Tanda Tula

I don't have enough words to describe how wonderful this place is. I have traveled extensively in southern Africa and stayed in many lodges, and this one is my favorite. |The rooms are huge, comfortable, and beautifully decorated. The food is gourmet quality; we ate so well. The South African wines are excellent and rival French wines.|The service and staff are very competent, warm, and friendly. Smiling, Thandi, Pinky, Innocent, Harry, Chris, and all the staff members, you are wonderful. |Our ranger Victor and tracker Allied taught us so much and allowed us to immerse ourselves in unspoiled nature and see the animals in their kingdom.|We can't wait to return to this paradise and I highly recommend this superb place. If I could, I would give it 6 out of 5 stars.

Staying at Tanda Tula was, without a doubt, the best hospitality experience we’ve ever had — truly the best hotel we’ve stayed at in our lives. We were there to celebrate our honeymoon, and every single moment felt magical, thoughtful, and unforgettable. The infrastructure is absolutely stunning — everything is beautifully designed, perfectly maintained, and immersed in nature in the most harmonious way. But what truly sets this place apart is the service. The level of attention and care from the staff is a masterclass in customer experience. Every interaction is thoughtful, warm, and genuine, and you can feel that the entire team is deeply committed to creating memorable moments for their guests. They pay attention to the smallest details — from having a warm water bottle waiting for you during chilly game drives, to welcoming you back with a hot Amarula drink, to customizing the menu every day to accommodate my vegetarian diet with care and creativity. The food, by the way, is absolutely outstanding: fresh, flavorful, and beautifully presented. Huge compliments to the chef and the entire kitchen team. Special recognition also goes to Filipa, the general manager, who was incredibly kind and present. You can see the result of strong and thoughtful leadership in how empowered, joyful, and professional the entire staff is. Everyone you meet seems genuinely happy to be there, and that makes all the difference. We also received beautiful honeymoon surprises that made our stay even more meaningful and emotional. We wholeheartedly recommend Tanda Tula to anyone looking for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It will stay with us forever, and we cannot wait to come back.

We just returned from a 4 night stay at Tanda Tula. From the moment we arrived to the day we left we were taken care of from a team of wonderful people. Top notch service. The Camp is absolutely gorgeous and so quiet and relaxing. We had a family suite and a regular suite for the 5 of us. Spacious and beautiful inside. Wildlife right outside our suites and all over camp. Chef Ryan and his team cooked delicious food and catered to my gluten and dairy free preferences. Ginger and Eric brought us on 8 unbelievable game drives. We can't say enough about how warm, caring and knowledgeable both are. We loved learning from them and they totally meshed with the vibe of our family. We saw the big 5, plus zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, antelopes, warthogs, kudus, hyenas, jackals... To be surrounded by a huge pride of lions hunting a buffalo is indescribable. We highly recommend Tanda Tula. We have stayed at many luxury resorts and this topped them all. A safari experience we will never forget.

Tanda Tula .. well what an amazing lodge. I have here many times and have seen this camp evolve into its current status. Its always been an amazing 5* lodge .. but now its super amazing with the new renovation. Extremly luxurious with some of the best staff and Rangers in the business!!. I have been to many up-market lodges in the greater Kruger and unfortunately the staff and managment dont always measure up to what they are trying to sell. Tanda Tula in my books is one of the best run lodges in the business!!

