Umkumbe Safari Lodge

My husband and I had an amazing experience at Umkumbe in July 2022 for our delayed honeymoon and stayed in the giraffe suite. The facilities are absolutely beautiful and the staff and incredibly kind. The food was some of the best food that we ate during our entire vacation. The location is 10/10 and we were able to see the Big Five! Our ranger Peter and tracker Moses we’re great guides and helped us to spot many animals. We also booked our transfer service between Kruger airport and the lodge at through Umkumbe which worked out perfectly. Can’t wait to come back!!!

This truly is the nicest place in the world. The rooms, as you can see in the pictures, are so beautiful. The family rooms have a terrace on the side of the bush and an outside shower. We heared the lions roar every night. The game drives were fantastic. We were with Sam and she is truly amazing. She knows everything about the bush and about the animals, the trees, everything. The meals were simple but outstanding. There's an honesty bar and that's a very nice way to get your drinks on your own, whenever you like to. Only little thing, if we're really nitpicking : the electricity gets turned off every night. Getting ready for a game drive isn't that easy in the dark but the second night, the ranger borrowed us a camping light and that was much easier. Thanks for the lovely stay, Sam and team!! Hope to see you all again some time!

5 weeks in South Africa and Umkumbe Safari Lodge was a highlight of the whole trip! I felt engaged, taken care of, and left to my own devices all at the same time. It was a perfect balance of activities and downtime with excellent food. The lodgings were amazing, roomy, clean, and luxurious. From the moment we were met in the parking lot it was an indulgent, the best kind, experience.

We visited with our two kids, ages 8 & 10 and everyone loved Umkumbe. We saw the big 5 plus our favorites Zebra & Cheetah within the first day. We enjoyed every minute at this resort. Our girls ages 8&10 swam and jumped on the trampoline. We loved the food at every meal. Best of all were the game drives. Every drive was spectacular no matter what we saw. The sundowners were beautiful and a highlight of every evening drive. Shannon is the best guide. She drove us up close to watch lions nap, snuggle and wrestle. We watched elephants from our lodge's patio and from the pool. Umkumbe exceeded all our expectations and we were all sad to leave.

We did the night safari with Umkumbe and it was, hands-down, my BEST wildlife experience yet and I’ve had a lot. Elsabe was our guide and Forward was our tracker - they were incredible. They know exactly what their guests want and how to give it to them, but they also have a beautiful way of making even the smallest things interesting they even got us excited about Impala, like, right?!?! I would 10/10 recommend this safari, even if it is the only thing you do while you’re there. Trust.

This was an absolute treat Note that there is a no door lock policy. Food is served 3 times a day. Game drives 2x a day. Very enjoyable! We had the luxury suites. There's an inside bath, and outside shower.Rooms: 5/5

Wonderful location, we loved sitting by the deck watching the animals. We had our first safaris here, it was an amazing experience. The staff was very friendly and the food was really nice. Because of our honeymoon, they organised a little surprise for us. Thank you!Rooms: 4/5

Absolutely amazing experience visiting this place. The staff are all phenomenal, from Marko, Shannon and the rest of the team, and most of all our guide Elsabe, who is an incredible, knowledgeable and passionate person that made our experience 100 times better. The lodge conditions were brilliant and the food amazing. Could not recommend this place enough!

Everything was amazing! This was our highlight of our journey. Everything was well organised, from the safaris to lunch and dinner. Perfect service! The staff is really nice and they really want you to have a pleasant stay. Our guide Tyron and the tracker Forward were just amazing. Tyron really tried to show us everything and of course the Big 5, which we also saw and explained a lot of things regarding the animals, plants etc. It was nice talking to him and he tried to give a detailed answer of every question we had. The game drives were super cool, because we got really near to the animals and also could go off-road. The room is really beautiful, clean and comfy and they come twice a day to prepare your bed and the mosquito net. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were always very good. The highlight was the brai.

Wonderful staff, good, and accommodation. We saw many animals and particularly enjoyed our guide Marco who was very knowledgeable about the plants, birds, and animals we saw.Rooms: 5/5