Great Fish River Nature Reserve — Attraction in Makana Local Municipality

Great Fish River Nature Reserve is a hidden gem. Away from everything including technology. The roads are in a very bad condition and unless you have a 4 x 4 or high clearance SUV you will not be able to travel through Great Fish River Nature Reserve. We stayed a Mvubu Chalets 2/3 * (self catering), which were mostly clean and with basic amenities (crockery, cutlery, gas fridge and gas cooker and braai and a container of drinking water). There is no electricity or cell phone reception etc (which is fantastic ... I just wish I had known ahead of time to charge cameras etc). There could be lovely walks from Mvubu Chalets, however all the paths were overgrown and not accessible. The accommodation needs a good clean, showers/bathroom need to be scrubbed down, the chalets need to be sanded and varnished and painted. She just needs a little TLC. (Pity this did not happen during lockdown, when nobody was around and there was plenty of time). The Mvubu lodge (catered) next door was not operational due to Covid. It too requires some TLC and appeared to be occupied by staff. The staff were friendly at the accommodation, but the 'camp' lacked a manager. There was nobody to ask about road conditions, where one might find / see game, general information about the park etc. One may have been able to do this at registration, but nothing was forthcoming. In fact we were two couples, 2 individual vehicles, one couple asked if they could have a map, the other did not and was not offered one. There are apparently guided game drives - none were on offered. I am not sure where or how you would book these. We entered and departed from the Northern Gate Entrance (Alice) as we did not know what the road conditions were like (and there was no one to ask, unless you went back to the reception at the Northern Gate Entrance/exit). We would liked to have exited either via the Southern Gate Entrance or the Kamadolo Gate, but the later would have required us to cross the Fish River, and again, no-one to ask if possible etc. From the Northern Gate to Mvubu is +- 20km and took about an hour (in a 2 x 4 SUV) due to road conditions. There appear to be a number of accommodation camps, but again not much information available. From our chalet we had views of the Fish River, we saw Kudu, Rhino, Buffalo, birds, fish (jumping), flowers and plants. It is a little Gem, peaceful and beautiful .... just in need of some direction,...

A smaller nature reserve than “nearby” Addo, but therefore with a lot more vibe. As soon as we drove in, mankind’s world seemed to stop. Roads became less paved and we didn’t see any other cars or people for the next bunch of miles and couple of hours. Dinner and drinks in the back of our pick up with our guide (from our hostel in Grahamstown) just added to the feeling of really being back into nature after weeks and weeks of studying.

Great Fish River doesn’t seem to have large herds of zebra and elephants (at least, not that we saw) but they do have rhino’s and those solitary animals that resemble natural tanks might be one of the most imposing animals I’ve ever seen. The lack of camps and commodities is what gives this nature reserve its great ambience, as the rawness and lack of modern society nearby is the thing that leaves you in silence and awe. A bit more pricey than other reserves, but still...

We had booked a 3 day stay at the Mvubu chalet, but due to the disappointing place and service we had to leave after 2 days. 👎😟😡 Had to wait for a full gas bottle to be delivered so that the gas-fridge/freezer could work. Why having 15 EMPTY gas bottles lying around??? Maintenance is lacking ( as usual in ALL Eastern Cape parks..) and rubbish doesn't get removed. Staff disappears at night without informing us, not very safe!! Affordable accommodation in a beautiful location, but VERY...