Simbambili Game Lodge — Hotel in Bushbuckridge

I loved Simbambile♥️👌!We have stayed within all of the Thornybush Lodges and found Simbambile the best by far! |Check in was efficient with a refreshing welcoming drink. |Accommodation: Beautifully designed modern, spacious rooms that lead onto a private wooded deck complete with a comfy sala, dip pool and pristine lounges. I loved the fact that the pool was clean and the deck well-maintained. Complete privacy and a view of the bush was so relaxing. |The king bed was extremely comfortable with decent linen. Large duck down pillows and a clean throw completed the spoil! |Lots of storage, hangers, a safe and quiet aircon. I loved that the suite always smelt of florals. |The coffee machine posed a problem from day one and never got better, even with a few swops. The mini bar was generously stocked and restocked daily! |The bathroom boasted double vanities with a variety of summer and winter Mungo towels to choose from. |The shower was perfect in size with a large rain shower head and decent water pressure. We were a bit disappointed that there was no outdoor shower, but a decent sized bath with a full view of the outdoors made up for that. |Amenities supplied were Charlotte Rhys and generously provided. |Housekeeping: Brilliant! A big deal here with consistent evening turn downs, perfect replenishment of towels and linen was always crisp and fresh. Thank you for this! |Food and Beverage: |The menus offered at Simbambile were great with exception of the Boma Dinner which was sub-standard. Butternut soup and dried Braaied meats, 2 boring salads and the proverbial Malva Pudding. I don’t understand how one can serve soup and a boring baked dessert in summer- it was a complete let down. The plated breakfasts were exceptional as were most of the dinners, however the lodge comes across as challenged with inconsistency in the kitchen. Background music would enhance the ambiance within the dining setting. We found this exclusion rather strange. |Inclusive wines offered need an upgrade too. I feel for the price one pays, Protea is a no go. I took my Cartology on game drives. |Service at our table was relaxed and good but not attentive. |Coffee served at mealtimes is a win. Proper! |The High Tea is a complete let down. A jar of jelly babies, whole fruit and an arb cake. No savouries and the cake is a hit and miss. |Why not serve Italian Bruschetta, Cheese and Salmon Scones, Mini Beef Yorkies, Fillet on Mini Baps….? The kitchen needs to jack up here! |Game Drives: Doc and Service are a formidable team. Sincere interest, honed knowledge and teaming with enthusiastic adrenaline! WOW! I have never experienced such unique viewing! This was another level entirely. I rewarded them well and unfortunately, sad to say, doubt that I will ever experience such a wild adventure again- from a fresh leopard kill to a hyena stealing it, close approaching of a teen elephant, a pride of lions basking in a haze of sunshine, wild dogs on the chase, a herd of elephants crossing in front of us… too many emotional sightings and I am forever grateful 🙏.|The vehicles are kept clean and ready for any weather changes. Bush snacks arrived boring but after we requested more biltong and savouries, the Ardmor cloth came out loaded with varied good quality biltong and spectacular pastries and dips. |We played “bok droll” in the bush expanse and match the guest with an animal - it was so much fun! Our US Bush Buddies were a perfect match - another bonus! |The welcoming cocktails after game drives (alcoholic and nonalcoholic) were creative and included perfect Negronis! |Thank you Doc and Service! You made our trip unquestionably magnificent!!!|Would we go back?...

