Choose from a range of exciting Phinda Adventures such as a specialist walking and tracking safaris, a sleep out under the stars, and other participative conservation experiences such rhino notching or pangolin tagging.

 

Also within easy access of the reserve are Zulu village tours, Africa Foundation community visits, a Maputaland exploration, Maputaland beach trip, night turtle drives (seasonal), scuba safaris, or an incredible ocean safari that offers you a host of marine life sightings. Specialist safaris can be arranged in advance and focus on special interests such as birding, photographic, family and private safaris.

 

Safari Game Drives

Enjoy twice-daily game drives that set off early in the morning or late in the afternoon (continuing after nightfall), in the company of expert safari guides and local trackers who will do their best to ensure that all your wishes are met.

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Venture through the seven distinct ecosystems of &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, often referred to as Seven Worlds of Wonder. This fascinating variety of landscape and vegetation shelters an abundance of wildlife, including rarer and less easily spotted species such as the elusive cheetah or the scarce black rhino.

 

Photographic Safaris

In addition to a private safari with a specialist guide, take advantage of a fully-equipped photographic safari vehicle. The vehicle has been fitted with state-of-the-art camera mounts and caters for a maximum of four guests, ensuring exclusivity during your safari experience.

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A Sleepout Under the Stars

Enjoy a leisurely afternoon game drive on Phinda Private Game Reserve before arriving at a romantic and magical setting in the middle of the bush – comfortable beds with full duvets and warm blankets draped with billowing mosquito nets, inviting chairs surrounding a blazing campfire and twinkling lanterns hanging from the trees.

 

You will be welcomed with sundowner drinks that toast the sunset and your guide will prepare a delicious meal on the fire. Recreate the day’s adventures around the fireside, drink in the tranquility of the bush and enjoy the distinct night sounds of Africa.

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Fall asleep under an impossibly starry sky to the sound of hyena calling in the distance, secure in the knowledge that an armed guard will patrol the site throughout the night.

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Birding Safaris

Birding Safaris are just one of Phinda’s many matchless private safaris that can be personalised for any small group. Accompanied by one of our specialist birding guides, set out in search of the nearly-440 bird species that inhabit Phinda’s seven diverse habitats.

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Rhino Notching

Witness the darting of a rhino, and assist the veterinary team in notching the sleeping rhino’s ear for research and security monitoring, before releasing it back into the wild. Phinda is committed to ensuring the survival of Africa’s rhinos and, as such, we implement best practice research and management practices.

 

Ear notches enable researchers to correctly identify different individuals on the Reserve. Each rhino is given a unique ear notch number, and microchips are placed in the horn and body for identification and security purposes. Measurements, horn shavings and skin samples are also taken for DNA analysis.

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Many of Phinda’s rhinos are in need of ear notches and we are inviting groups of up to eight guests each (sharing one vehicle) to participate in this extraordinary experience. Guests will play an active role in the day’s adventure. As the veterinary team flies overhead in a helicopter in search of the rhino, guests will follow in hot pursuit with an expert ranger in an open 4×4 safari vehicle. Once the animal is located and darted, the helicopter will land, and guests will have the never-to-be-repeated opportunity to touch the anaesthetized rhino during the notching procedure.

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Get up close and personal with these highly endangered giants of the African bush on this once in a lifetime opportunity to assist in the conservation of rhinos at &BEYOND Phinda (all funds raised go directly towards the costs of running Phinda’s rhino conservation and management project).

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Elephant Collaring

Phinda Private Game Reserve is committed to ensuring the survival of Africa’s elephant herds. Seven elephant herds on the reserve have been collared to assist with monitoring and tracking their movements. From time to time, one of the elephant collars utilised in this research will be in need of replacing and we invite groups of up to eight guests each (sharing one vehicle) to participate in this extraordinary experience.

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Guests will play an active role in the day’s adventure. As the veterinary team flies overhead in a helicopter in search of the elephant, guests will follow in hot pursuit with an expert ranger in an open 4×4 safari vehicle. Once the animal is located and darted, the helicopter will land, and guests will have the never-to-be-repeated opportunity to touch the anaesthetised elephant as they change its collar.

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Dates for this exceptional adventure are dependent on whether there is an elephant to collar, as well as on the availability of the vet and the helicopter pilot. All funds raised from guests go directly towards the costs of running Phinda’s elephant conservation and management project. This incredible adventure will be offered to one group as there is one collar available.

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Pangolin Conservation Experience

Participate in our privately guided pangolin research and monitoring experience, and support us in this groundbreaking initiative to re-establish Temminck’s ground pangolin in a region where they have been locally extinct for decades.

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A precious opportunity to join a researcher from our specialist conservation team as he (or she) locates one of the pangolins that has been reintroduced to the reserve. A rare window on the world of these shy, elusive and terribly threatened mammals: observe their unique features and adaptations first hand as our researcher does a general health check and downloads critical research data from the UHF tag attached to each pangolin.

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This path-finding project, in partnership with the African Pangolin Working Group, is not only the first of its kind for pangolin worldwide, but the research learnings are key to the long-term survival of these intriguing creatures who are the world’s most trafficked mammal. All funds raised from this signature experience will go into the project for the purchase of tags, equipment, veterinary costs and the care of all the reserve’s pangolins.

Specialist Walking Safaris

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Enjoy the excitement of a Big Game Viewing Walks, the tranquillity of a Nature Walk, or any combination of the two, as your specialist ranger and tracker tailor your walking experience to suit your personal requirements and preferences.

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Whether it be to follow an animal for hours, unravelling the details of its daily life, or to spend the whole day exploring the wildest corners of the game reserve on foot, a Specialist Walking Safari offers the opportunity to experience Africa at its wildest and most personal.

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Cultural Experiences near Phinda

Our involvement with  Africa Foundation and the people in our local communities represents our core tenet of Care of the People.

 

Through our close consultation with them, Phinda Private Game Reserve   facilitates insightful community visits and excursions for our guests that help you to not only experience and see first-hand the various projects that are being run by the Africa Foundation and Phinda, but also for you to see how you can get involved and make a difference. In addition to these community visits, local Zulu villagers offer guests the opportunity to experience their daily lives and routines, and to gain a sneak peek

 

Maputaland Beach Trip

The vast sandy beaches of the Maputaland coastline provide a beautiful setting for this half-day beach outing to beautiful Sodwana Bay. There is ample time for you to soak up the warm African sun and splash in the clear, temperate waters of the Indian Ocean, bordered by miles and miles of sandy beaches.

 

The diverse area is stippled with rugged foothills, flanked by dense dune vegetation and the azure hues of the tropical Indian Ocean.

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Relax with a good book, play fun filled beach games and take leisurely walks along the pristine shoreline, which blends effortlessly with the animated ocean, awash with the sound of the waves and the cries of various sea birds. At low tide you can snorkel  alongside Jesser Point, a protected marine reserve, and marvel at an endless abundance of diverse and colourful marine life.

 

Jesser Point features a rock-strewn point at the south corner of the bay, perfect for fishing off the rocks at low ride and from the safety of the bay at high tide.