Simbavati River Lodge

I cannot recommend Simbavati River Lodge enough. My husband and I came here for our honeymoon and it was truly a once in a lifetime experience. We seen the big 5 in the first few days thanks to our amazing field guide ML and our tracker Happy. The amount of passion and knowledge these guys have is truly amazing and they did everything in their control to show us surreal sightings. |In between drives you are so well looked after. Each lodge has its on private deck and plunge pool, there is a beautiful spa and shared pool area. The quality of food and drinks is excellent, we enjoyed every signal meal and the boma nights are an added bonus. |If you can come on safari come to Simbavati River Lodge!

My friend and I stayed at Simbavati River Lodge for our second safari in South Africa during September for 3 days. ||We stayed in the Rhino chalet and the room was stunning, spacious and had fantastic views of the river. Both rooms were large in size, very comfortable and had decent amount of storage, a huge bathroom that overlooked the river, a fully stocked mini bar and both rooms were fully air conditioned. There is also a lovely communal pool with a gorgeous spa area as well as a fully functioning gym. |The dining area over looked a watering hole that was frequented by numerous animals throughout the day and night. All meals were prepared to a high standard, with lots of variety on the menu and the weekly Boma nights were a thoughtful touch where you are able to dine with your safari team. ||Upon arrival we were greeted by the most friendliest lady, Thandie, who immediately made us feel very welcomed as she went through a really comprehensive induction that covered our stay. She was very helpful throughout stay and her smile was incredibly infectious. She also organised a few surprises for our drives which everyone enjoyed. The rest of the reception team were also super helpful and very proactive, which we appreciated a lot. ||Mr Bishop was our designated “butler” and he was tremendously attentive, fun and personable. He really prioritises the happiness of his guests and really goes the extra mile to ensure we are looked after. His laugh is highly infectious and his dance moves are a sight for sore eyes indeed. ||Our designated guide was Marc, who was an absolute treat. From the get go he was knowledgeable, thorough and thoughtful in ensuring we had the best safari experience possible. He was very attentive to our all requests, questions and extremely engaging during game drives. His passion for wildlife played a huge part in us seeing the big 5 (TWICE!!), lots of different animal sightings, successfully tracking a female leopard at night and getting up close and personal to male lions. Just some of our highlights of the safari. ||And finally, we had the pleasure of Stiff being our tracker. A man of very few words but a lot of action. He went above and beyond to track some elusive animals and often went on foot to get the sighting. If you are lucky to get this team you will not be disappointed at all. Best safari team ever and I do not say this lightly. ||All in all we would not hesitate to highly recommend Simbavati River Lodge to anyone who is thinking about visiting Timbavati Private Reserve or indeed visit again. We are positive you will enjoy your stay as much as we did.

My Family and I came August1-4, 2025. The entire staff was incredibly hospitable and the service was top notch. The grounds are beautiful and well maintained. We stayed in the Leopard Room and had a variety of animals visit the area directly in front of us. Our Game Drive Leader (Darryl) and tracker (Stewart) were the absolute best and were able to show us The Big 5! It was truly a great experience and I definitely recommend staying here at Sibivati River Lodge.

We had 17 family members travel to Simbavati for 4 nights. We had an amazing time! The staff were exceptional and super accommodating - they made lovely allergy friendly and vegan meals for a few of our group members. The safari game rides were wonderful and exciting, we saw the big 5 and so many other beautiful animals, birds, reptiles and more! The rooms were spacious, the beds were comfortable and the views were breathtaking. I would recommend this lodge to anyone wanting to go on safari!

Just about perfect. Everyone is super friendly and it is animals everywhere. No fence means the Elephants and all others walk around freely. One day we had to wait to get back to our tent until the Elephant herd passed. It was AMAZING!

We spent 3 nights at The River Lodge and enjoyed every minute. The rooms were nice. The food was superb and everyone was great. Our guide Martin and tracker Stiff were excellent. Perfect sundowner spots each day, true love of the animals and connected with everyone in the group. Bishop, our butler, was always smiling and adding extra touches. A great kick off to our 1st African Safari experience.

I was lucky to stay at this amazing lodge in June 2025. From arrival to departure the entire experience was really wonderful. The staff were so lovely, warm and kind no matter the request and made a solo traveller like myself feel welcome. The food was lovely, and as a vegetarian, from breakfast, high tea to amazing lunches and dinner by the boma, I never went hungry with all the delicious fare. When it came to the game drives (6 in total), all I can say is - WOW - they surpassed my expectations. Knowing that you can never guarantee what wildlife will make an appearance, every single drive was spectacular. The very first game drive after arriving that day spoilt us with a phenomenal leopard sighting, along with leopard sightings on each of the 3 days I was there. From rhinos with their babies, leopards ambling to the waterhole, abundant elephant sightings to lions mating - I could not have asked for more from the brilliant and knowledgable guides - Martin and Stiff/Steve - they made this trip unforgettable, thank you both! And top it off on my last morning they found wild dogs!! Mampuru was a star keeping me safe to my tent in the PM & AM as this is an unfenced camp. And to Crinah for her kind and warm hospitality. The perfect mix of authentic safari magic with a splash of luxury at every turn.

A great safari lodge in the Timbavati Game Reserve. It's difficult to find fault with the lodge. It delivers on all counts, we were a bit disappointed to not have a view of the river from our room but the fact that our room got frequented by elephants more than made up for it!||The food and service was also great, from management greeting us to Ralph imparting some wisdom when serving us drinks and food.||A lodge stands and falls by their game drives, and we must compliment our guide, Alison, who showed good knowledge of the bush, respect for us and also for the animals. It was amazing to see how she suspected there was something in the area and using all her experience located wild dogs and followed them with some excellent foresight and driving skills. We also expressed interest in seeing woodpeckers and she managed to locate these, firstly by sound, and helped us to learn and apply this to our self drive in Kruger after our stay at River Lodge. She is also very enthusiastic and was a pleasure to deal with.||The Timbavati offers a different experience from the surrounding reserves in that it is not as busy in the reserve, something that we appreciated even if it means there might be less vehicles looking for animals. We enjoyed our stay thoroughly and hope to be back in future.