Shamwari Eagles Crag Lodge

Highlights

Private plunge pools
Being in the Shamwari
Cuban cigars
Birders paradise
Wildlife
Staff and guides

Information

Lodge type; Luxury Safari Lodge
Location; Shamwari Private Game Reserve
Lodge size; 9 Junior Suites
Recommended stay; 2-5 nights

Introduction

Eagles Crag offers guests the ultimate in luxury and privacy combined with breath-taking scenery. Not only is the accommodation classically beautiful, but you’re also exposed to uninterrupted views of the surrounding rock faces where eagles soar.

Eagles Crag Lodge comprises suites fashioned of glass and stone and is nestled in a valley and provides the ultimate luxury for the most discerning of travellers.

Reserve Information

Shamwari Private Game Reserve is situated in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, offers visitors 25 000 hectares of wildlife and birdlife rich reserve to explore.

Shamwari Private Game Reserve is home to Africa's Big 5 (elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard), is malaria-free and is situated in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Shamwari has received numerous international awards, including the World's Leading Conservation Company and Game Reserve for many consecutive years.

Large numbers of ungulates sustain a healthy population of lion, cheetah and the elusive leopard. Grasslands are home to white rhino, and the subtropical thicket provides browsing for elephant and black rhino. Hippo is found in the riverine habitat. The reintroduced red-billed ox-pecker is a common site on buffalo, rhino and giraffe.

Rooms and Suites

Each of the nine junior suites has been built to maximise the privacy of the guest in the most tranquil of settings. The en-suite suites boast a private deck with heated plunge pool, as well as, indoor and outdoor showers. Decorated in light and contemporary colours, with wall-to-wall glass doors on two sides, these suites provide stunning views of the surrounding cliffs.

The lodge boasts an authentic African Experience, secretly hidden in a gorge, filled with temperate forest vegetation and looking out onto a cliff-face and riverbed.

Lounge featuring a fireplace and big-screen television
Upstairs lounge with fireplace opening onto the terrace
Relaxation Retreat with two therapy rooms, hydro bath, steam room and sauna
Gift Boutique

Cuisine and Wine

There are various dining venue options to enjoy the exquisite cuisine served at Eagles Crag. There is the upper floor dining room, the expansive balconies with stunning views of the cliff and of course an outdoor boma under the stars around the fire.

A selection of Cuban cigars is on offer from the humidor.

Facilities

Spa with 2 Treatment Rooms, Hydro Bath, Sauna and Steam Bath
Gift Boutique
Dining Room on the upper level with fireplace and fold-away glass walls
Outdoor dinners in the boma
Bar/Cigar Lounge featuring a fireplace & big screen television with glass fold-away walls leading out onto the deck
Large lounge with fireplace and large outdoor deck upstairs
A Birders paradise with beautiful views from the decks
Personal ranger service - only six passengers per vehicle

Activities

Activities available at Shamwari Eagles Crag Lodge include;

Two game drives per day (morning and evening)
Birding Safaris
The Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre
The Born Free Big Cat Sanctuaries
Spa treatments
Pro photo safari option

Spa and Wellness

Shamwari spa treatments are the ideal way to unwind; each treatment can be tailored for either men or women.

Eagles Crag Lodge; 2 treatments rooms, a hydrobath, sauna and steam bath
Lobengula Lodge; 1 treatment rooms and sauna
Long Lee Manor; 3 treatment rooms and gym
Bayethe Tented Lodge; Private, twin treatment rooms

A variety of treatments are available including (should you require we can forward a full Spa Menu upon enquiry)

Massages
Facials
Hand and foot rituals

Addo Elephant Back Safari

I have been travelling in Africa for over three decades. In that time, I have been on countless safaris; by Land Rover, on foot, by canoe and horseback, up and down mountains and valleys.

The sense of wonder and appreciation of natural beauty has never left me.

There are, of course, individual animals which I prefer above all others. Some are large, very large and some small but all, for some reason or other, have endeared themselves towards me. I will start with the very large.
Addo Elephant Back Safari
Samara Game Reserve Review

About three hours' drive northwest of Addo National Park (see Tuesday's blog) lies a different country.

If Addo enjoys a lush and verdant environment, Samara Game Reserve (close to Camdeboo National Park) is the opposite. Its semi-desert environment is more akin to Namibia.

Yet here we are in the middle of the Great Karoo near the historic farming town of Graaff Reinet.
Samara Game Reserve Review
Kwandwe Game Reserve Review

My husband and I were fortunate enough to visit the Kwandwe Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It had been many years since I had been on safari in the Eastern Cape and I was eager to see how the experience had changed.

We flew from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth where we picked up our rental car and drove the 2 hours to Kwandwe Private Game Reserve. From the moment we arrived at the reception, we experienced the service that this Relais and Chateaux property is famous for.

We were met with a welcome drink, a cold towel and fresh homemade cookies accompanied by our check-in.
Kwandwe Game Reserve Review
Death of a Cheetah

When you live in Africa, love the smell of nature and its strong call, and perhaps even more importantly, understand the natural cycles; you see the death of wildlife as part of the natural order.

The strong conquer the weak, and the old give space to the young.

When you look at a magnificent animal and predator die in an area which is desperately (and successfully) trying to rehabilitate natural corridors of flora and fauna over a previously devastated land, no one would think less of you for shedding a tear.
Death of a Cheetah