Bakubung Bush Lodge wins the Best game lodge to take tourists to see the Big Five award in the 2005 Best of Johannesburg Readers’ Choice Awards. This exciting announcement was made at this year’s annual Best of Johannesburg Readers’ Choice Awards winners’ cocktail party on Tuesday, 18^th October at Monte Casino.

The incentive, launched by Leisure Options in 1986, allowing readers to take part in a ballot of ‘what’s hot’ and ‘what’s not’ in the City of Gold, now in its tenth year, received a record number of entries, more than 75,000 votes were received.

Bakubung Bush Lodge is a four star property within the Legacy Hotels & Resorts International collection of premier four and five star hotels, resorts and bush lodges.

Less than two hours drive from Johannesburg, Bakubung Bush Lodge is a bushveld sanctuary bordering on the malaria-free Pilanesberg National Park. The park covers some 55 000ha and is the fourth largest in southern Africa. The park is located on the eroded vestiges of a volcanic crater – one of only three such craters in the world. It is here on the undulating hills and open savannahs; sightings of the 'Big Five', an abundance of wildlife and over 360 bird species can be enjoyed. Close-up and personal encounters can be on bush walks and game drives accompanied by skilled field guides.

The lodge uses a tracking system that allows various animals to be monitored. The data logged presents various options for locating the whereabouts of a specific species. All sources of information are used in the tracking of the animals, from ranger sightings and collared animals to park visitors’ sightings, creating an interactive community relationship between rangers and guests. The programme further enhances the chances of spotting the game guests want to see, simply by highlighting a species past weeks’ movements and almost pinpointing an area in which to search, removing a rather large area of the 'hit or miss'  phenomenon constantly plaguing tourists.