Vuyani River Lodge

Right from the pick up at the Hoedspruit airpot to the drop off at the same, the staff were remarkably friendly and proffessional. Our guide, Jarrod and Tracker/Spotter, Direct were extremely friendly, knowledgeable and found animals for us to see on every Safari. The Sky Chalet accomodation was very comfortable and a unique experience. Even with the animals roaming close by, we felt safe and secure. The main lodge was spacious and well appointed, and we enjoyed our meals in there and by the infinity pool. The Chefs were excellent, as was the food. That was our first time in South Africa, but it won't be our last, as we hope to come back to Vuyani in two years.

This place is totally totally amazing. There is absolutely nothing to dislike about it. From the moment you arrive and are welcomed by lovely staff you know you’ve made the right choice. You are literally living in the Bush. It’s brilliant. Surrounded by wildlife 24/7. All your meals and safari snacks are cooked fresh by Chef Adelaide, Chef Onios and Chef Matomb . So delicious. The amazing Waiters Wavil, Conclive, Cyril and Reply are always so happy to see you and Clive makes the amazing cocktails ! The lodges are clean and spacious and are looked after by the lovely cleaning team , Glades, Gina, Rember and Glory. Laundry is taken care of and collected from your lodge and returned early evening all in pristine condition. Benjamin the lovely night watchman accompanies you back to your lodge every night only to return with a friendly wake up call every morning. The amazing guides are so knowledgeable it blows your mind. They are like walking encyclopaedias. Jarrod and Direck make a great team and we looked forward to the twice daily game drives. Their abilities to track the animals in the wild are second to none. We loved their friendly disposition and their sense of humour. ( even when my mobile nearly ended up as dessert for a hungry lion ) Goodman took us to Kruger for the day and it was a pleasure to spend time with him. Kulani and Siyabi were excellent hosts and catering to our every need. Nothing was too much trouble. Jan was totally amazing. He runs a brilliant place and is an excellent Manager. Vuyani River Lodge is a totally amazing place , it’s well run , clean and an exciting place to stay. All of the staff are so friendly and helpful , it was a pleasure to get to know them so much so we now regard them as our Vuyani Family. The first day we arrived we knew it was a place we would return to and we have just booked to return next year and are counting down the days. All the staff are a real credit to the company and I hope the management recognise them for their tremendous first class service.

We really enjoyed our stay at Vuyani. Everything from the staff, service, food and game drives was fantastic. Thank you to each staff member who went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable. We are looking forward to our next stay at Vuyani River Lodge.

Upon arrival we were welcomed by the warm smiles of Kulani and Siyabi and this is where our journey at the wonderful Vuyani River Lodge started. The rooms were spacious, had all the amenities you could wish for and most importantly very clean (thank you Glory and Gladuis). The food was absolutely incredible! Each meal was thoughtfully and deliciously prepared by Chef Onias and Chef Ntombi. The staff also went above and beyond to plan a romantic setting where we celebrated our engagement. A huge thank you to Kelly and Jarrod for arranging this! The game drives lead by Jarrod and Direct delivered breathtaking sightings of Elephants, Lions, Giraffes, Cheetah, Hippo's to name a few (and even the smallest of creatures - the chameleons - was fantastic to see). The Leopard was by far the best sighting of the weekend and was a perfect ending to our Journey in the Bush. Thank you to everyone who made our stay enjoyable and memorable. We will definitely be back soon!

Amazing safari experience. The daily game drives were brilliant, our tracker Direct and guide Jarrod were the ultimate dream team! We took advantage of a couple of the excursions including the boat ride at Blyde river canyon and the all day trip to Kruger which were well organised and worth doing. The food was great. As a fussy eater / pescatarian I was so well catered for at each meal. The sundowner drinks on safari were also a lovely touch, sipping on a G&T surrounded by giraffes watching the sun go down - priceless. We stayed for 5 days - will go back for longer next time.

