Makalali Private Game Reserve

Makalali was truly amazing. We had a wonderful time here. From reception to departure, the hospitality was on point. Our ranger and tracker, Nonkululeko and Life, were absolutely brilliant. The conversations with Life were great, he is a funny and knowledgeable guy. My highlight was the sunset drive drinks with them. Many bush stories were shared with us by them; highlight- a hyena visited us just after getting on the game car to leave . Nonetheless, a 5/5 experience from start to end. I’d definitely recommend this place to anyone who loves the bush. Food & drinks: The chefs are good. We enjoyed the food, especially the dinners around that fire.

Makalali was truly amazing. We had a wonderful time here. From arrival as we arrived quite late to reception to departure, the hospitality was amazing. Our ranger and tracker, Nonkululeko and Life, were absolutely brilliant. The conversations with these 2 were great, these 2 are really funny and knowledgeable .Nonku continue shining my sister .One of the guests lost their phone ,Nonku braved the cold weather and had to walk barefoot in the river to search for the phone,their team work enabled the guest to get their phone back as it fell on one of the roads.We really learnt a lot from their bush stories.highlight- leopard that had caught an impala at the river lodge .The chefs,barman Rudolphand waitrons were super amazing 5/5 experience from start to end. I’d definitely recommend this place to anyone who loves the bush. Rooms: Spacious Food & drinks: Kudos to the chefs ,food was amazing

We had such a wonderful experience: every single member of the staff was so kind and made us feel at home from the beginning. Pilot and Elias were our ranger guides: they're such great persons, they put their heart in making you live every ride as an adventure and at the same time in close touch with nature and animals, really amazing and they made it happen. The dinners in the boma were great, food was delicious and so tipical. We saw all the big fives too, that's awesome. I want to really thank You for all the effort you put in what you do, thank you for making our honeymoon such a great and unforgettable experience. A warm hug to you all, as the warm hug you made us feel. Rebecca and Edoardo

Overall I would say that Makalali Main Lodge is NOT a five star experience. Living in Jhb, my family and I travel often to different lodges regularly. The directions were difficult. Town names have changed and this has not been updated. At one stage we had to turn around and go back to find the correct road - a wasted 45mins. The welcome was nice. Our family room with adjoining bedrooms was lovely. But there really were a LOT of smaller five star touches missing. Perhaps a metal water bottle for the stay with our names on, had that before. Even four star places have offered more. Petals on the bed on arrival, a chocolate on the pillows at turn down, animal shaped towels like an elephant head. More toiletries in the bathrooms. Dinner offered a very small variety, including just a single mixed salad that was unappetising and too little for the number of guests. There are no steps or platform to get into the safari vehicles.The free afternoon cocktails offered before the drive were nice but I was charged R20 for a bottle of water? The lodge welcomes children but is not child friendly. Luckily we brought our games along. And sadly none of the fires were lit for the autumn chill at this time of the year. If this was the only exposure of South Africa’s beautiful wildlife to the number of foreigners there…. They may have been short changed.

I wanna thank alla the staff of makalali, Thank to Pilot and elias our ranger for all the time spento to makalali, we leader there a piece of our heart, people are amazing, safari are amazing, South Africa is amazing. We love you edoardo and rebecca

Had such an amazing and surreal experience here. Staff are incredibly professional and lovely and did their best to make our stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. This goes for rangers, hospitality, domestic and kitchen staff alike. Their attention to detail was nothing like I’ve experienced before. The rooms and communal areas of the lodge were all clean and beautifully set up; our room and bathroom was spacious and comfortable with the most amazing view. The food was varied and of great quality; the chefs were able to accommodate the dietary requirements of our party, these being lactose intolerance and halal food to note they cater to all sorts of requirements including vegetarian, vegan common allergens and gluten free. I was genuinely sad to leave and hope to return some day. Would highly recommend to anyone looking to experience the marvel of South Africa’s nature and wildlife while staying in high quality accommodation. I can’t thank you guys enough for making our stay special, this trip will certainly go down in the books as one of my favourite holidays to date.

Stayed here in November in the river lodge was a fabulous place , a lovely setting and great game drives with the amazing Smalls and Lucas. Thankyou smalls and Lucas for being wonderful, friendly and always smiling. Had a wonderful time, got engaged and the staff were lovely. Thankyou to all the staff x

The days spent at Makalali Lodge were truly fantastic. two safaris a day in the morning at 5 and in the evening, the staff is extremely helpful and the guides are very good at explaining. during the safaris you have breakfast in the morning and an aperitif with dried meat in the evening, on the jeeps to enjoy the sunrise and sunset.Rooms: 5/5

We've been in the Makalali River lodge, which is a beautiful, small and very cozy place. We must say our stay in this lodge was just perfect! We saw so many different animals. The staff and our guides Isac and Antonio have been very friendly, funny and took very good care of us. For example Antonio and Isac knew from the first day on how we like our tea and coffee, very attentive. The room was warm and beatiful made and the food was always veery good, the food on the plates were placed so nicely. We would definetly come again and can highly recommend this lodge! Thanks for taking care of us and making our first safari holiday after corona so wonderful!

Spent 4 nights and had extremely cold water the entire stay. Each day from day 1 we reported the hot water issue but it was never resolved. Maintenance came a few times but hot water didn’t. We complained to the manager Richard and he gave us some bogus voucher to keep us quiet thinking we won’t redeem it. When we tried redeeming the bogus voucher we were told by the same manager who gave us the voucher that it’s an invalid voucher. We ended up visiting Kapama Southern Camp instead of going back to Makalali for another disappointing stay with cold water showers. Rooms: We constantly had issues we even changed rooms, the water was extremely cold, the phone lines didn't work, the rooms were neat and well kept and not well maintained Nearby activities: Gane drives were amazing with out rangers being passionate and making the the experience so much more amazing Food & drinks: The food was amazing, fresh and delicious!! 5star!! Kitchen and restaurant staff; premium service