Vuyani Safari Lodge

Vuyani lodges are a magical place. Do not believe people that give it a negative rating - it is pure class! We stayed at the Vuyani Marula lodge which is only set up for 8 people - but for most of our stay, there were 6 of us which made it really special. Rooms are beautiful with a massive bath and huge shower which is practically outside so you get the sense of being in Africa. |Webster was the Marula lodge host for the week of our stay. He is undoubtedly, the most resilient person I’ve met and he epitomises what excellent service should look like - he took care of everything. Nothing was too much trouble - thanks for everything, Webster!. The rest of the team at the lodge - Confide, Love (our chefs) were amazing. Incredible food. Ryan, Faith, Terence, Penny kept everything immaculate and our game drive team - Steven, Robert, Direct and David were all super knowledgeable and gave us the best game drives. I saw the big 5, most of the ugly five and tons of beautiful birds. |Thanks to everyone at Vuyani for the best 50th birthday trip - I will never forget you all and the amazing animals that you take such good care of. Hopefully be back in the near future!y!!

Stayed at Vuyani for 4 nights with my daughter for her 40th birthday. from the moment we were met at the airport by Stephen we were treated so well. the lodge was beautiful with its own pool, our room was pure luxury! the food was amazing and we couldn't of wanted more. our stay included 2 game drives a day which were fantastic, our tracker Robert was so determined to make sure we saw ever type of animal. we felt safe and were so looked after. We booked a boat trip, elephant interaction and a cultural visit to a local village, all of which were well organised and great value. if you ever want to visit Africa we cannot recommend Vuyani high enough. truly a five star experience.

Our stay at Vuyani was simply exceptional from the day we arrived to the day we left. The customer service and the team that works here are first class. ||We had our safari trips with Yani and Peace, they were excellent at tracking and giving information on the animals, we saw the big 5 and more in 3 days! Yani has a wealth of knowledge and also lent us a bird book. ||Management and host team are brilliant at their roles, really lovely people and always accommodating - they really went out of their way. Special thanks to Webster and Devine. The team also helped my husband in organising a Bomba and surprise birthday celebration for my 40th which was really special. ||The venue is kept very clean, the food was good, and the drinks and snacks kept on flowing. It was always my dream since childhood to see elephants in the wild and I felt very emotional to finally have the opportunity. ||We can't wait to return in the future. |We definitely recommend this place to anyone visiting SA for a Safari, for a five star experience. It feels like a community and we met some great people (both staff and fellow travellers), and there was also the time for privacy and our own space. We stayed in Honeymoon suite 4 where there is an outside area with a small plunge pool and the beds are comfortable. The common areas are beautiful and the infinity pool looks directly onto the beautiful mountains. ||Thank you all at Vuyani ❤️

We stayed at Vuyani Safari Lodge for 6 nights from 2-7 November in a Presidential Suite and had an absolutely fantastic time. The suite was beautifully decorated with both shower and bath and an outside sitting area with a jacuzzi (within 10 minutes of arriving we had seen warthogs, impala and Nyala right outside the window). All the staff were amazing and did everything in their power to make the stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. The food was all very good quality, tasted great and was in abundant supply. The absolute highlight though were the morning and evening game drives- we saw the Big 5 (many numerous times) plus many other animals and birds, and in a lot of cases were close enough to touch them !! A big thanks to Solly our guide and Chris our tracker who went out of their way to make the experience magical and were endlessly enthusiastic. We went on the Blyde Canyon boat trip which was well worth it and also the day trip to Kruger which was also really good because of the sheer volume of animals you get to see (though binoculars really helped as you don’t get as close as on the Vuyani game drives). Overall a brilliant trip and I would really recommend anyone who wants to experience a safari to try Vuyani as I can’t imagine anywhere that could be better.

