Search hotels in Makalali Game Reserve

One of the most memorable holidays we have had in South Africa! Excellent location, great venue and fantastic staff. The game drives were phenomenal. Our game ranger, Pilate, is one of the best trackers we have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He went over and beyond to ensure we had amazing sightings.

Our whole experience at Kuname was magnificent. I could spend days writing about it but I’ll try to write a resume: The whole staff made us feel loved and taken care of. We were welcomed by Glen at our arrival. He explained everything we needed to know. The staff prepared a small cake and the staff sang for me in Zulu happy birthday on my first dinner night at Karongwe. It was truly magical. We stayed 2 nights at The Manor. The house was huge and it comfortably accommodated all the 3 of us. It had a private pool. We loved the amenities, there were repellent so we could use everyday, the housekeeping would prepare our beds for the night and leave slippers and chocolates with a kind message that would change every night. The food was superb. Everyday we could choose our breakfast, lunch and dinner from a menu. Honestly I hope everyone gets to try the Mint Pie that they served one day at lunch: one of the best things I’ve ever tried. The game drives was obviously the highlight: our ranger Geff and tracker Lucky were incredibly helpful and made everything so we could spot the big 5. We spot all of them with our 2 first game drives. It was around 36° and we could spot all of the big 5 real quickly. I got amazed how they tracked the 3 cheetahs at our first game drive. As days goes by, eventually the last game drive it could end up just your grup, at our last, Lucky came to me to check what we wanted to see since we’ve spotted already all the animals we wanted to. I told him we wanted to see a manada of elephants specially with baby elephants. They did it. Our safari was almost ending and they drove us on a trial that there were a full family of elephants. One of the most magical moments I’ve ever experienced. Hats off to Joanna (reservation), Glen (management), Geff and Lucky (game drives), Emily, Sharon, Otsu (kitchen) and everyone at Kuname Lodge. I work with tourism and the staff from Karongwe makes you feel so special that you don’t want to leave.

Clean and comfortable. Staff were accommodating. Good wifi. Food was good.

Loved the hospitality, the view, the experience!

Great safaris, very friendly staff, good food

We loved everything about our stay, it was above and beyond our expectations. Intimate lodge in the Karongwe game reserve. Everything was 10/10 - rooms, food, presentation, service, views, game drives, welcome shots and hot towels when we got back from the game drives, the animal visitors to the lodge during the day, the friendly staff! The pool is also super nice (but kinda cold) (for me) and I'm not great with cold water.. But other than that the view from the pool was great and I did manage to get in once to watch the Zebra drinking from the river :) (it was flowing during our stay so lucky with that!)

I really enjoyed staying there, Steven and Gilda were amazing very friendly, knowledgeable, problem solver and caring. Also the other staff like Raimondo and Matthew also were great. It was an excellent experience. The way they were caring us, locating the lunch and dinner table. the occasions that we could have group Dinner and Lunches... was really good.

I like everything about the property, only the shower 🚿 is the problem they need to fix the water we struggled to get warm water while bathing.

The view was absolutely stunning and the service great. Breakfast was a feast. The beds were just what a tired body needed. It was an overall good experience.