Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary — Attraction in George

We booked the Boma and night tour with wildcats. Our experience was good but there were quite a few frustrations.

To start with a positive, the food was exquisite and the chef was really thoughtful. I’m allergic to nuts and he came out to confirm that I could eat everything!

We arrived on time knowing the agenda for the evening, as did 2 other tables. However a group of ‘influencers’ turned up at 7.25pm which eventually delayed all of us by 30 minutes.

The staff and team working on the day were completely distracted by these influencers, forgetting they had other paying guests to entertain. These influencers had cameras which certainly attracted the staff as they were basically marketing Jukani so they would benefit from it. The staff sat with the influencers all evening for dinner, completely forgetting other guests.

At one point, I asked a waitress who they were, she said ‘they are influencers who have come from all over the world’. I then corrected her and said we have also come from the UK.

At 9.25pm, our guide came over and asked if we had any questions, and we said ‘yes, when are we going on our tour of wildcats’. He said 9pm, but as he was so distracted, he was not aware of the time and we were delayed for over 30 minutes, so we started and finished the tour much later than expected.

Disappointing experience because we too came from ‘all over the world’ and also paid for...

Jukani is an amazing experience and is definitely worth a visit if you have any interest in wild cats.

It's notable that Jukani is a privately owned conservation, which receives no help or financial assistance from the South African government (which isn't surprising in the least and totally expected). If you do go to Jukani, please support their conservation efforts by purchasing an item from their Gift Shop.

I would definitely recommend that you purchase the Combo ticket which allows you to visit Jukani and another conservatory (Birds of Eden or Monkeyland, which are located around 7 km east of Jukani itself).

Basil, our tour guide at Jukani, was excellent. He was friendly, knowledgeable and passionate about wild cats. He was professional, funny and was always ready to answer any questions that we had about the different wild cats. The tour itself lasted around 90 minutes and was quite informative.

For obvious reasons, the wild cats were not free roaming (the birds and monkeys at Birds of Eden and Monkeyland are free roaming) but they all had massive enclosures.

Jukani has a wide variety of wild cats, from all over the world. It is ideal to visit early in the morning or on a cold day as the cats would be more active.

The Plettenberg Puzzle Park is also located at Jukani, and it seems ideal for kids, especially...

As other reviews mentioned, it is easy to tell that the animals are well looked after and that the guides are knowledgeable and passionate. However, the animals are not free roaming, but confined to their own areas, like in a zoo (a nice and caring one) rather than a reserve. This is understandable to a degree, as all the animals are predators and fights could start between them (as a matter of fact, one of the lions and a Siberian tiger started charging when they were being fed), but it kind of spoils the fun and beauty of it all. Also, it is important to consider that, on hot days (like it was when I visited), most of the animals go in the shade, or even their dens, so a few animals we couldn't even see, and a few others we only managed to see in the distance, sleeping between bushes and grass. I give it a 5 for the purpose it serves, but a 3 for the actual fun as an activity, so average a 4. As other reviewers mentioned, the ticket works out cheaper if bought as combined with either Monkeyland or Birds of Eden, but even if purchased on its own, it is still very reasonable If visiting, it is advised to go as early or late as possible on hot days, to improve the chance of seeing the animals, or even better on...