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Riding holidays in South Africa
There are more
riding holidays in South Africa
than anywhere else in Africa
and the country has such diversity of scenery that there
is a huge choice of different types of riding holiday.
It’s not just choice; the quality of South African Riding
holidays and horseback safaris, in terms of horses, guides
and accommodation can match those anywhere in the world.
However, so many lodges have jumped on the riding holiday
bandwagon in the last few years that inevitably there are
some places that are not so good. This means it’s
essential to get independent advice before booking your South Africa
riding holiday.
In and around the main game areas such as the Kruger,
there are
horseback safaris
on forward going well schooled horses where you stay in
beautiful lodges. The
Wait A Little
horseback safaris which explore the Karongwe and Makalali
Reserves are operated by Philip and Gerti Kusseler and
they have an excellent reputation.
Around
Cape Town there are rides through the winelands
and along the sandy beaches of the
Western Cape. Travelling east
there are some wonderful polo centres along the
Garden Route. As you continue
east to the
Eastern Cape there are
coastal trail rides
in magnificent and seldom visited areas of the country.
Going further along the coast, past
Durban there is the fabulous
St Lucia
UNESCO world heritage reserve which can be explored on
horseback.
In the northern province
of Limpopo there is probably the most successful riding
holiday operation in the whole of
Africa
at Triple B Ranch in the Waterberg. Triple B Ranch is home
to both
Horizon Horseback Adventures
and
Ant’s Lodges.
Ant’s has two lodges, the original Ant’s Nest and the more
recent Ant’s Hill with a third lodge due to be completed
in 2010. All the Ant’s Lodges offer superb horse safaris
through their own reserves with guided bush walks and game
drives for non-riders. While the accommodation at Horizon
is not quite up to the level of Ant’s Lodges, they provide
a really diverse riding holiday including cattle work,
instruction and polo-crosse as well as game viewing from
horseback.
Horizon also run a great combination ride in conjunction
with
Limpopo Valley Horse Safaris
just across the border in Botswana. By riding in these two
areas it’s possible to see the
Big 5
(lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo) from
horseback.
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