Bakubung Bush Lodge — Hotel in Moses Kotane Local Municipality

Where to start?! We stayed for 10 nights and all staff were amazed that we chose to do this but honestly it was the best decision. First of all the big 5 are all there I’ve seen them all thanks to the amazing safari guides!

The reception team are so welcoming, supportive and very helpful with providing assistance or aiding you to book excursions such as shuttle to sun city and hot air balloon safari. On certain days they have complimentary snacks and entertainment such as: doughnut wall, live music from locals and fresh popcorn with different topping (minus sugar) in reception you’ll meet Philani an amazing artist who draws beautifully. He draws quickly however if you like a detailed picture he’ll ask for your checkout day to not miss you.

Catering was good, my favourite hosts were Abraham and Joostie, the restaurant supervisor is always on the floor to ensure service is going well and he acts on any feedback provided ( sorry I don’t have your name) the rest of the team are so lovely approachable and always willing to help.

We stayed in the lodge which is tiled and carpeted around the bed area which was very clean. Your room is tended to daily, housekeeping will make clean your room in the morning and come back to do turn down in the evening leaving you little treats.

The lodge links onto the safari park so animals can come close, monkeys have no restrictions even stealing your food so beware but this is limited. Elephants and others come to visit the grounds but you are very safe as there are barricades.

Our room came with daily game drives and you can pick to either do am or pm drives however we were allowed to do both everyday. The lodge also offers a walking safari this gets booked up quickly as it has a limit of 8 people and often timeshares book it in advance so it is worth calling ahead of your booking if this is something you’d be interested in. On the walking safari you’ll be close to the animals so if you’re a bit panicked it’s better to attend the game drives. On the walking safari it’s roughly 3 hours of walking however they warn you for 5 and this is dependant on animal locations and the path you will take. Trust your guide and you’ll be fine I had Awo who I called Owl and Dylan both lovely and really friendly, both really know their information and care for the animals and the guests but are good laughs. For this walk you’re prepared with a breakfast pack which has sandwiches (you can tell your preference) fruits, water and some sugar treats. You will leave early but not as early as the game drives.

Game drives are absolutely worth every moment, I had the pleasure of meeting many amazing safari drivers such as Humbu, Luke, James, Clemence, Walter, Gift and there was a lady who I cannot remember her name in so sorry but so lovely. Morning game drives prior to leaving you can make tea or coffee to take along with you along with some rusk biscuits. You will leave early so wrap up but not too much as you can get blankets onboard and once the sunrises it will be hot! You drive for about 3 hours which isn’t enough but it’s spectacular, no drive is the same even if you have the same driver! Embrace every moment of it including the punctures and breakdowns. About three quarters of the way you’ll break and have toilet breaks and refreshments which can include muffins, rusks tea and coffee. You’ll return in time for breakfast at the lodge.

Pm drives again are 3 hours long and you can get blankets as the sun goes down, you also will have a toilet and refreshment break before dark these tend to have nuts or local snack such as seasoned nuts, some crisp, beer, fizzy juice and water. You’ll return in time for dinner at the lodge. On Wednesday and Saturdays book the dinner under the stars ( it has a specific name) but you’ll go straight from the safari drive to this and if you don’t have a ticket you’ll have to wait on the truck to be taken when all trucks have arrived incase others need to be taken back. At this dinner you’ll see traditional dancing, live music all...

This lodge is quite large which lends itself to some pluses and minuses. Overall the general experience was positive. I have been to many game parks and on many drives and I debated whether to write this as a three or four star, but decided based on the personalities and efforts of the staff, I would give it four stars.

The pros: It is very very close to the national park which has an excellent collection of animals. It's particularly plentiful with cats which can be tricky at other parks in South Africa. The staff you interact with is very positive and friendly. The lobby area is outdoor and looks out into the park and a large watering hole with a nice view of an assortment of animals. The game drive guides are very friendly and personable and have a lot to offer. The bed is very comfortable and housekeeping for the room was excellent. They have a fitness center on site with an ample supply of equipment. They have a very nice bar that's open most all day. There is a large variety of food presented as a buffet. The outdoor bush dinner on Wednesdays was excellent.

The cons: Room; My room was quite a distance from the lobby and an uncomfortable journey with luggage. The air conditioner does not provide much in the way of cold air. I had it running for my entire visit at full blast and full cold setting and I was very hot in my room at all times. There were quite a few mosquitoes in my room which I finally managed on the second day by shutting all the lights off in my room and opening the bathroom door with the light on for a bit until I could trap them in there and then used the insect spray to kill them. The sink ran extremely slow and was hard to drain. I had a tiny little balcony on my room that overlooked the pool but there was not enough room for a chair so it was basically unusable. Food; all the meals were provided via buffet only. There were no plated meals nor an option for any. The servers were very friendly but you were never clear as to who your server was and I often had to order things multiple times in order for them to arrive because it didn't seem clear as to who was assigned to my table for things like coffee and tea.

