Kariega Game Reserve Ukhozi Lodge

From the minute we arrived until we left - everything was perfect. Welcome drinks, friendly and efficient staff, stunning lodge and gorgeous bedroom cabins with plunge pool (too cold for me!). As we absolutely love our food, we were very pleasantly surprised with delicious meals 3 x a day - see photos!! Not forgetting the main event: the fabulous game drives. One at 6am for 3 hours and another at 4pm for 3 hours. Our guide JJ was super knowledgeable and showed us the maximum amount of animals - he just found them every day!! Thanks very much for an amazing stay xx

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!

Cannot put into words how amazing our stay was at Ukhozi Lodge. The staff cannot do enough for you, they are so welcoming. Thank you so much to everyone. The rooms, food, drinks, wellness center were all faultless. Big comfy bed in the room! My dream was always to go on a safari, so I had high expectations and was so excited. Well, I cannot stress enough how much Megan our ranger guide/driver exceeded every expectation I had. What a wonderful person with so much information to share and a true passion for wild animals. The game reserve is beautiful, it is amazing to get so close to the animals whilst respecting their space and boundaries. To see Thandi in real life after reading so much about her… it was so special. We were so emotional saying goodbye to Kariega and Megan. This was the best place we have ever visited and I have never felt happiness like it. We will be back!!!! Kirsten & Ben

The most amazing place . We stayed is as the last part of our honeymoon. And as the saying goes “we saved the best to last”. Everything from our room/lodge to the resort Itself, the food, drink and most of all staff with a special mention to our game guide Nick. I cannot recommend this place enough. The ladies cannot do enough for you, the service received at all meal times was amazing. Nick our guide was outstanding with such knowledge when it came to everything from animals to plants. He really went above and beyond for us even bringing us simba chips on our drive when he realised we loved them. I really hope some day I am lucky enough to go back to Kariega. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amazing place the game drives were fantastic, we saw everything except a leopard and our guide was lovely. Would recommend this lodge to everyone, from the lodge to the suites everything was designed to help you enjoy your stay, The staff couldn’t do enough for us nothing was to much trouble - what a lovely way to end our holiday!

The game reserve / lodge is about 1 hour 30 minutes drive from Port Elizabeth. The accommodation is set in the grounds a few minutes away for the main reception / dining area. Our room was a large open plan suite / bathroom with a private plunge pool and terrace. Personally I prefer a door to the bathroom but most SA hotels seem to favour open plan with just an enclosed toilet. The room was nicely decorated and the air conditioning efficient and quiet. It was keep spotless by housekeeping which come in twice a day. Meals are taken in the main area. Breakfast is usually communal with other occupants of your safari jeep plus the guide. Likewise some dinners. How well this works depends on your fellow travellers. In our case a party of young Germans had little in common with us middle aged Brits! The food was very good and they kindly took account of my food allergies and intolerances when preparing meals. The main area also has a terrace and bar which was fairly well stocked but sadly no local gin! There is a small swimming pool with sun loungers but little shade. I got bitten round the pool so insect repellent is needed. Melissa was our excellent guide. The game viewing can be a challenge due to the dense hillside vegetation, but much easier on the plains. Some of the game drives were very bumpy and arduous due to the steep terrain. We also had a trip down the river which was very relaxing. The game drives left at 6am and 4pm both for about 3 hours with a pit stop for loo break (behind a bush), coffee etc. We had a great 3 nights and have some wonderful memories.