I cannot recommend Thornybush highly enough. My mother and I visited on a trip to South Africa coordinated by Lauren at Ker-Downey Africa. She had arranged for us to fly by charter from Johannesburg, so we landed at an airstrip literally just outside the gate of Thornybush, and this, in itself was a super fun part of the experience and I do recommend doing this rather than flying into the Hodespruit airport (~20 minute drive). We were met at the airstrip by our guide and tracker for the visit and driven by the open safari Land Cruiser the short distance through the lodge gate.
The facilities are spotlessly clean and well-maintained, the bedding was incredibly comfortable, the staff are extremely warm, welcoming, and helpful, the food is fresh and exquisite, and the reserve is just phenomenal. The suites are luxurious without being obnoxious, and we never had a concern for our safety. I highly recommend the outdoor shower, although the claw-foot tub and indoor shower are preferred during the cooler nights. You also have plenty of company in the outdoor shower, including small frogs and a baby baboon who watched me from the rooftop of our suite. There are many baboons in the area, so attention must be paid to keeping doors latched when you're not around. Guests are always accompanied by staff at night when not inside a guest suite, as there are wild animals present (although extensive fencing keeps larger game and lions out); baboons, monkeys, warthogs, and nyala antelope are frequently seen on the grounds of the lodge. The common area, including the dining area overlooks a (currently, in dry winter season) dry river bed and watering hole, at which we observed elephants, water buffalo, hippo, baboons, warthogs, and antelope. The furniture is beautiful and it's easy to spend a good portion of the day relaxing and watching the animals from either the lodge's common area or your suite's porch.
We saw all the Big Five, including leopards in trees, lion cubs, and baby elephants. Also many giraffes, African wild dogs, warthogs, hippos, numerous bird species, vervet monkeys, baboons, and a variety of antelope species. Our guide Kaden had encyclopedic knowledge of all the species we saw, and was expertly respectful of the animals in allowing them enough room to carry on their normal activities and be minimally disturbed by our vehicle. Our tracker John the Best was able to spot the most minute signs of recent animal activity, and together, he and Kaden enabled us to see the most remarkable things (like a mother leopard leading cub to game she had stashed in a tree). Kaden and John are a truly remarkable team and made our game drive experience just out of this world.
As a private reserve with a fenceless border with Kruger, all the animals are present but the number of vehicles is quite limited. Even with the small number of vehicles present, all of the guides are in constant communication to share the locations of significant sightings, and there is a respectful observance of rules such as no more than 2 vehicles being present at a single sighting at a time to optimize guest experience and minimize disruption to the animals (in the case of rarer sightings, like the wild dogs, vehicles would take a number and alternate who would remain at the sighting), but frequently ours was the only vehicle present.
Our experience at Thornybush was simply unparalleled, and I cannot recommend them...
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