makes them Africa’s true heavyweights and easily one of the continent’s most…
When it comes to traditional African fare, this brightly coloured caterpillar tops the list! Meet the infamous mopane worm! It actually isn’t a worm at all, but rather the larvae of the beautiful emperor moth. It’s named for the tree it is found in and…
This little creature is a newborn sable antelope and is the latest addition to Abelana Game Reserve, having come into the world in the last few days, right at the end of the calving season. It’s hard to believe that this unassuming, tiny brown antelope…
While the Abelana Game Reserve brand is a recent addition to South Africa’s tourism industry and the African safari landscape, the land itself has been under protection for quite some time. In fact, it was first proclaimed as a “nature reserve” in 1958 and was…
[meta_gallery_carousel] Our brand-new Abelana River Lodge has been impressing everyone who’s seen it since opening its doors at the end of February, thanks to its stunning interior design and décor and effortless blend of contemporary and African influences. Inspired by the wilderness that surrounds the lodge and the ever-present…
Some fantastic news from Abelana Game Reserve is that our two new gorgeous lioness “sisters” that were released onto the reserve late last year are doing wonderfully well and thriving in their new home! Caught on video on a recent game drive from Abelana River Lodge, the pair of lovely…
Coming across elephants while out on a game drive at Abelana Game Reserve is always a highlight, but when Abelana River Lodge safari guide Annie White encountered a young elephant bull on a recent drive with guests, some unexpected behaviour made for an interesting and exciting sighting, which was captured…
[meta_gallery_carousel] The end of February saw the moment all of us here at Abelana Game Reserve have been waiting for – the opening and launch of our beautiful new Abelana River Lodge! It’s taken virtually a year of building, interrupted at the last minute by heavy annual rains, but…
One of the wonderful things about staying at Abelana River Lodge is its location on the banks of the Selati River and the constant “serenading” of our resident hippo pods. You’ll most likely hear their raucous grunts as you sit on our viewing deck or…