Pros and cons. |I’d like to think that this is a balanced review reflecting both our view and snippets we picked up from others who had been before. |Accommodation:|The three Luxury Rooms in the main lodge have no outdoor space and unless you are quick there are insufficient sun beds around the main pool to cater for even the rooms with no outdoor space. This would mean you either sit in full sun or at breakfast tables. |Beware of room number 1 as it is noisy due to being right next to the car park where day trips set off from and it’s where all of the drivers chat so afternoon nap is a real issue. |Game Viewing:|The lodge accepts people from outside of the camp on single drives which means viewings can become overcrowded with zero etiquette so cars will happily drive in between you and the subject.|Previous guests also mention that “the amount of game has seriously reduced in the last few years”. |Apparently there is an ongoing dispute between the lodge and a neighbouring lodge who used to share land for viewings, this means that there is a big area that you cannot go to and I guess game viewing has been effected due to this. |We thought game viewing was sparse and repetitive. |Food:|Guests who had been previously remarked on the reduced quantity and quality of food and also that “a slice of melon hardly qualifies as a dessert”. |We found that food was acceptable but portions were small and would run out unless you were quick. |Breakfast service was haphazard at best but eventually food did arrive but maybe not what you ordered. |The Good:|This cannot be classed as a “luxury lodge” but considering food, all inclusive, available excursions and private transfers it represents great value for money. You can quite easily pay five times the cost of this in a similar area so I think as an introduction to safari in Africa should be considered. |Staff on the whole are very helpful and when there was an incident were incredibly helpful and attentive.

Stayed for 7 nights at Blue Canyon Vuyani lodge near Kruger Park (last week in October 2025) . 3 couples celebrating friends up and coming 60th birthday. Amazing experience from start to finish. Twice daily safaris and luxury accomodation.Our guide and spotter(Oyi and Chris) went out of their way to ensure we had an incredible adventure. Saw the big 5 within 3 days and learned so much about the animals and their habitat. Lodge staff all very friendly and attentive. Meals were top class. Chef made me dairy free options all week including a large dairy free birthday cake and anniversary cake for us. All staff went out of their way to make our time special. Rooms cleaned and stocked daily including turn down service before bed. Couldnt have asked for more.So many great memories. Would highly recommend.

Hard to describe how incredible our 5-night stay with Vuyani was. My family (me, my wife and 2 adult children) stayed in the Marula Villa. It was beautiful. 3 bedroom, 4 bath, kitchen, dining room, living room and an enormous deck with a pool. All of the rooms were spacious and well appointed. We went on 2 private safaris each day. The wildlife experiences were way beyond our expectations. We saw everything we came to see and then some. As great as the lodging and the safaris were the best part of our experience was the team of people that took care of us. They were all kind, caring and very friendly. Goodwill was our safari guide and Calvin our tracker/ assistant guide. We spent 6 hours a day with them and enjoyed every minute. They were friendly, very knowledgeable and worked hard to get us the experiences we were looking for. The time with them flew by whether it was watching the sunrise over the preserve or admiring the starlite skies on our way in after the afternoon drive. Thank you. The team in the villa was equally as awesome. Ephrem was our chef. He was in the kitchen all day preparing our meals filling the villa with incredible aromas and the food was outstanding. Everything was freshly made and delicious. Ntecko was there to assist us in all things and always met us with a huge smile and warm greetings. He was always there to make sure we were comfortable and wanted for nothing. He provided exceptional service. Faith was our housekeeper and provided services 3x per day. She was friendly and very helpful. The villa was always spotless. Another member of our team was also named Faith. She greeted us upon our return from our drives and arranged for us to go to the main lodge for peek. She also did a great job arranging an excursion for us to a waterfall and Blyde Canyon boat ride which was amazing. And last but not least was Webster. He was the manager of our team and made sure we were safe and sound and ensured our trip was a success. He had spent some time in our home state of Wisconsin and was eager to share stories of his experiences in the U.S. but also of Africa. We have been very blessed to travel to many incredible places, but this trip was hands down our favorite and we are hoping to return soon to this amazing place and see our new friends again!

Fantastic lodge with suites linked to main lodge by shingle pathways . We stayed in the main lodge and had a huge room with an en-suite bathroom with bath and huge shower cubicle. |Only had one night here but the staff couldn’t have been nicer. |One of the highlights was when a heard of elephants turned up and started drinking out of the swimming pool.|As expected the game drives were superb and the knowledge of both drivers and trackers is superb. |Loved it!