Lush Private Game Lodge

In short, this is a great lodge which brings luxury to the bush, we had an amazing time and would reccomend lush highly. When we booked, even having done much research we went in with some unanswered questions. In some ways it was nice to have these are surprises and honestly the whole experience was fantastic. So it might you may want to consider not reading further to leave some surprises for when you arrive. Some of the questions we had before arriving were: What is the situation with food/dinning? We were quite concerned about the food situation we are somewhat picky eaters and we were also not keen on the idea of communal dinning. So the meals went like this, breakfast in the morning after the morning game drive around 10-11am, this consisted of a buffet style continental breakfast, a relatively small range but all very high quality, they had croissants that were amazing, a toast station, fresh bread with some cheeses and cold meats along with fruit and a section with yogurt and granola mixes. They also offer a cooked breakfast option of eggs, cooked meats and french toast. Top tip, if you like crispy bacon make sure you ask for it to be cooked crispy. In terms of seating you will find the tables all laid out when you arrive for breakfast and you can take your pick, this is not communal but given it is fresh from a game drive we often found ourselves chatting to those sat around us about what we each saw that morning. This was served in the main lodge area, near the bar. The next meal was lunch which was served from 1:30pm daily this was not what we were expecting, so all but one of the days during our 6 day stay this was served in the main lodge area, the other being on top of the wine cellar which was a beautiful location, similar to breakfast we would arrive and the tables pre-laid out and we got to choose where we sat. The lunch service was odd, we would be able to order drinks from the waiter but once our food was ready they would literally bring out a small platter of food to the table, this was a total surprise each day and we didn’t know what we were having until it was presented on the table. All of the lunch meals were beautifully presented and the variety was really good, most of the meals consisted of 2 proteins and 2 sides/salads. The lunch food was all delicious, we were particularly impressed with a lamb tagine presented in an edible bowl which was amazing. Given we are picky eaters we sometimes mentioned to the wait staff beforehand about some of the foods were don’t like, on one occasion they said the food all contained things we didn’t like so offered to throw us something “basic” together instead, we said that would be fine and we were so impressed by what came out, it certainly wasn’t what we would consider basic! Lunch was an odd one for us, it was probably some of the tastiest food we had during our stay but the delivery format meant there was a certain amount of stress that came with it, I’m sure if we didn’t e

Honestly the best service in SA, thank you Andrew, Sean and all the staff for making our stay amazing. We definitely will be back soon. Amazing game drive with Sean & the food and service was amazing. Thank you to the manager Dalmanie for extending our stay and making the checking in and booking experience the best. Do your self a favour and book here.

We had the trip of a lifetime staying at Lush Private Lodge. 10/10!! We saw so many animals (all of the Big 5 except the leopard) and got SO SO close to them. We even got an additional game drive to go see a kill the lions had just made!! I can’t recommend it enough! They really think of everything and pay attention to all the small details that really makes a difference. We were so lucky to have Cole as our ranger who was the best!! He was so knowledgeable and answered every question we had! He was also so kind and had a great sense of humour too. Every member of staff goes above and beyond to make your stay as comfortable and memorable as possible. One of my favourites was the welcome wave and drink we received after returning from every game drive. I will never forget this trip and hope to return very soon!

Great facilities, fabulous staff, wonderful food, people who care all within the plethora of game found at the Black Rhino reserve. This is the perfect safari experience to be repeated again and again. I will be back.

Cannot recommend Lush enough. Beautiful setting and wonderful people who made lots of effort to add variety. We stayed over New Year’s Eve and the team really excelled to make it a really memorable moment. The game drives were epic - vehicles more spacious and luxurious than any others we saw around the reserve. Jacques our guide was a true hero. Super knowledgeable, humorous and very approachable - truly going above and beyond. Highly recommend.

Our visit to Lush could not have been better. From start to finish, we were greeted by the warm team who become more like friends. The lodge itself is beyond magnificent - the food, the creativity and the level of detail the staff go to to make your experience memorable; from a private dinner for two to eating dinner in the beautiful wine cellar. The game drives were fantastic and we saw everything from lions and leopards to rhinos and elephants. Our ranger (shout out to Hannes) was knowledgeable and personable - always trying to make each and every ride (even) better. We wouldn't hesitate to return or recommend our friends and family to Lush.