What an amazing place! From our first greeting to our last goodbye, we loved every moment. ||We are a family of five and have travelled a lot and to many prestigious locations, so we are rather spoiled and picky and therefore not easily impressed. But Tanda Tula is a true gem. ||All common areas are spacious, clean and beautifully designed, the rooms (we stayed in a large family suite), feel huge and very luxurious with a lovely plunge pool and ample opportunities to see wildlife just outside your room. ||The in room bar is well stocked and had we wanted to, we could have had free cocktails and wine in the room 24/7. ||But the main purpose of going to Tanda Tula is the safari drives, one in the early morning and one in the late afternoon. We were privileged to be driven around by Scotch and Eric, to see a bit of their fantastic tracking and wildlife skills but also enjoy their charm, warm friendliness and super service, as they treated us with morning coffees or sunset cocktails in the bush and otherwise made everything they could think of to make us love the drives. Regardless of what animals you actually see - and we saw almost everything very close by - the drives in the beautiful and peaceful nature are a lifetime experience.||Food is important to us and at Tanda Tula we had the best food during our South Africa trip. It amazes me that they manage to arrange a clearly better breakfast buffet in the bush than the one we had at a five-star hotel in Capetown. And all meals we had were fresh, healthy and very well composed. We also love good wines and although the wines included were not super exclusive, they were still of very good quality and the staff - particular thanks to Harry - guided us to great pairings. We were never hungry between meals but when our kids asked for milkshakes they got it within a few minutes, despite it not being on any menu.||Overall I think the main reason for our wonderful impression of this place was the staff and their personal and very warm service. You could tell that they took pride in their work and that they actually have fun working with each other. It started with Smiling's very casual but still professional way of welcoming us and showing the room and then it just continued that way with everyone we interacted with - sorry for not remembering all names - being so warm in a very genuine way. ||I struggle to find anything to give negative feedback on and I cannot recommend this place any higher. I just wish all who work at Tanda Tula the best and hope that you have great guests that treat you well and tip you a lot :D, you deserve it.

This place is absolutely unreal. The facilities are incredible. The staff is above and beyond. The chef is amazing. I'm completely convinced the game driver Scotch is the best guide in the entire world. This is not hyperbole. He is amazing. And so friendly. I'm coming back here when I have my honeymoon one day. Go here and you will not regret it. It is the best place I've stayed on vacation my entire life.

Me wife and I stayed in 5 camps/lodges on our trip to Southern Africa (our first visit to Africa). Tanda Tula was our first, and it was the best accommodations of all five. This would be a great way to end a trip to Africa on a luxurious note. Our travel agent would no doubt have scheduled that, but it wasn’t possible given our unavoidable last-minute trip planning.||Tanda Tula has huge guest suites that are only cosmetically resemble tents. Each suite is air conditioned and has its own private pool, indoor and outdoor showers, mini fridge, coffee, etc.||The game drives are led by a two-person team (guide/driver and tracker). The morning drive rolls out at about 6:15, so you get all the best light and the most active animals. It is possible to view the entire “big five”: Lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo. The only one we missed on our three-night stay was the leopard (though other groups had better luck and viewed a leopard). My wife and I had the rare pleasure of viewing a black rhino. This animal is seen at Tanda Tula only once every few years — our guide had five years at Tanda Tula, and this was his first black rhino. White rhinos are more plentiful — we had several rhino sightings, including a group of 13.||In addition to 4 out of the big five, we saw giraffes, zebras, impalas, kudus, warthogs, a jackal, hyenas, and various other animals. Every game drive was loaded with sightings. Tibuvati Reserve is well organized. The guides share sightings over the radio, and rotate vehicles so no more than two vehicles at a time are at a particular sighting. We consistently got great views. ||At the end of each morning drive there was a huge “bush breakfast.”||The bar was fully stocked with premium bottles (for instance, Blanton’s bourbon). Wine was excellent South African. The food overall was quite good, but not the gold medal on our trip (our food gold medal goes to Savute in Botswana).||In addition to the small private pool for each suite, there is a large pool in the common area, It faces a very close watering hole which normally had many elephants drinking and splashing.

Loved absolutely everything about this Tanda Tula. Luxurious accommodations, attentive and very high levels of warm and welcoming service, and delicious food. Scotch and Jack - the dynamic duo! Thank you for showing us around and for the stargazing session and the life lessons. We had the most memorable and beautiful sundowner camp surprise during our stay. Every nook and cranny of the structures were sparkling and clean. Already planning a return trip!