andBeyond Ngala Tented Camp — Hotel in Bushbuckridge

We spent 3 nights here for our honeymoon and all I can say is we had high expectations and they completely exceeded them on all fronts. To start, the personalization to your stay is amazing. We were always greeted by name, they knew all of our preferences and treated us like friends. The lodge is absolutely beautiful and tastefully done. It is luxurious while still incorporating all nature around you. I love that it is only 9 tents, because it feels like a quiet, intimate retreat. Starting off with our room, it is absolutely stunning and comfortable. The outdoor shower was a real nice touch that was fun to use. The bed is extra large and really comfortable. The main lobby/lodge area was a nice place to hang out and read when we wanted to be out of our room. Getting to the food, it was amazing. Each day the meals were different, but they were always delicious. They provide so much food, it was hard to ever clear out plates. The service by every person working there was always above and beyond what was expected. They even surprised us one night by setting up a surprise dinner in our room with candles, rose petals and the bath drawn up. Big shout out to Fabiano for all his amazing work to make our stay fantastic.

Next up, let's talk about the game drives. Our guides were Lennox & Gedis and these gentlemen made our trip something we will never forget. They were friendly, hilarious, informative, and extremely insightful throughout all our game drives. We saw all of the Big 5 with them and I still can't believe some of the things we saw due to their amazing expertise. When we finally left, it felt like we were saying goodbye to family. If you get a chance to do game drives with these two, you will not be disappointed.

If it wasn't obvious, our stay here was amazing and I cannot recommend this place enough. Based on our experience with &Beyond, we will always be staying with them for any future stays in Africa...

There is a lot of heart at Ngala Tented Camp! We could not have had a better experience. The people at this camp are incredible. Vusi was our ranger/guide. He was funny, outgoing, and very knowledgeable. He would put is in an ideal position to take photos and listen carefully to everyone to maximize and customize the experience. Adam was our tracker. A kind, gentle and quiet soul, and unbelievable at his job. He could spot anything - a lizard in the hole of a tree even. He spent a few hours tracking a leopard and found her. MK was our butler with a most contagious laugh and I wanted to take him home with me. He would bend over backwards to make sure you were happy with food, drink, etc. - and there is more than plenty of it. Food was fresh and delicious. The tents are exactly as photographed. They are posh on the inside, rustic on the outside. Dennis, the manager, and Petunia also ensure that everyone is happy. For the game drives, we saw everything - The Ngala exclusive white lions, more lions, leopard, elephants, giraffes, zebras, impala, nyala, rhinos, warthogs, hyenas, etc. A pride of female lions with little ones feasting on a cape buffalo was quite a sight. One special night as we were heading back to camp on a full moon night, we happened upon some rhinos in the dry Timbvati river munching on the shrubs. We drove right next to them - about 7 feet away just listening to them. We were not allowed to take pictures, but I took a video without a flash. The moonlight let me capture the moment. The vervet monkeys, baboons, nyala, etc. would hang around camp. I can't recommend Ngala Tented Camp enough. We then went on to Londolozi Founders Camp, which I reviewed separately. Outstanding, as well, but different vibe. Thank you so much to the people at Ngala who gave us this...

This is easily a five star place if it weren't for a few things that downgraded the experience. For one, the waiters could not always understand English well enough to even bring cream as apposed to milk as requested. The waiter is assigned to you for your complete stay, so if he isn't around serving you don't expect others to as they'll bypass your table time and time again. As for the guide, he was passionate and friendly but he could not stop talking, so to get more than 5 seconds of video footage without his voice in the clip was an impossible task. And if it wasn't him it would be another guide on another vehicle talking at the top of the voice to their guests for the world to hear. Peace and quite at a sighting was not to be had. Also, he spent so much time explaining arbitrary unapplicable nonsense, for which he would stop the vehicle every time wasting valuable time that could be used to find animals. He also loved telling stories of what might or might not have happened the night before regarding a specific animal that he was hoping to find. Tell us if ever we do actually find that animal as apposed to long winded stories of what if our what could be. As for the location within the reserve - amazing! Loads of animals on your doorstep - literally. The chef Theo was incredible. Very accommodating to special dietary needs and extremely tasty food. He gets full marks! The lodge itself is great but the air-conditioning was inadequate to cope with the summer heat so I would recommend autumn, winter and spring, however summer is ofcourse a special time of beauty based on the rains and many summer visiting...