Jaci's Sabi House — Hotel in Bushbuckridge

Jaci's Sabi House is a hidden gem. It only has a few dozen reviews. For some reason tripadvisor says "ranked 32 of 36 on tripadvisor". This stop was planned by our travel agent as part of our family splurge once-in-a-lifetime vacation- it was the last stop and intended to be the grand finale. If you are like me and want to research every decision on vacation, this place is tricky because information is scarce. Take a leap of faith and trust that this place is incredible. It's also an amazing value! Nothing in sabi sands is cheap, but we considered other places that were way more and so glad we chose this. We ABSOLUTELY loved our time here and I'm experiencing major withdrawal as I write this a few days later.||The selling point of this place is that you have the place to yourselves. We didn't appreciate how great that would be, but came in handy in three ways:||1. Flexibility - want to head out on morning drive at 7 instead of 6 because the kids are tired? Fine. Want to shower and rest a bit before dinner? Fine. They'll ask you what time you want to eat. Contrast that with a lodge where you are told "the car of 8 people leaves at 6 am" - and you are standing around waiting for that last couple (or, more likely for us, we are THAT couple holding everyone up!)||2. Food - we are vegetarian, and they accommodated us splendidly. Again, imagine another place where you are 2 or 4 people out of 16 - I'm sure they will give you food, but we were the entire focus here, and the food they put out for us multiple times daily was amazing. Dimpho the chef is the absolute best and I was astounded at what she could produce from that little kitchen - soups, breads, pasta, curries, pizzas, etc etc - I would have been happy with that food in a high-end city restaurant.||3. Game drives- you are there to see the animals, and being in your own private car was magical. Our guides Squirrel and Sydney were great at asking us what we wanted to see- giraffe? Ok, let's go find that! We were there 4 nights - so 8 drives - and saw so much. Every drive had something different and we were never bored- lions, leopards, hyena, warthog, impala (so beautiful!), elephants, kudu, mongoose, jackal, buffalo, tons of birds etc etc. I believe our guides were the best out there! I know I have nothing to compare it too, and maybe we just got lucky, but we were in the "right place, right time" so many times I started believing we were a step ahead. If you go to Jaci Sabi instagram, they have a video of a cheetah kiling an impala. That was on our drive (I took that video). Extraordinarily rare and we were the only car to see it. Plenty of other cars showed up to witness the aftermath. It was a once-a-career type sighting.||In summary, if you are in the shoes I was in 9 months ago, take the plunge and book with confidence. The lodge, the location, the people - all exceeded our high...

Jaci's Sabi House offered a unique adventure for our small extended family group. Donald immediately greeted us with cool cloths following our drive in to the lodge as well as instructions for our stay. His professionalism kept things flowing smoothly for the duration of our stay. The one day my aunt stayed in during a game drive, she observed him cleaning floors and other services that impressed her so much.

We were greeted shortly thereafter with Chef Dimpho's high tea which set the stage for high culinary expectations for the rest of our stay, and she exceeded them every time. I was impressed by her level of training and love of food that shown through in every meal. My vegetarian options equalled or even exceeded the traditional dishes my other family members received. She was outstanding!

Nono and Nandi are the unseen heros of any stay at Jaci's Sabi House, as they cleaned the rooms and the dishes and so many other services that are not readily noticed because they are done so well and unobtrusively. These ladies are indeed impressive!

When it came to the game drives, driver Skhulile and tracker Christopher united to create a truly unique experience. Conditions worked out so that we saw the Big 5 within the first two hours of our first drive, something that is indeed rare. But they also showed us many other intriguing things in the bush, such as numerous birds, small chameleons in the dark (sharp eyes, Christopher!), and what the tracks on the ground could reveal. We had a blast, and they were awesome with Aunt Lois who had them laughing nonstop. Christopher was so sick, and yet his professionalism shown through to the point we didn't even realize he was sick for several days. That was impressive. This duo comes highly recommended by us. Our experience with them was the stuff life long memories are made of, and we cannot thank the entire staff enough. You guys rock! The experience highlighted the difference between having a guide who learned how to guide from a class or a book and men and women who have grown up in the bush and studied and truly know their craft.

The fact that there are no self drives allowed in Sabi Sand added to the incredible experience as we weren't packed into viewing spots with many other vehicles and people who weren't really sure what protocol was or even in the way of viewing the incredible animals. The guys communicated well with the other drivers from the Sabi resorts and they worked hard to give us an excellent experience. They succeeded!

The experience was so different than that we had at a larger resort in Greater Kruger last year, and I appreciate both Jaci's and the one we stayed at last time. Totally different experiences, and both were well worth it esp....

Jaci's Sabi House offered a unique adventure for our small extended family group. Donald immediately greeted us with cool cloths following our drive in to the lodge as well as instructions for our stay. His professionalism kept things flowing smoothly for the duration of our stay. The one day my aunt stayed in during a game drive, she observed him cleaning floors and other services that impressed her so much.||We were greeted shortly thereafter with Chef Dimpho's high tea which set the stage for high culinary expectations for the rest of our stay, and she exceeded them every time. I was impressed by her level of training and love of food that shown through in every meal. My vegetarian options equalled or even exceeded the traditional dishes my other family members received. She was outstanding!||Nono and Nandi are the unseen heros of any stay at Jaci's Sabi House, as they cleaned the rooms and the dishes and so many other services that are not readily noticed because they are done so well and unobtrusively. These ladies are indeed impressive!||When it came to the game drives, driver Skhulile and tracker Christopher united to create a truly unique experience. Conditions worked out so that we saw the Big 5 within the first two hours of our first drive, something that is indeed rare. But they also showed us many other intriguing things in the bush, such as numerous birds, small chameleons in the dark (sharp eyes, Christopher!), and what the tracks on the ground could reveal. We had a blast, and they were awesome with Aunt Lois who had them laughing nonstop. Christopher was so sick, and yet his professionalism shown through to the point we didn't even realize he was sick for several days. That was impressive. This duo comes highly recommended by us. Our experience with them was the stuff life long memories are made of, and we cannot thank the entire staff enough. You guys rock! The experience highlighted the difference between having a guide who learned how to guide from a class or a book and men and women who have grown up in the bush and studied and truly know their craft. ||The fact that there are no self drives allowed in Sabi Sand added to the incredible experience as we weren't packed into viewing spots with many other vehicles and people who weren't really sure what protocol was or even in the way of viewing the incredible animals. The guys communicated well with the other drivers from the Sabi resorts and they worked hard to give us an excellent experience. They succeeded!||The experience was so different than that we had at a larger resort in Greater Kruger last year, and I appreciate both Jaci's and the one we stayed at last time. Totally different experiences, and both were...