Lush Private Game Lodge

I've been home from this trip for almost a month now and it's taken me that long to put my thoughts together to try to describe the experience. We had been looking for a place to go to celebrate my 50th birthday and this was the first Safari Lodge that my husband sent me. I was sold from the first look and wouldn't even consider another property. While I am sure there are many beautiful places in this part of South Africa, I can confidently say there is no way any of them could compare to the experience we had here. This is a LONG review - I have a lot to say about this place. From the communication with the hotel prior to the trip through to me crying because we had to leave and everything between, Lush was more than we could have hoped for. We have travelled extensively and stayed in some nice places, but nothing even comes close to what the Lush Team has created. It is truly magical. We were fortunate to spend 7 nights here in the newest Superior Deluxe Suite (#8). While most people that we met spent 2 or 3 nights before moving on to somewhere else, we were very happy with our decision to stay put. You do 2 game drives a day, so for us that meant 16 game drives, but we loved them so much we only skipped one afternoon drive and we did it only so we could have more down time to enjoy our incredible room. You are paired with one ranger for the duration of your stay but we happened to arrive as our first ranger Avi was about to begin her week off, so we had our first two drives with her and the rest with Hannes. Both of them were absolutely wonderful, as were the other two Rangers that we met at Lush (Sean and Cole). Whoever you get will be knowledgeable, enthusiastic and will mix a fabulous cocktail. We were lucky to have Hannes all to ourselves for one evening and one morning game drive. He knew I was a bird fanatic and, bless his heart, he went out of his way to make sure I saw every bird there was to see. If he didn't know what kind of bird it was, he tried to figure it out for me. Even on days when we had others in our Jeep, he made sure to take the time to point the birds out for me and I loved every minute of it. Hannes was an absolute GEM and I am so thankful we got to spend so much time with him. He made our trip unforgettable. Of course there is a lot more to see than birds and we saw pretty much everything on our list. We saw the Big 5 all in one drive, but this is not the norm so it does help if you are staying more than one or two nights if you have a big list of "Must See" animals. (the Buffalo are apparently tough to find!) The evening drives are on the Black Rhino Game Reserve and the Morning drives are in the Pilanesberg National Park. It is completely open for animals to roam between the two, and what you can find in the National Park, you can also find in the Game Reserve. This was our first safari experience, but from what I am told there is a greater concentration of animals here with ama

We (8 people in our group from the United States and Canada) had the absolute pleasure of staying at Lush Private Lodge for 5 nights in March. Everything about our trip was top-notch. If we could give it more than five stars we would. We had two suites and two regular rooms. Our suite was gorgeous. Everything you could possibly need and then some, was provided. My favorite things -- the outdoor shower was heavenly and the bedside tea at night was such a lovely touch. The food was abundant and amazing! We had two people in our party with dietary restrictions and the staff went above and beyond to cater to these restrictions. We loved how we were seated in different areas of the resort for our evening meals. We celebrated my birthday while we were there and they made me a delicious cake and sang happy birthday. The wine tasting and BBQ were also favorites of our group. We were with Ranger Cole the entire time. He was extremely knowledgeable, funny and charismatic. Every time we returned to the the lodge after we were out with Cole, staff were always there greeting us with waves, smiles, a cool washcloth and a cold drink. We were able to enjoy the spa amenities and left completed relaxed and refreshed. We would definitely return to Lush and hope to again one day. It was definitely a trip of a lifetime and one we will never forget. Thank you!! The Whiteford and Kelly/Hanly Families