Bonamanzi Game Reserve

We stayed here for a 4 night long weekend. The game is fantastic. The roads are well maintained. The park is fantastic but the restaurant and accommodation was very disappointing. The food was not very good, time for a professional chef. Absolutely no manager in sight for our stay. They need signs in the park for you to find your way around the park, No signs in the park to assist you with getting around. Fortunately we have tracks for Africa and google maps.

Just had a couple of nights at Bonamanzi in an Africamps glamping tent. Customer service at reception (shout out to Sphindile) is exceptional. Africamp tents are new, very comfortable and well-equipped, and the whole Bonamanzi camp is well maintained and a birding paradise. Great to be able to self-drive most of the park now too - and to be able to walk/run the bigger tracks. Some of the park will be closed off after rains because of black cotton soil. Beautiful and varied bushveld just doesn't disappoint - will return for sure.

We loved our stay. Super pleasant staff on all levels, decent accommodation, and a lovely reserve. The sand forest is just great, and the birds are a real attraction.

We had a lovely stay at Bonamanzi. This is definitely the place to go if you like birding - we saw over 60 species in a three hour guided birding boat cruise. The guide was very knowledgeable about birds, plants and wildlife. The accommodation is basic, but all you need for a stay in the bush. The restaurant had lovely fish meals.

We went camping for the weekend at campsite 23 and it was perfect. Peaceful and quiet. Unfortunately the big 4 is not easily spotted in this reserve and you will have to work hard for your big sightings, but the bush, smaller game, and bird life makes up for it.

Hi Filipa, this is one of your travel buddies here — yes, the very same trip you wrote about. I read your review with some surprise (and a bit of a smile).||You’re absolutely right: the facilities are fantastic, the sheets spotless, the kitchen well-equipped, and the view breathtaking. On that we fully agree. But when it comes to the staff, I had quite a different experience.||Yes, we broke the rules — let’s admit it! One of us thought “responsible driver” included holding a child on his lap for a short drive, and another decided his playlist was more important than the sounds of the bush. The staff showed up quickly, true, but instead of “aggressiveness,” what I felt was firmness mixed with patience. The Manager is direct (he’s no cruise ship entertainer…), but I never felt disrespected. In fact, I found him rather understanding considering we were clearly breaking rules we already knew about.||To me, it made sense: the rules exist to keep the place safe, calm, and fair for all guests — and let’s be honest, if everyone started driving with kids on laps and playing loud music at dinner, this would stop being the paradise it is.||So while you saw “rudeness,” I saw “firm management of a special place.” In the end, it might just be a matter of perspective.||Either way, it was a memorable trip — even with our little resident rat trying to join the party in the tent!

We stayed in the tents, which have excellent facilities. The rooms/tents are clean, the beds are comfortable with quality sheets, the kitchen is well-equipped with everything needed, the hot tub works perfectly and is very enjoyable, and the view is beautiful. (we had a resident rat in one of our 3 tents, but I guess that is normal as you are in the middle of the bush).||However, while we understand and respect that the property has strict rules—which we fully support—the way the staff enforces them can be unnecessarily harsh. Our group was always respectful and compliant with the rules, but we were disappointed by the rude attitude of the staff, especially since we were never disrespectful in return.||We experienced two incidents:||One of our friends briefly had his child on his lap while driving slowly to the tent (a one-minute drive within the property). The owner/director approached him aggressively, yelling that this was against the rules and warning that next time he would be asked to leave. Our friend did not argue, apologized immediately, and assured it wouldn’t happen again.||Later that same day, we played some music during dinner around 7 PM. The owner came directly to our tent, entered without knocking or announcing himself, and told us to turn the music off, stating that music is not allowed at any time. He added, “If you had read the rules and conditions, you would have known by now!”||We believe rules can be enforced respectfully and professionally. While the place itself is lovely and well-maintained, the attitude of the staff unfortunately affected our overall experience.||Important note: the tents are only clean every 4 days, so we need to was our dishes, clena the floor, do the beds etc (this is specified on the website but it case you miss it)

We really enjoyed the peace and quiet and the remote location of campsite 18, however the ticks were a huge problem in and around the camp area, we constantly had to remove ticks from ourselves camping equipment, chairs etc..