The River Lodge at Thornybush

Dies ist einer der ruhigsten Orte, an denen wir seit langem waren, und die Umgebung ist einfach wunderschön. Es gibt sehr wenig zu beanstanden, und wenn es etwas zu beanstanden gäbe, würden die fantastischen Pirschfahrten die kleinsten negativen Punkte ausgleichen. Alle Mitarbeiter sind fantastisch und Nsako gibt sich immer besonders viel Mühe. Unser Fährtenleser Eanda war einer der nettesten Menschen, die wir seit langem getroffen haben, und unser 5-Sterne-Ranger Henrico war in jeder Hinsicht unglaublich. Er ist ruhig, super sachkundig und so friedlich wie dieser perfekte Ort. Es gibt nicht genug Dank an alle, einschließlich der Haushaltsführung, die mit Sorgfalt durchgeführt wurde. Es werden auch koschere Kunden versorgt und der Wein aus Israel war fantastisch.

Mein Mann und ich sind gerade vom zauberhaftesten, extravagantesten und abenteuerlichsten Urlaub aller Zeiten zurückgekehrt!!! Ich war noch nie an einem Ort, an dem ich mich wie ein König gefühlt habe, und das Personal dort ist superfreundlich. Der Service ist mehr als 5 Sterne wert, er ist unglaublich. Mein Ranger Leo und Tracker Tshepo sorgten dafür, dass ich das volle Wildlife-Erlebnis bekam. Ich habe die Big 5 innerhalb von 2 Tagen aus nächster Nähe gesehen. Zako, unser persönlicher Butler, hat sich großartig um uns gekümmert und mir definitiv das Gefühl gegeben, ein Star zu sein. Das Essen, das der Chefkoch zubereitete, war absolut köstlich und die Portionen sind für Könige gedacht. Die Unterkunft ist wunderbar und das Reinigungspersonal ist auf Zack. Sie tun so viele Dinge, die dafür sorgen, dass man nie wieder weg möchte und an die nächste Rückkehr denkt.

Every aspect was good, we had a lovely stay! The lodge is beautiful and the staff are friendly and professional. Their attentiveness and hospitality is remarkable. We also had awesome sightings on our game drives

Our family of 4, with two teenagers was joined by an aunt and the two grans, both in their mid-eighties. We had exclusive use of the Homestead with its dedicated team and we had a wonderful time. Outstanding service by Civilised (chef) and Peter (butler) as well as Surprise and Sidwell (house keepers). Food was outstanding and the unit is tastefully furnished and very comfortable. The highlight of the stay was the game drives, of course, and our dedicated guide (Rico) and our tracker (Nic) were an exceptional team bursting with deep knowledge of animal behaviour as well as bird life, flora and fauna. On the first drive we got to see four of the big five! And were treated to multiple wild dog sightings including a skirmish between spotted hyena and the wild dogs, leopard, elephant, lions, hyena, buffalo, kudu and the list goes on. An absolute first was seeing giraffes mock fighting as well as lions mating! All in all, our entire group experienced service excellence at its best and had a wonderful visit. Bongani, the front office manager at the main lodge, also gave us a tour of the lodge which was good to see with exciting renovations taking shape. A stunning lodge that is definitely worth a visit if you’re looking for African bush luxury at its best.

We spent four days at Siviti. What an incredible experience - Firstly we saw the big 5 every day, and kills on two days, just phenomenal game viewing. The lodge is beautiful, extremely well appointed, luxury in every way. The food is amazing and nothing is too much for the staff. Easy connections from CPT - such a treat, highly recommended. It is well priced and exceeded expectations in every way!

Every time one goes to the South African bush it is always special and Siviti Lodge was no exception; we had a wonderful time. We were on a family trip (adults only) and stayed in the Timbavati Villa; it is a beautiful spot nestled into the bush and looking out to a waterbed; you are surrounded by nature. Nyala graze unhindered, birds of prey circle in the sky above, monkeys play in the trees, elephant and other animals come to the water to drink. You can watch the bush from almost every part of the suite, from the bed, sitting on your private veranda, relaxing in the heated plunge pool, even when soaking in the bath! The one day we saw an entire herd of elephants walk right by: amazing. The rooms are not only well appointed but also beautifully furnished and decorated. We discovered during our stay that the lodge had come under new ownership during Covid and heard that the new owners have big plans; a wine cellar was in the works and the new dining room area was revealed to us during our stay - stunning. I will be very excited to see it all when it is finished. The hospitality from the entire team was warm, personalized and very sincere. Surprise took extra special care of us and made sure we had all we needed and more; particular thanks to him. The food was excellent; the Head Chef and his team were very talented, and we had some delicious meals; the game meat was superb. We had a great ranger/tracker team - Shaun and Abed. Shaun has a wealth of experience behind him, he was brilliant at getting us right up to the action. Abed had a great eye and worked very hard for us and succeeded! We were at the lodge for six nights, which can be a bit daunting for any team, to try and keep the guests engaged. However, this seemed to be no challenge at all; we had action packed game drives throughout; a beautiful drive with a herd of giraffe in the riverbed, a baby elephant that was only a day old, a herd of elephants at the watering hole, a baby leopard in a tree, hippos playing and yawning (yes one of us got that hippo shot!), wild dog pups, hyena pups suckling off their mother, a kill; I could go on and on. The trip was topped off and finished with a spectacular surprise view of The Drakensberg Mountain range at sunset; very special. I have said that Shaun had a lot of experience; that experience shone through on many occasions, not only with navigating and orchestrating the animal sightings for us and lining us up to get some fabulous pics; he was also very intuitive at reading the animal behavior. There were a couple of occasions where he read a situation and acted accordingly. The safety of his guests and protection of the animals was always the priority and he would certainly never jeopardize that to get a better sighting or line up a photo. We really appreciated how responsible he was and felt in very safe and competent hands. He also has a great sense of humor - we enjoyed his company. I hope that we will be lucky enough to return