Game drives; while the game drive guides were excellent, the game drives themselves were probably the biggest negative to the lodge in my opinion. This is a very child friendly lodge which is great, however having a lot of children on your game drive can be problematic. Many of them were non-English speaking which led me to assume that the reason they were not interested in listening to the guide was because they couldn't understand English. A couple of my drives were greatly disturbed by having children kicking my seat through the whole drive and or shrieking, talking through the guide information sessions and basically disrupting the drive. My suggestion would be to put families together on one drive vehicle. Sadly not all parents appropriately monitor their children and this becomes a distraction for those of us who are trying to listen to the game drive or to enjoy nature. The other big negative to the game drives is that they are large 18 person vehicles that you are randomly assigned to each game drive. This means that the driver has no idea whether this is your first drive or your fourth drive, what you have seen, what you haven't seen etc. They have no history with you. So because of that all of your drives are repeats. I went on four game drives and they were all basically repeat of the same information, same routing, same introduction of all animals. My suggestion would be to separate vehicles to perhaps focus on different animal groups or areas of the park so that people could get a variety of drives rather than just four of the exact same drives and the exact same information. Also It would be nice if water was provided on the drives at the beginning. It gets very hot and many people were not aware that they needed to bring their own water. The mid rest break comes a couple of hours into the drive. Water would be a...

Just dont! Especially if you expect to eat better than a farm animal. And if you try to eat healthily, are plant-based or vegan please then definitely don't book here.

We booked for 4 nights at Bakubang only because we stayed at the Kwa Maritane previously and expected Bakubang which is similarly priced and rated ito be just as awesome as Kwa Maritane. 2 nights in and we just wanted it to be over. The property is lovely but the service is atrocious ... the Legacy Group's touch I guess. They manage to drag every gem they buy into the gutter like they did with Mount Grace. A Formula 1 Motel is 5 star by comparison for service.

The food is barely survivable. It's as if the only thing the cook can operate is a deep fryer. If you don't mind a coronary, love vegetables broiled in oil, deep fried everything, dry roasts, burgers and chips, this is your kinda place. Don't read any further. This place is perfect for you. But if you expect something more than yesterday's deli counter remains at the local Checkers, then forget it.

The 1st night was a nightmare. The game ranger kept driving past everything even with people shouting out the animals they could see, Mr Set-Routine keeps driving. (The next night we did get a better ranger, thankfully.) But there's a big quality control problem here with service. And its a bit of a lucky packet.

When we got back from the 1st night's game drive, we literally starved because the food was so inedible. We asked in advance if they could accommodate plant-based / vegan diets. They confirmed via email that they are fully able to do so. When we arrived (before lunch time) they didn't seem to know anything about this and we were asked to speak to the cook - a surly woman with a rude attitude who seemed annoyed that we were inconveniencing her. She began by making excuses telling us about all the stuff she doesn't have. Considering it was 12h00, she had the whole day to go get what she needed. But no. Too much to ask. Rule 1 in hospitality - Don't make your lack of preparedness and training the guest's problem. Fix it without us having to know. That evening, she served a "beans curry" that was completely inedible - raw chilli powder by the bucket load enough to blow the top of your head off, raw tumeric powder and so much clove powder my tongue was 1st on fire and then went numb with the 1st bite. Whether this was her being reactionary for having do something outside her routine or if she is just a bad cook is up for conjecture. My poor husband was so hungry he tried to soldier on, ate 2 spoonfuls and left the rest. I stopped after the 1st taste. They then had the nerve to give us a bill of R300 each - Thats R600 for a pile of vomit we couldn't eat. I sent mine back and complained. The best they could do to "apologise" to guests who went to bed hungry was to not bill us for my portion, but my husband was still expected to pay R300 for his share of the hot steaming pile of dog sh*t because as they said "he had eaten some of it" 😒. If it wasn't for Covid, I probably would have insisted this cook with the attitude come out and eat the hot garbage she cooked so I could put it on youtube.

Forget about using your room. On the Monday we couldn't use our room for most of the day because they don't bother to clean your room until way after 1.15pm. Let's call it what it is. This is the sh*t show you get with poor management. Spend your hard earned cash elsewhere where your money is valued and you are treated decently & with respect. This is...