Amakhala Game Reserve vs Schotia Safaris Private Game Reserve
Two parks in the Eastern Cape. Amakhala Game Reserve has 6 tickets and tours to book; Schotia Safaris Private Game Reserve has 3 tickets and tours to book. The table and the two notes below put them side by side; the full pages have what to see, the ticket and the timing for each.
Amakhala is a private Big Five reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape, on the N2 highway about seventy kilometres, forty-five minutes, north-east of Gqeberha, the former Port Elizabeth, and a short drive from Addo Elephant National Park, and it serves two kinds of visitor. For those at the end of a Garden Route journey, off a cruise ship or on a stopover with a day to spare, it sells day safaris: a morning or afternoon game drive of about three hours in an open vehicle with a ranger, usually with a meal at one of the lodges or the day centre, or a full day with two drives and lunch, and the operators in Gqeberha add the transfer from the city, the airport or the harbour; some versions include a boat cruise on the Bushmans river with drinks.
Schotia is a small, family-owned private game reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape, bordering the eastern side of Addo Elephant National Park, about forty-five minutes by road from the city of Gqeberha, the former Port Elizabeth, and it has made a name for itself with a single, well-tried product: an afternoon-and-evening safari that gives visitors with only a day to spare a good chance of seeing lions, which Addo's main game area seldom delivers to the casual visitor. The classic Tooth and Claw safari begins in mid-afternoon with tea at the reception, continues with a game drive of several hours in an open Land Rover with a ranger, breaks at dusk for a dinner of traditional South African dishes cooked over the fire and served in the lapa, an open-sided thatched shelter lit by lanterns and a bonfire in the bush, and ends with a night drive by spotlight back to the gate, looking for the animals that come out after dark;
