Makakatana Bay Lodge — Hotel in Mtubatuba Local Municipality

We are very grateful to Bettina for recommending the Makakatana Bay Lodge. As soon as we drove through the gate to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, we were surprised by the wildlife. We immediately saw zebras and wildebeest by the roadside, and the drive to Makakatana Bay Lodge is breathtakingly beautiful. Upon arrival at the lodge, we were warmly welcomed and taken care of by the on-site team. The lodge is beautifully situated and authentically furnished; on the way to our room, we already saw monkeys. Our room was simply indescribably beautiful, with a view over the lake. The rooms are very spacious with plenty of storage space, which we found very pleasant. We had an outdoor bathtub on the balcony, which was simply incredible. On the first evening, we went on a game drive and saw giraffes and warthogs. During a sundowner, we had a very nice conversation with our ranger, Giondre, who has an excellent knowledge of nature and animals. Dinner was served by the campfire in a truly special atmosphere; the food was excellent, and we ended the evening with a glass of wine by the fire. The next day, we took a boat trip to see the hippos, which was a truly beautiful day trip. We saw hundreds of hippos and were alone on the lake, which gave us a sense of privacy. Afterwards, we went on a safari and had a lunch stop in the middle of nature, which was simply indescribable. We really felt at home in the lodge, and all the staff were very warm and accommodating. We had great conversations and heard many stories about the wildlife and their life stories. It was all very familiar, and we simply had a great time. We spent an afternoon at the pool, which is also beautifully situated overlooking the lake. At night, we had warthogs under our house, which was simply indescribable to hear all the sounds at night and wake up to the birdsong in the morning. We wholeheartedly recommend this lodge and would like to thank the entire team for this unforgettable stay. Gabriele Rudolph &...

We are sadly coming to the end of what has been an absolutely phenomenal three-night stay here, which has most definitely fully lived up to all our hopes (and beyond).|The lodge itself is simply beautifully done and designed to be in harmony with its surroundings. Eco- friendliness is clearly taken seriously, fantastic to see, with single-use plastic of any sort completely absent, for example. Our room, number 6 (of 8 in total) is just stunning, with a huge, very comfortable bed, ample storage, fridge and kettle restocked as needed, outdoor shower and separate bathroom, and the highlight, an enormous veranda facing open park land - we had nyala mothers and youngsters literally walk right by the veranda’s edge on their normal business on our first afternoon! Monkeys jumping on the roof, many birds and hearing hippos becomes the soundtrack to your restful later afternoons after a day exploring.|Our excursions have all been fantastic, with a mixture of game drives through the park, a beach visit and a boat trip on Lake St Lucia. We have seen so much wildlife on each trip, but our highlights were the numerous hippo families up close (but still a respectful distance) on the boat trip, 14 giraffes of all ages in a group on the night game drive and seeing not only large numbers of dolphins quite literally surfing the waves, from the beach, but also two humpback whales swimming parallel to the shore, waving flukes and spy hopping!|The staff here are quite literally all wonderful and determined to make your stay as good as possible. The food has been excellent and they are happy to adapt main meal options as needed from the fixed evening meal; there is plenty of choice at breakfast and tea and cake mid-afternoon, whilst a generous picnic is provided on the day excursions. You will definitely not go hungry!|I can’t recommend staying here highly enough. My husband and I have had a simply...

We had a wonderful time here. This is the only lodge on Makakatana which makes it very special place to stay. The lodge is located on the shores of Lake St Lucia and it is just beautiful. There is a main house with the restaurant, lounge area and a deck with a water hole in front where waterbucks and warthogs come to drink at night. From there you walk past the guest cabins and after those a supernice pool area with views of the lake. Roland was our main guide, he grew up in the bush so it is hard to find someone more experienced and knowledgeable about everything related to the bush. Next to that he is super kind, fun and has many stories related to the area and his experiences, we could listen to those for weeks. The other guide who guided us on a few tours is Ashton who, although relatively new, is super knowledgeable as well and a super enthousiastic, funny and kind person. The cool thing is the many different activities; from regular game drives to a river cruise and a trip by boat across the lake towards the vegetated sand dunes and the Indian Ocean. We saw so many wildlife that it is hard to name them all; from hyenas, giraffes, zebras, crocodiles, hippos, many different types of antilopes to maybe the most special you will ever see in your life: a Strawberry leopard. ||All the other staff was just as amazing; Roy does a fantastic job managing the kitchen, a magician in the kitchen ( ;-) ) and great person to have met. Larissa was supernice and was the one who guided us through the activities and all questions we had. And all the other staff members whose name we forgot were professional, cheerful and clearly passionate about their work at the lodge as well. The personal attention we received all through our stay made this an experience we will...