Bushmen/San Safari Lodge

We are family of nine spanning three generations, grandparents, son and daughter with husband and four grandchildren aged between six and nine. We spent two weeks at the lodge and we all had a super time full of activities and relaxation. The accommodation was spacious and tastefully decorated. We had a whole house to ourselves with four bedrooms, both internal and outside sitting and dining areas and a big private outside fireplace to sit around in the evenings. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. They went out of their way to make us feel at home and to create a festive atmosphere for Christmas and New Year's Eve. We very much enjoyed the chef's cooking which made the best possible use of locally available meat, fresh fruit and vegetables. The freshly baked cakes and muffins he produced were also memorable. The gardens are well kept, full of colourful birds and the swimming pool was very popular with young and old. There was a wide range of activities we could choose from, all organised to suit our personal wishes, whether it was jogging at dawn, a bush picnic at lunchtime, a game drive or bush walk at sunset, sleeping in a tent or climbing a mountain to enjoy the view and to see the cultural remains of an ancient population which used to live there. We also went clay-pigeon shooting, fishing in the river, horse riding, feeding orphaned baby antelopes and playing with lion cubs, sometimes at neighbouring farms. We learned an enormous amount about the wildlife from the rangers who accompanied us. They were particularly accommodating with the children, answering all their questions and finding interesting things for them to see and to do. Needless to say the children were completely captivated. There is a waterhole next to the lodge with a viewing hide. We saw the occasional warthog family there. Footprints suggested that impala, eland, wildebeest, kudu and others also visit at night, but we did not see them there personally. This time of the year the animals can find water in many places so they tend to spread out. On the games drives and walks, though, we saw plenty of wildlife including giraffes, warthogs, impalas, waterbucks, blesboks, hartebeests, ostriches and jackals. It did sometimes rain, but normally not for a whole day except for one day which made for some interesting driving and impressive views of the river. The nice thing about this time of the year is the many young animals you can see. We even had the chance to save a baby baboon that we found beaten up and abandoned by its parents. The absence of dangerous animals in the park makes possible to get out of the safari car and move around which we found to be a big advantage especially with children. On the way back to the airport we stopped at an elephant sanctuary, so we did not miss out on seeing those magnificent animals, too. There are mosquito's, but the area is malaria free, so all you need to do is put on mosquito repellant without having to take any anti malaria pills. So this was a perfect family holiday which was also very affordable as the management generously included our drinks and most of our activities in the full board package. There is a very nice collection of artifacts in the lodge's curio shop from which we brought back some beautiful masks and ostrich eggs. When we left it felt like leaving friends and we very much hope to return another year.

Bert and the staff of Bushmen/San Safari Lodge, thank you for the wonderful hospitality we received. We were so over the moon with the service and staff, we already decided we are booking our week-long honeymoon here. Goodie, thanks for your 5 Star meals and the surprise every evening. You guys made our stay and Suzette's birthday something to remember.

Me and the family enjoyed our stay, it was all and more than we expected. The staff was excellent very accommodating, food was divine. Just 1 downer which isnt the lodges fault my fiance' lost her cellphone on the game drive but Len sent the guys out to look for it but they had no luck, besides that all was well.