Kwandwe, Great Fish River Main Lodge — Hotel in Makana Local Municipality

Very reasonable accommodation and excellent service. But this isn’t that rare among safari lodges. What is really rare is the feeling of really being on safari, aka somewhere in wild nature looking for animals, compared to controlled zoos of different sizes like it is in majority of safari parks/reserves. Of course, it helps that in whole reserve are only 2 small size lodges and they are under the same ownership/management. And, yes, you are aware there is a fence and even though it is a huge, but still restricted environment. But when on drives the guides never bring you close to the fence and you nearly never meet other cars. It was only twice that we shared “a sighting” with another car: when a cheetah was taking down an impala and for a black rhino. Of course, they are following the wildlife and there are reports, but it is done in a subtle way and not like in many other parks where safari car’s radio is shouting all the time and as soon as someone discovered a sleeping tired lion under the bush, 20 cars are going to the spot full speed, each of the guides booking their space in a queue for a “sighting”. And it was way more than once that our tracker and guide were finding cats on their own without following a report. |On a sideline: air-conditioners in the rooms have earned their retirement long time ago, they are very loud, and either blow cold air without any restriction or just lucid warm air not assisting much. We had the most far away from reception- restaurant room and for 2 last days the lights were going out and back on all the time. Finally, they have a small, but very well made selection of “exclusive” wines – ones that are not included into a price of one’s stay. But the wine glasses available are a shame. Would be great, if it all was looked upon. Before...

This is a top-class game reserve in the Eastern Cape area. I did extensive research before I booked, and although I have no basis for comparison, I am totally convinced that Kwande is the best of the lot in the Eastern Cape after a recent 4-night stay at its Great Fish River Lodge. Kwande sprawls over 22 hectares, and plans are afoot to add another 8 hectares, making this the largest private game reserve in the Eastern Cape.| |What makes Kwandwe stand out from the pack is the sense of isolation: the game reserve has the smallest number of rooms viz-a-vis its vast land area. This means that you never get too many game vehicles crowding at any one animal viewing spot. On most days, we felt like we were the only game vehicle traversing the stunning plains of Kwandwe ( I should add that we visited Kwandwe during the low season). We saw all the big 5 on the first afternoon’s drive, and by sheer luck a leopard scampering up a tree just as we were going to call it a day. At the time, we didn’t realise how lucky we were to sight a leopard (a feat that was never repeated over the course of the next few days).| |We were spoilt rotten at Kwande as everything here operates at a superlative level. The staff, the cuisine, the game viewing, the luxury accommodations were all perfect to a fault. A special shout-out to Jannie and Shannon who took good care of us, as did Babsie, Busi, Michael and Fikele. And of course our wonderful ranger Doc and his tracker Thabang, without whom we would have never seen all the animals that we did. Go here for the experience...

It must take a lot of hard work behind the scenes to create such a perfect wildlife and hospitality experience. We stayed for 3 nights, which was ample. An extra night would have been enjoyable and two nights would suffice if budget can’t stretch. You can put yourself in their hands to organise everything but nonetheless you can tweak and adjust the timings and desired wildlife viewings to suit your every whim. We had a fabulous ranger and tracker to ourselves as a family of four. Nothing was too much trouble and the viewings were amazing. Most of the wildlife we viewed without any other visitors in sight. Occasionally, for something special, we would see another jeep of visitors but there was no crowding. And the estate is enormous - you probably wouldn’t want to go any further afield for a typical 3 or 4 hour game drive. We saw all the desired wildlife up close, with great explanations and also enjoyed a walk with rangers to track and find rhino.||The rooms were sublime and the food and service at the fish river lodge were a combination of 5 star and home cooking, beautifully served but with the ability to go beyond the menu. For example, if the mango was great at breakfast and you want more for desert after dinner - no problem.||Special mention for Alex, our ranger, and Sibo, our tracker. But all staff were clearly at the top of their game, due to excellent management. Truly a privilege to...