IBhubesi Private Game Lodge — Hotel in Lephalale Local Municipality

We traveled to iBhubesi as a last minute side trip on a family visit to Johannesburg. The lodge is a 40 minute game drive from the entrance of the Welgevonden Nature Reserve. It is self catering so we meal planned and brought all our food/drinks with us, the truck has a large trailer that fit all our luggage and food/drinks without any difficulty. The drive in and out is beautiful, once we got to the lodge itself we were in complete privacy other than the onsite house staff and driver. There is no wifi, it is truly amazing to be off the grid. We were a family of ten, 2 grandparents, 4 parents and 4 kids ages 8-13. There are 5 bedroom lodges and a main house with the amazing pool. Kids lived in the pool while we were there. The bedrooms are gorgeous and the beds are very comfortable. The sleeping lodges are nicely secluded from each other for privacy. The outdoor showers are amazing, we wish we could replicate it at home! The lodge sits on the edge of a beautiful open grass plain. We saw Warthogs, Zebra, Impala, Rhino and Lion from our back deck on a daily basis. We actually saw the lions go for a Zebra kill, baby Zebra somehow out ran the lady lions that day! The twice daily game drives with Ellard were wonderful. He is knowledgable and easy to chat with. The house staff - Hilda(Chef), Connely(Grounds keeper) and Jenene(house keeper) were lovely and did a great job. We provided meal plans for dinner and they were executed to perfection. They also managed a great breakfast when we returned from our morning drives. We chose to manage easy lunches ourselves. The staff was professional and managed Covid precautions seamlessly. We all felt safe and well taken care of. We had a fabulous visit and would most definitely...

We loved absolutely everything about Ibubhesi and it’s fabulous staff. As a family of 5, with adult children, this was the absolute best way to spend 6 days together. Set deep in the game reserve, we watched zebra, rhino and warthogs from our panoramic balcony and had a regular visiting elephant at our swimming pool. The bedrooms are separate chalets in the grounds. We’ve stayed in everything from tented camps to stunning, modern lodges in other reserves in SA. Ibubhesi is neither of these. It has a kind of rustic charm that is entirely appropriate to its setting. |As a reserve, Welgevonden is one of the most gorgeous places we’ve been, with so much variety thanks to its mountainous terrain. Quite apart from plentiful sightings of lion, cheetah and elephant, we loved the bird life which is exceptional in January, although of course the weather is mixed in the summer months and you’ll need to be prepared for some rain. |At the lodge, Hilda, Jeanine and Conley were welcoming, immensely friendly, gracious and seem to keep the lodge spotless. Nothing was too much trouble for them. And our guide Hendrik was absolutely first class - charming, highly experienced and immensely knowledgable.|We couldn’t...

I have often been on safari and in multiple Game Lodges in South Africa, but a place like iBubesi i have not experienced in my life yet.||iBhubesi is a place in heaven. After a 40-Minute drive from the main entrance of the Welgevonden Game Reserve we arrived at this stunning lovely game lodge. The huts next to the Main House are lovely decorated, spacious and the nicest is the outside shower! The Staff is incredible, it is a feeling of coming home. Hilda, Janine, and Conley were fantastic, ensuring the rooms were cleaned daily and serving the menu we requested to perfection. Experiences like having a glass of white Crispy wine at the fire and watching Rhino is just spectacular. Or lying in the Pool and viewing all the Game (Rhino, Zebras, Elephants,...) is not to put in words. The game drives with Ellrand were every time very fascinating. We got so much information about the animals and could see a lot of them. We had a lovely visit with fabulous people. ||To make it short, spending time at iBhubesi is like being in heaven. We will surely go back again and spend some...