Bucklands Private Game Reserve — Hotel in Makana Local Municipality

Traveled to Bucklands with my bae for a weekend getaway outside of Grahamstown. Didn’t really know what to expect, but their winter deal of R999 per person per night, which sounded like a good bargain. Arrived on a Friday and stayed for two nights. We were welcomed by Brad and Jennae, and that was the beginning of an experience of a lifetime. ||||Brad, the head game guide of Bucklands was very knowledgable and most importantly passionate about the bush. As a Canadian doing his first game drive, Brad’s enthusiasm made me fall in love with the bush, he made plants and birds interesting for a city boy like me. Round of applause to Brad, as he truly made this whole trip such a great experience. He also has this app that he paid 700 rands for to call birds, which I found extremely cool.

My girlfriend and I are both vegans, and they did a fantastic job in accommodating us. Most places don’t even try, but the food was fantastic. However, next time you serve a vegan, try to avoid fruit cocktails as most places that try to accommodate us generally go down this road too. However, everything was superb. They even baked us the most amazing vegan donuts, muffins, and provided non-dairy milk. 

The staff was very friendly and the whole experience was very intimate. Everything was personalized and I was very comfortable the whole time. The rooms itself at the lodge, we stayed in Room 4, was beautiful and very clean. They cleaned twice a day and provided these tasty vegan sweets. ||||The experience was authentic and Bucklands has a certain charm to itself. Definitely would come back again next time, and I recommend anyone who reads this review to come experience what Bucklands has to offer. They have a great staff on...

Traveled to Bucklands with my bae for a weekend getaway outside of Grahamstown. Didn’t really know what to expect, but their winter deal of R999 per person per night, which sounded like a good bargain. Arrived on a Friday and stayed for two nights. We were welcomed by Brad and Jennae, and that was the beginning of an experience of a lifetime.

Brad, the head game guide of Bucklands was very knowledgable and most importantly passionate about the bush. As a Canadian doing his first game drive, Brad’s enthusiasm made me fall in love with the bush, he made plants and birds interesting for a city boy like me. Round of applause to Brad, as he truly made this whole trip such a great experience. He also has this app that he paid 700 rands for to call birds, which I found extremely cool.

My girlfriend and I are both vegans, and they did a fantastic job in accommodating us. Most places don’t even try, but the food was fantastic. However, next time you serve a vegan, try to avoid fruit cocktails as most places that try to accommodate us generally go down this road too. However, everything was superb. They even baked us the most amazing vegan donuts, muffins, and provided non-dairy milk. 

The staff was very friendly and the whole experience was very intimate. Everything was personalized and I was very comfortable the whole time. The rooms itself at the lodge, we stayed in Room 4, was beautiful and very clean. They cleaned twice a day and provided these tasty vegan sweets.

The experience was authentic and Bucklands has a certain charm to itself. Definitely would come back again next time, and I recommend anyone who reads this review to come experience what Bucklands has to offer. They have a great staff on...

My husband and I spent two nights at the Lodge (11th, 12th Dec). Hosts, Kevin, and Simone, couldn't have been more welcoming, We had a lovely, beautifully clean and tastefully decorated room upstairs, overlooking the pool. Kevin took us on two game drives a day. We opted for one night drive instead of the afternoon/evening one. Kevin's knowledge of the bush, both flora and fauna, is astounding. There were snacks on these drives and then we would come back to enjoy the scrumptious meals prepared by Simone. In between, we relaxed and read our books. The bird life was disappointing but seeing all the other animals, including the newest 11 day old female rhino calf (aptly named Gift), more than made up for this. All in all, we were so impressed and felt it to be great value for money. We'll...