Simbambili is simply outstanding ! We were made to feel so special from the very moment that we arrived, and their wonderful team kept this up throughout our stay.||Our game drives were amazing. Trevor, our guide, and Willies, our tracker, were both exceptional. We have visited many game parks before, but we have never seen so much wildlife in one trip. We saw leopards every day, and every day was filled with new experiences. Elephants frequently visited the resort waterhole, and on two separate occasions we saw all of the Big 5 in a single day - not that it mattered because we saw so many other fascinating animals, including the rare wild dogs. A real treat for our girls was seeing the baby elephants, baby rhino, baby leopards, baby buffalo, and even the baby hyenas which were super cute.||Trevor was fantastic. He was energetic, super friendly, and was so keen to show us his home. His knowledge of all the fauna and flora was exceptional, and he took every opportunity to share this with us. We learned so much about animal behaviours from him, even though we thought that we were seasoned wildlife experts. He frequently went off-road to get close to the game, and took extra effort to position our vehicle so that we could get the best possible photographs. Over our 6 days we identified over 100 bird species, and Trevor would sit in his seat and accurately whistle a bird's call after which we would then listen out for a response. Captivating.||Trevor also took us on several bushwalks, where we encountered giraffes and even two mating leopards. One of our favourite memories will always be when Trevor got a radio call from a fellow ranger, and he would call out "come with me" with a big smile on his face. We would head off in a new direction with great anticipation, and we would arrive for the revelation of a new surprise in the bush ... ||The rooms are just as in the pictures. They were spotless, luxurious, and you really feel like you're in the bush. We frequently had Bushbuck and Nyala at our front door, and elephants walking in the riverbed in front of us. The rooms were full of lovely surprises every day ... ||The food was first class, and we had more than you could ever eat. They kept it interesting by switching the menus every day and using different venues from the main restaurant to around the fire in the Boma or in the bush (on one evening we were even visited by a troop of elephants). We had several coeliacs in our group, as well as some who had dairy, seafood, and nut allergies. Our butlers, Niyko and Glory were fantastic and they went to every effort to make sure that our food was safe on every occasion. Matthew, the chef, was outstanding. He frequently came out to chat with us and to check that everything was in order... which it was ! The Simbambili team managed to cater for all of our complicated allergens at every meal, providing delicious options for everyone. What a treat for the gluten free coeliacs !||Lastly, a special mention to Tamzin, the lodge manager, who was at the front door to welcome us home after every drive, and who was clearly someone who worked very closely with her team to provide her guests with such an excellent experience. ||We...

This was our first safari and we were truly spoilt every minute of our stay. On arriving we were met by Tania and Mike who introduced us to the team while our baggage was brought to our lodges. There are 9 individual lodges which are separated from each other and provide total privacy. We stayed in lodge number 5 with a large separate bedroom, bathroom with separate shower, bath and toilet. There is a large balcony with plunge pool, sun loungers, table & chairs and a king-size shaded outdoor bed. The bed is surrounded by a heavy-duty mosquito net which is brought down foe you each night before bed time.

Our Butler for the trip was Mr Tenby and he could not do enough. The selection of food each day and each meal were always different and if you wanted something changed nothing was of too much bother. First night our group were sat outside under stars in a semi-circle around and open fire and there was an impromptu birthday cake and sing along for one of our group. On our second night all the guests were outside in the Boma for a braai and some local food, our ranger and tracker sat with us for the evening. Third night we were sat in the main club house around one of the log fires, they try and make each meal experience different and memorable. There is even a champagne breakfast outside the compound in the bush. I will reiterate that all the catering and support staff were truly exceptional and nothing is too much.

Never having done a safari and from what we got to witness, think it will be hard to beat our experience. We arrived late afternoon on our first day and were soon into and an evening drive on which we got to see a female leopard and her young daughter, giraffes, hyenas, elephants. Before returning to the lodge, we had a sun-downer gin and tonic and watched the African sunset on the horizon whilst standing beside a large pond with several snorting hippopotami. All this in less than three hours, what could a further full two days bring? With Mike as our guide and Mr T as our tracker we definitely had the “A” Team and each drive was just more and more of the incredible wildlife that’s exists in this reserve, by the end of our first morning drive we had already ticked off the big 5. For me the highlight was to witness a female leopard who was quite happily snoozing go into hunting mode only to be thwarted by an interfering hyena and then to watch her weighing up her options between buffalo, warthog and finally settling on a scrub hare. No sooner had she caught the hare and the hyena reappeared, within what seemed fractions of a second the leopard was safely up the nearest tree and settling down to enjoy her meal.

The other members of our group who had been on safaris before and confirmed by Mike, a significant difference between this safari and say the Kruger Park is that the guide, tracker and vehicle are free to go off road into the bush and get truly close to the action.

Everybody’s experience will be different, but me every aspect of our stay at Simbambili Game Lodge was faultless and I can’t thank...