Kariega Game Reserve Ukhozi Lodge

Der Aufenthalt ist auf jeden Fall sein Geld wert! Ein absoluter Traum der wahr wird. Durch die sehr begrenzte Anzahl der Gäste die gleichzeitig anwesend sein können kannst du die Lodge in vollen Zügen genießen. Es herrscht eine absolute Stille in Mitten des Reservates. Auf den Wegen um die Lodge und deine Unterkunft können dir immer wieder Tiere wie Antilopen & Affen begegnen. Der Guide für die Safaris ist extrem kompetent und erzählt dir alles was du über die Tiere wissen möchtest und es gibt in diesem Reservat so einiges zu sehen. Auch der Service und das Essen war einfach perfekt!! Immer eine Reise wert.

We stayed at Ukhozi Lodge for our honeymoon in December 2024 over Christmas. I couldn't rate this place highly enough and no words in this review can give a full picture of how good of a time we had. We did 4 nights stay, getting 2 game drives each day (morning and evening) you could get away with doing 2 nights (4 drives) and youd likely see everything in that time animal wise however longer stays are also good l if you wanted to relax and enjoy being in nature and have an almost guaranteed chance of seeing everything. 3-4 nights would be my recommendation. Positives: - staff couldn't do enough for you. Nothing was too much hassle - game drives were excellent and we did 4 nights stay so did 7 game drives with Melissa and enjoyed all of them we saw 4 of the big 5 - food was amazing and got plenty of it, always something different every night and lunch. The all inclusive bar is help yourself if nobody is behind the bar, it's very relaxed! - the lodge itself was massive and each room has its own plunge pool. The balcony has amazing views and is secluded Points to consider: - drives can be long and bumpy, we didn't find this a problem but please be aware you are not guaranteed to see animals every time you do a game drive - leopards are very hard to spot and although they might be within the reserve, because of the vegetation they are almost impossible to see

We recently returned from an eight night stay on the Kariega reserve as part of a small group tour with Wildlife Worldwide. We stayed at Ukhozi and River Lodges and Settlers Drift. Each was of a high standard but smaller and more intimate than the much larger Main lodge. Each had its own character. Ukhozi was really relaxing with resident bushbuck and massive millipedes seen on the way to the main hub. River Lodge was in a superb riverside setting with Pied kingfisher easily spotted from the frontage. The lodge's speciality was river trips down to the ocean. Wonderfully different! Finally, Settlers Drift was luxury tenting. Attention to detail was evident everywhere although even their staff were a little stretched when the elephants decided to wreck the incoming water pipes! Kariega is a superb example or rewilding in action. We saw two more male lion awaiting release and five cheetah also nearing release. With fences of newly acquired farmland being removed there is much to see. We were exceptionally lucky to have Wayne and Brendan as our guides. I've been on many safaris and , in their own areas of expertise, they're as good as it gets. They also happened to be two really nice people who did their utmost to educate, entertain and satisfy our requests. Kariega is suitable for first timers after the big five or specialist photographers/veterans like us who were after specific species. The density of land cruisers/guests was low and sightings were often just us. The species available were good. Many antelope species ranging from duikers to Nyala to Eland. Ungulates included white rhino and excellent sightings of Black. Elephant were plentiful and ridiculously laid back. The birding count was high with Crowned eagle and Knysna turaco being especially prized. However, for us, the trip was built upon trying to see and photograph Caracal, a cat I've failed to see in over twenty safaris. Kariega and the team turned up trumps with three sightings of a female hunting that totaled nearly two hours of photographing and observing behaviour. Getting to Kariega involved twenty four hours of travel from the UK. Was it worth it? Absolutely!