Mbuluzi Game Reserve — Attraction in Lubombo

We in North America and Europe are used to digital mapping and house numbering address schemes. (Much of the Spanish-speaking world still use house names, Edificio Raul, and Japan uses a hierarchy address scheme of prefecture, municipality, wards, district, and town or village.) In Swaziland, addresses are step-by instructions:

Depart Maputo on the EN2 past Matola and Boane. Approximately 5km after Boane turn left onto the EN5, passing the quarry on your right. Continue straight with this road to enter Swaziland at the Namaacha/Lomahasha border post. Continue on the road, cross the bridge over the Mbuluzi River and turn left on the tar road after the bridge. Mbuluzi Game reserve is 600m on the left.

Following the GPS map, we find the village of Ngomane, and then the entrance to Mbuluzi. We're received warmly, as long-separated family. Check-in was methodical, giving me time to explore the nicely-designed Randoval-style office and the exhibit of wildlife bones just outside.

Mbuluzi Game Reserve has eight different lodges and a campsite, separated by walking paths through the woods. We got the Timbuti tented lodge, a Botswanan military tent with a wooden thatched roof.

The interior has a cement floor and an attached, very comfortable bathroom with a full tub (that looks out onto the forest). It's secluded and quite magical. The tent cabin's awnings and wooden porches protect from the rain and provide a satisfying outdoor seating space. There's also an outdoor shower, surrounded on three sides by a wooden privacy screen.

There's a central common Randoval-inspired shared kitchen and living room; it's huge! The common kitchen is large, with ample counter-spcae and a standard (small) European-sized gas stove. Pots and pans and crockery and cutlery galore; one wants for nothing in that department.

My favorite piece of kitchen equipment was the bush baby cast iron pot, with three stubby legs to allow one to place it directly in a campfire. (I really wanted to take one back, but even the smallest version took up way too much luggage space. Someday.)

Because a bit of pre-trip research had uncovered a dearth of restaurants in the area we'd gone hog-wild in our shopping and now had plenty of options for meals. We cooked everything with a South African twist, either with the ingredients, spices, or both. A typical breakfast of ours was scrambled eggs and crisped biltong and droëwors.

The common area also had a round swimming pool overlooking the river. Several times a day we'd be out there when the troops of monkeys would commute through the trees, hooting and hollering. Some would drop to the ground and explore our area, although none came particularly close to us. (Years of camping in US forests, with their resident bears, taught us to secure food; the monkeys weren't rewarded for their efforts.)

The common area also has a wood-fired open grill, built into a fire ring (which also serves as bench seating around the fire). The staff provided wood and a stern warning not to harvest our own, lest we inadvertently burn the wood of the tambuti tree -- umthombothi (Spirostachys africana) -- the smoke is noxious and the cooked meat, mildly poisonous.

We loved the campfire grill so much we used for cooking lunches and dinners! The marinated skewers we'd bought on the way came in very handy indeed. The campfire is also the perfect place to relax at day's end, the flickering light magically illuminating the trees, the crackling sound of the burning mixing with the burble of the river.

The animal preserves are just across the road, and several times we took multi-hour walks along the marked trails, sharing space with giraffe, zebra, kudu, nyala, impala, bushbuck, grey duiker, and warthogs. Two kinds of simians, the Chacma baboon and Vervet monkey, always made their way to our tent; we never saw them in the wild.

We highly recommend the Mbuluzi Game Reserve; the staff, the accommodations, and the grounds made for a wonderful,...

Neat, quiet private lodges and game reserve

Update: I had previously given Mbuluzi 5 stars. Stayed at Nkhankanga lodge.

This time, I booked a campsite for family fishing. Everything was lovely until the site manager came through, questioning us about a flyer I had made for my FAMILY. He actually said that we "looked like" we were going to "make plenty of noise." Next thing, he showed up at our site with his dogs who ran through our campsite, ate our fishing bait, and were in our camp kitchen before I could stop them. Several of us had to shout at him to get his dogs. There were only two but they seemed to be everywhere.

He took them and left. The dogs returned without him. After chasing them away twice, I called our contact to complain. The manager showed up after I complained - - he was livid that I had made a complaint. He was extremely disrespectful, took pictures of us in our pajamas at the campsite, and took pictures of our contact info in the checkin book. We are all dog lovers. But no dogs are allowed in the game park...And why did he keep cropping up at our site uninvited anyway?

Toilet paper was not refilled all weekend, but the campsite is nice. It's quite a hike to the river, not "overlooking" it as stated on the website.

Update: we had a lovely stay at Singwe Lodge. EXCEPT, we were not told there was no electricity until we got there. So we arrived wth meat and very little ice. They said they were coming for three hours with ice. Some of our meat expired in the extreme heat. When begging for ice or a generator, that same crazy manager suggested told us we should just leave—in the dark, after we had already paid, and driven hours for a holiday. The manager is why I do not recommend this place. If he is ever involved in your stay, he will ruin your day. We had a lovely weekend despite, but something must be done about this despotic manager. The other...

This is an absolutely amazing place and we are only sorry that we only had 2 nights here - we would have loved to stay longer. We stayed in Vovovo - wonderfully spacious accommodation with separate buildings for each couple/person, and in the prettiest of surroundings. The staff at Mbuluzi are incredible - kind (staying late to welcome us when our arrival was delayed), responsive and friendly, as well as really knowledgeable. We loved the game drives - both self-drive and with a guide - and when we reached the viewpoint we were moved to tears by the beauty of the view. We cannot speak highly enough about Mbuluzi and would recommend it to anybody - thank you for a...