Vuyani River Lodge is a wonderful, friendly, welcoming lodge. The staff are a credit to the company, each one being polite and attentive, they genuinely want to do everything they can to enable you to have a great experience. The rooms are spacious and clean with an outside shower adding to the safari experience. The food was outstanding and the chefs were happy to cater to any dietary needs. Communal eating with the other guests was delightful, everyone was so friendly. The sunrise and sunset game drives were magical with Jarrod our driver and Direct our tracker. These guys truly made our experience outstanding. We saw so many animals it far outweighed our expectations, we even saw a pangolin!!! I would highly recommend this delightful, intimate, friendly lodge.

Warning. This is not my first review of this place nor will it be my last, I’m sure. Keeping it short this time (ish). Incredible game viewing ✅ (thanks Jarrod and Direct) Great food and drinks ✅ (Mini bar in the rooms included in the price) Amazing staff ✅ (they will feel like family) Fantastic value for money ✅ (it really is for everything that’s included) Would I book again ✅ (I actually already have 😂) It truly is such a beautiful place, comfy beds, lovely rooms, the wildlife viewing will blow your mind, and on such a beautiful reserve.

Well the 5 star reviews are definitely not exaggerated! We have had the BEST 5 days at Vuyani River Lodge! Our flight was delayed by an hour and a half but we had a brilliant car journey with our lovely driver Johan. Yes it’s long but Johan kept us entertained on the way and is very knowledgeable and the time flew by! Johan got us to the Lodge in time for our afternoon safari and we jumped on board with Stuart (our driver) and Mpilo (our spotter) and a lovely couple who had arrived on the same flight as us and who when we left feeling we had made some great friends! We went on every single drive (FOMO 🤣) and we came really really close (sometimes holding my breath close) to lions, lionesses, elephants, cheetahs and giraffes. One evening we were having sundowner drinks and heard a whoosh like a snort and Stuart said for us to turn around and there was a rhino literally 10 metres from us all (in the pitch black 😳)…he just looked at us and sauntered by! I can’t even explain how amazing our driver Stuart was…he was so funny, so friendly, so knowledgeable about the wildlife and was always looking out for anything of interest . There were many times we were at specific spots first, he was constantly on the radio, refusing to give up when he knew animals were in the area. He completely made our safaris! He was very careful not to overload these beautiful creatures with too many watchers and kept viewing numbers to sensible levels to ensure that they were given the respect they deserved. How he managed to drive, look out for any wildlife whilst also being so funny and entertaining we do not know but we do know we were soo lucky to have Stuart as the leader of our A Team 👍🏻 Our spotter Mpilo was awesome, he even spotted a small chameleon on a bush in the dark on the way back to the Lodge…how on earth he spotted that I do not know! He went looking for lions nearby on foot 🫣 and we literally didn’t pick him back up for at least 30 minutes whilst we watched these beautiful animals in their natural habitat.! Then on our very last safari drive he spotted the very elusive leopard 🐆 and we gazed at it in awe for around 15 minutes from a distance but this just completely topped our holiday. There are so many memories made from this holiday, the outdoor shower, the giraffes walking past the pool area, monkeys trying to steal food, the warthog family and their babies within the ground, so many lovely guests we spent time with over 5 days, the early ‘Good moorrnniinnggg’ knock on the doors from Benjamin and Floyd who escorted us from our rooms in the dark, the drinks at the bar throughout the day and evening from Clive and Clyde and the housekeeping team Gloria, Gladys and Remember, Jan with his care and attention every day. This has honestly been a holiday of a lifetime and we felt very emotional leaving and can’t wait to return 💕 Tips/extra info: We went the last week of March and I wish I’d taken some warmer clothes. Both drives are cold before sunris

First of all this lodge is fantastic, the staff are truly amazing in making your stay the best it can be. The safari team are excellent in the way they conduct the drives, and try the very best to make the experience great, our guide Stewart and tracker mpilo (hope I’ve spelt this name correctly) made our drives so entertaining even when the animals were hard to track. Our holiday was only marred by the airline delaying our holiday and also our baggage, but the booking team of Emily and Johan were exceptional in helping by arranging connecting flights for us, and offering to replace our lost day with a stay at the safari lodge which we loved. The food was varied and great every night and breakfast too, the lodges were very good and equipped with all you need, and finally lloyd who woke us up every morning with such charm. I really would recommend this as the perfect place to go and have an awesome holiday.