A hand-picked selection of lodges and camps. Click through their name to visit their own website directly.
Great Fish River Lodge
Great Fish River Lodge sits on the green banks of the Great Fish River, in a malaria-free reserve about two hours from Gqeberha. Nine suites are spread well apart along the water, each with floor-to-ceiling glass onto the bush, an outdoor shower and a private plunge pool on a thatched terrace. The main area holds a library, a candlelit dining room and an outdoor boma, with large viewing decks above the river. Twice-daily game drives and guided walks with an armed ranger are included, and fishing runs year-round. Open all year; children from twelve.
Ecca Lodge
Ecca Lodge stands in the heart of the reserve, looking across a valley to an escarpment of shale cliffs. Six suites keep it intimate — three luxury suites for two adults, and three private vehicle suites taking two adults and two children, each of which comes with its own guide and safari vehicle. All have private plunge pools and outdoor showers. The main area has a wooden viewing deck, a rim-flow lap pool, a library and a shop. Twice-daily game drives and guided walks with an armed ranger are included, and children of all ages are welcome.
Uplands Homestead
Uplands Homestead is a restored 1905 farmhouse taken by one party at a time, set apart in its own fenced grounds on the western side of the reserve. Three en-suite rooms open onto lawns and a veranda, with a swimming pool and a shaded sala beyond, and the interiors keep an 1820s settler character without giving up modern comfort. A private guide, tracker, chef and open 4WD come with the booking, so the day runs to the group’s own timetable. Children of all ages are welcome.
Melton Manor
Melton Manor is an exclusive-use villa for one party, standing in fenced grounds above the Great Fish River valley. Four suites each have a freestanding bath, double basins and a private deck, and the house runs to an open-plan dining room with a farm-style kitchen, a lounge, a library stocked with books and games, and a swimming pool looking out over the valley. A private chef and butler come with the booking, along with a guide and vehicle, so meals and drives follow the group’s own hours. Children of all ages are welcome.
Fort House
Fort House is the largest of Kwandwe’s exclusive-use villas, taken by one party and looking out over a secluded waterhole with the Great Fish River valley beyond. Two master suites and two classic rooms are all en-suite, and the house has an interactive kitchen, a study, a guest pantry, a wine cellar, a spa treatment room and a swimming pool. A private guide, vehicle and hospitality team come with the booking. Game viewing carries on from the veranda between drives. Children of all ages are welcome.
Eagles Crag
Eagles Crag is the most secluded of Shamwari’s lodges, set in a wooded valley below the rock faces the name refers to. Nine junior suites each take two adults, with a private deck and plunge pool and glass onto the bush, and the main areas run to fireplaces, viewing pods above the fire pit, a fitness centre and a retreat with steam room and sauna. Because every suite is a couple’s room, it is the quiet corner of the reserve rather than the family one. Drives at sunrise and sunset, guided walks and specialist birding are all on offer, as are the Born Free big-cat sanctuaries and the wildlife rehabilitation centre.
Long Lee Manor
Long Lee Manor is the largest and most sociable of Shamwari’s lodges, an Edwardian manor house restored and extended above the open plains. Eighteen rooms and suites range from garden and plains rooms to a two-bedroom family suite with its own lounge and heated plunge pool, which makes it the one Shamwari address that comfortably takes a family. There is a rim-flow pool with a pool bar, a retreat with three treatment rooms, a fitness centre, manicured gardens and a boma looking onto a waterhole. Game drives run at sunrise and sunset, with walks, birding and the reserve’s conservation visits alongside.
Bayethe
Bayethe is Shamwari’s tented lodge, twelve canvas and glass suites set well apart in thick riverine vegetation so that each one feels screened from the next. Every suite takes two adults and has a private deck with a heated plunge pool. The main lodge looks onto a waterhole, with indoor and outdoor dining, a bar and lounge around a fireplace, a fitness centre, a boma and a bush retreat for treatments. It is the quietest way to do Shamwari under canvas without giving up comfort, and the game-drive and walking programme is the same as the rest of the reserve.
Sindile
Sindile is the newest and most expensive of Shamwari’s lodges, nine premier tented suites set out along a rise with long views over the Bushman’s River and the plains beyond. Each suite takes two adults and comes with a plunge pool, an outdoor shower, a fireplace and butler service. The main areas hold a bar with a fireplace, indoor and outdoor dining, a viewing deck with a fire pit, a boma, treatment rooms and a fitness centre. The design leans deliberately dark and low so the camp sits back into the bush rather than standing out from it.
Riverdene
Riverdene is Shamwari’s family lodge, and it is built around the problem families actually have on safari. There are only four units, one with three bedrooms and three with two, and each one comes with its own safari vehicle, so a family sets its own pace and nobody else’s morning is affected by a toddler who has had enough. The grounds are fenced and landscaped, with a swimming pool that has a shallow end, a Kids Adventure Centre, a Kids on Safari programme and childminding on request. The boma looks onto a waterhole. Children from three can join the drives.
Sarili Private Villa
Sarili is Shamwari’s exclusive-use villa, taken by one party at a time on the banks of the Bushman’s River with the plains opening out in front. Six bedrooms, two suites and four rooms, take up to twelve adults and two children, and one ground-floor room is wheelchair accessible. There is a swimming pool with a shallow end, a deck with its own plunge pool, a lounge around a fireplace, a separate children’s play area, treatment rooms, a fitness room and a private boma. Butler and childminding services come with the booking. It suits a family group or a set of friends travelling together rather than a couple.
