We stayed here for 4 nights as the first part of our honeymoon. The honeymoon tent was fantastic, with a massive comfortable bed, air conditioning (was needed), showers & outside bath. The balcony looked out into the bush, & we were not overlooked.

Our typical day started with a wake up call at 5am, & after a drink & biscuits we left for our game drive. We then returned for breakfast at about 9am, which consisted of ceral or something cooked. We then relaxed around the camp, & there was a nice rock pool, a very comfortable lounge area with books to read, & loungers to relax on. There was a little shop, where we bought a few gifts & could send postcards. There was a bigger shop at the main lodge, which we asked to go to. Lunch was served at about 2.30pm, which was a lovely buffet with dishes introduced by the chef - a very nice touch. We then left for our afternoon game drive at 4pm, which continued into the night. We would return at about 7pm, & dinner was served at about 7.30pm. On one night we had a bouma BBQ, on another a lovely steak meal, & on another a romantic meal served to us on our balcony - although after a lot of rain the bugs were out in force & we retreated in our tent to eat, great fun though ! What I loved around the camp is that the rangers, & the managers (the two ladies who seemed to run camp) mixed with us..especially at the bar ! & really made us feel welcome.

Now for the important part - the game drives. For half of the stay we went out with Ismahl & the other Pieter. I could not believe how many animals we saw, right here goes...Giraffe, Hippo's, Baboons, Elephants, Cheetehs, Leopards, Male & Female lions, White & Black Rhinos, Zebra & so much more. The ranger's were superb, & would ask what we had & hadn't seen, then would try & find animals. It was a combination of tracking - the spotters at the front of the landrovers were excellent, & using the radio to ask other rangers. As a first safari, I think being on a private reserve was the best option, as there was a better chance of seeing a wide variety of animals. Another couple went to on a day trip to Kruger national park, & it took all day to see one type of animal.

I also think 4 nights was the right length of stay, as by then we had seen lots of animals. We loved how close we got to the animals, & once on the trail, we would leave the road, through the bush & stop right in front of lions, cheetehs, elephants etc.. - about 4 metres away. There was only one morning we could not do this because we had so much rain the night before - the rangers were not allowed to leave the roads. I would have been disappointed if this happened often, so maybe a word of caution if you stay during the rainy season.

The only extra's we had to pay for were drinks & souveniers. The drinks were good value, a bottle of water was 5 rand (42p), coke 10 rand (85p) & beer 12 rand (£1). The only thing we found it hard to get used to was tipping. The folder in our tent suggested we tipped the ranger 150 rand (£12.74) the spotter 100 rand (£8.49) & general staff 100 rand (£8.49) all per day - which could be paid at the end of stay. For us this would be over £100 for our stay. Yes we did tip, & yes everyone deserved being tipped, but we felt slightly uncomfortable by the folder stating the amount. If we had known before we left, we could have prepared ourselves. Tipping in South Africa is expected.

Overall our stay was amazing, the camp was fantastic, and the safari was more than we could ever have expected.

My new husband and I stayed here for 4 nights after a safari tour. It was the perfect way to end our South African adventure.

The staff were very friendly and attentive - did all they could to make sure we were enjoying our stay. After morning game drives the lodge manager would be waiting to wish you a good morning and find out how your drive went. After evening game drives a staff member was always waiting to give you a warm face cloth and a shot of liqueur to warm you up - great touch.
The food was always AMAZING... we never once felt hungry.

Our tent was devine - the bed was super comfortable and the turn down service was excellent - infact one evening we came back from a game drive to find our bed was scattered with flowers and we had a chilled bottle of sparkling wine - gorgeous.

Game drives were great fun - Ishmael and Arbury were fantastic and very humorous. Having all of the lodges within the Thornybush park linked up via radio contact certainly helped to make our game drives worthwhile - we got to see LOTS!!

Between game drives there is plenty of time to relax either around the lodge or in your room - its a very quiet place.

We loved our stay here and hope be back to celebrate a wedding anniversary some time in the future

We spent 2 nights at the Lodge; everything would have been great with a great weather...but it was freezing cold, rainy and windy! No problems for the safari, we could handle that and they were great!
But the lodge has refused to put gas heaters because it is not the regular season! We ended up to have dinners outside, in windy places and it was 10 degrees celsius outside. Most of the rooms, including ours, were not having heaters in their room neithers...The staff and the management couldn't care.... Really a pity, a very nice and luxury lodge....but you judge service with exceptional circumstances; and the management just didn't care

Just back from 3 days at the camp. Seamless transfers delivered us to the lodge in time for lunch prior to our first game drive. Enjoyed 6 game drives in all, Brendon and Derek ensured we had the best view of the amazing animals. Brendon's intimate knowledge of the bush and the animals added to the experience. Back at camp the outdoor bath was great, food tasty, ample and the drinks reasonable prices. Marialesh (Brendon's wife) confirmed and checked our departure details. She also put a lot of effort into organising a side visit to the local town for us. The tents are comfortable with lots of little touches. We look forward to a return visit and recommend this camp to other travellers.