About Balule Private Game Reserve
Anyone who has ever visited South Africa has been captivated by its natural beauty. South Africa boasts spectacular scenery and an abundance of wonderful wildlife! Safaris are all about adventure, dramatic landscapes and once in a lifetime encounters with incredible wildlife, so if you are looking for a once in a lifetime safari experience, why not visit Balule Game Reserve.
Balule Private Game Reserve (also known as Balule Nature Reserve), shares an unfenced border with the world-famous Kruger National Park. Kruger National Park is home to the Big Five and is famous for its abundance of African wildlife. Big Five encounters at Balule Game Reserve are almost assured due to the extensive wildlife population found in the surrounding area. Staying here offers customers the chance to immerse themselves in the pristine wilderness of the Greater Kruger Ecosystem.
The Balule park area covers 40 000 hectares (250 km²) within the Greater Kruger National Park, on its western boundary. The area consists of savannah woodland and grasslands, which creates an incredible scenery for people to admire, as well as a variation in habitat for the animals who roam the area. Scenic highlights include the Olifants River which flows through the center of the park and the Drakensberg escarpment which creates a dramatic backdrop for visitors to admire.
History
Balule Game Reserve was established in the early 1990’s when a number of landowners within the Greater Kruger National Park realized the need to remove the fences between their properties. This move would, in turn, extend the animal gene pool, prevent overgrazing in one area and enable the migration of the amazing African wildlife over a larger area of land. It made perfect ecological sense!
The removal of the fences proved to be aesthetically pleasing to the landowners and meant that a larger variety of game was able to access their land. Over time, hunting was curtailed and the wildlife became more relaxed which provided excellent photographic opportunities.
Balule Game Reserve was one of these private areas of land who removed their fences in order to become a part of the Greater Kruger National Park.
Wildlife
Balule Game Reserve shares open borders with Kruger National Park which makes it part of a huge ecosystem and home to all the sought after wildlife when on Safari.Balule offers an authentic safari experience and boasts an impressive hippo population which can be found wallowing in the Olifants River during the day. Some rarer animals you may encounter during your stay include civets and honey badgers.
Visitors often encounter elephants, buffalo, waterbuck, and giraffe during their stay, and wherever these animals are roaming, this usually means that there are lions nearby! Balule also prides itself on being able to offer customers the chance to encounter the Big Five; lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and cape buffalo. All of the animals are able to roam freely on and off the property and large herds of buffalo are often present on the Balule property.
Bird-watching
Balule also receives regular visits from people who come to witness some of the amazing birds that visit the area, with over 250 species of birds passing through every year. November to April is the prime bird-watching time in Balule as this is when migratory birds from Europe and North Africa are present. During this time you could witness some beautiful species of bird such as the Hobby Falcon or the Harlequin Quail.
Accommodation
Balule Game Reserve offers a range of enticing accommodation options, including classic safari lodges and luxury safari lodges. These private safari lodges in Balule offer you a unique African safari experience. The lodges are beautifully decorated and offer you ultimate comfort during your stay in the heart of the bush.
Safari Recommendations
Balule Game Reserve offers a range of unique safari experiences including game drives, night drives and also walking safaris, however, Balule does not offer a self-drive option because we feel that your safari experience will be a lot safer and more enjoyable if you go with one of our experienced guides.
Best Time To Visit
A good time of year to visit Balule Game Reserve to optimize your wildlife sightings would be during the dry months of June to September as this is peak wildlife viewing time in the Greater Kruger National Park. Wildlife viewing during this time is superb as the rivers and waterholes become popular gathering places for animals.
August and September are also desirable times to visit, as the temperature warms up and animal’s gather at predictable water sources. Primetime for wildlife viewing in South Africa coincides with the low tourism season which means there will be less competition for viewing the animals during this time.
During the summer months, wildlife becomes a little harder to spot due to the fact that the animals tend to sleep in the shade to keep cool for most of the day because of the hot temperatures.
About African Safari Group
Balule Private Game Reserve is proudly presented and recommended to you on this website by African Safari Group, a Premier Inbound Travel Agent, and an accredited and contracted reservations office for premier game reserves and game lodges across South Africa. ASG is not affiliated with Balule Private Game Reserve. Read more about African Safari Group…
AFRICAN SAFARI GROUP TOURISM ACCREDITATIONS
South African Tourism Association (SATSA)
SATSA is South Africa’s most well-known tourism authority. Membership means that we adhere to strict policies and regulations regarding our conduct and, should you be unhappy with any aspect of our business, you have these organisations to approach for recourse.
African Travel & Tourism Association (ATTA)
Atta is a European based tourism association. ATTA member companies are the most experienced and conscientious in the services they provide to visitors and pride themselves upon the standards which are maintained regardless of changing circumstances.
View at:https://www.atta.travel/members/african-safari-group
Cape Town Tourism Association
Tourism Board Members are partners which are recognized as trustworthy associates of an official tourism body in the city which provides peace of mind to visitors.
Supplier Default Insurance
The accommodation, transport and activity suppliers that we recommend meet strict quality controls but should any supplier become insolvent and fail to provide the accommodation, transport or activity we booked for you, our supplier default insurance protects the money you paid for that service.
This financial protection extends to every aspect of your safari that you booked through us. This is one of the important advantages of working with independent experts, like African Safari Group.
Payment Security
All our credit card payments are made through MyGate using 3D-Secure authentication. The 3D-Secure authentication is an additional fraud prevention scheme created by MasterCard and Visa to process transactions online securely.
It allows shoppers to create and assign a password to their card that is then verified whenever a transaction is processed through a site that supports the use of the scheme. The addition of password protection allows extra security on transactions that are processed online. This gives our clients a single, seamless online payment process that is easy to use, super secure and convenient.
Payment Options
We Accept all three major credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. You can use any of these cards through our secure online payment gateway portal, anytime day or night.