The magnificent Makongo Hills

Hello everyone! My name is Riona Maharaj and I am a 40-year-old mum of three from the lush and beautiful suburb of Umhlanga. The last two years of my life have been completely topsy turvy and I am found comfort in the beauty of travel and exploration, particularly in the gorgeous province of KZN.

If I had to write about all my adventures, you would be reading for days on end so today I have decided to write about an adventure that I had recently that completely captured my heart and soul.

I visited the picturesque Makongo Hills Game Lodge in July and it made me fall in love with nature and wildlife like never before. It is situated in Mkuze which is about a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Umhlanga. The hosts were kind enough to recommend a few activities to do along the way to break up the drive. En route we did the elephant encounter at Bayete Zulu followed by lunch at the very cute Baobab Inn.

There is something about travelling to the Northern parts of KZN that fills my heart with such joy. I absolutely love the drive. Once we get to the reserve gate it is another 45 minute drive to get to the lodge. It is so worth it because once I reached the lodge I understood why. The lodge is beautifully situated on the hills of what was to have believed to be an actual battle ground in the days of King Shaka and his brothers. It overlooks lakes and valleys and it is something that a hundred pictures could capture the essence of. It is different to every other lodge I’ve visited.

Makongo Hills is unfenced which makes it even more thrilling for guests, you could experience a variety of four legged visitors right outside your room. The resident warthog family can be found grazing on the lawns outside fairly unfazed by us humans.

The game drives are done at leisure and were extremely informative. Our ranger showed us which plants to collect to have with our gin at dinner. We also discovered many new and exciting things about plants, insects and predators.

Our ranger was extremely patient ad because of this we got to experience a pride of lionesses’ hunt and kill 2 wildebeest. It was one of the highlights of our trip experiencing the circle of life right before us.

There are so many things to share about that weekend away. Honestly two nights is just not enough, I would recommend three nights as the minimum to enjoy Makongo Hills in its entirety.

We had private breakfasts laid out by the pool. It made me feel like I was one with nature. We also had our breakfast packed and set up on one of the morning game drives.

The dinners beside a big hearty fire were something I looked forward to. We sipped on drinks to warm ourselves after the afternoon game drives while we chatted and exchanged bush stories before tucking into our delicious meals. I still dream about the malva pudding with the warm homemade custard.

On one of the evening we heard the sound of a very disgruntled elephant in the distance. It is such a grounding experience to be in the wild and experience Africa like that.

 I have been fortunate to travel to a variety of Game lodges but Makongo Hills has the spirit of Africa encapsulated like none other.

You will have to make the time to experience it for yourself to fully understand what I mean. You will fall in love with our country like never before. I know that I will be back here again and again.

You will find all the room tours and other pics and videos on my instagram @crazyrio84