Mongena Private Game Lodge

Booked through a fantastic company called 'Hiking Africa Tours' - what an amazing 2 day trip to Mongena Game Lodge. A lovely warm welcome, hard working & friendly staff, fantastic food, fabulous grounds & a comfy lodge, made it a memorable & brilliant trip! Nothing to fault, great value for money & would definitely stay there again. A big thank you to our Game Driver Erin, who made every game drive special. Knowledgeable & warm & insightful, she made you feel as passionate about the bush & wildlife as she was. We stayed at the Lodge (rather than at the Tented section) in Cabin 10, overlooking the pool. Rooms were large & clean, adequate AC, with TV, tea/coffee station, fridge, well placed plug sockets, comfy bed & pillows, mirror & desk. An outside terrace with table & chairs was also a great added touch & we enjoyed sitting out & watching the birds, monkey & deer roaming the grounds. Evenings were tranquil & quiet. Food at Kingfisher restaurant was amazing, & with breakfast, lunch & dinner included in our package, we certainly never went hungry. Had no expectations on our game drives, but we always came away completely happy & satisfied (saw everything from Elephants, wildebeest, jackals, giraffe, zebra, warthogs, crocs, lions). All just an hour & a half from J'burg - amazing! Coming from the UK, I always considered safari's unattainable & expensive, however in reality, every budget is catered for & its not just for the rich. If you're considering it, please please don't hesitate.....& if you do take the plunge, don't hesitate using Hiking Africa Tours & staying at Mongena Game Lodge.

I will begin with my only negative comment about this otherwise amazing experience. The lodge is listed as wheelchair accessible. However, the only restaurant is up a flight of stairs. Restrooms are not easily accessible around the property and when it rained, it was difficult to balance an umbrella while navigating pathways not always level. This lodge is beautiful, with wonderful staff. We loved the game drive and highly recommend our guide, Christopher. He was knowledgeable, friendly, and found both a female and male lion, in different areas. We were able to get amazing photos!

Who would have thought that less than 90 minutes drive from Gauteng one can find oneself in typical South African bushveld, complete with plentiful game … and the Big Five. Sound wonderful? Our recent trip to Mongena was a delight. We chose to stay at Little Mongena for the glamping experience. This proved to be the best decision for us. We love every moment. We’ll add to that attentive, friendly staff who go way beyond the extra mile to ensure that your stay in the bush is everything you could wish for. Knowledgeable game guides keep one interested with information and anecdotes about the wildlife … big and small. In our three days we saw elephants many times, lions on different occasions, both black and white rhino at different times, as well as many buck species, warthogs, jackals (including a little pup) … and to our delight, two Caracals, and a Python. Then, we need to mention the food. Well, the best is to experience that for yourself. Delicious, catering to different tastes, the meals are scrumptious. Will we return? For sure - we can’t wait!

What an awesome day trip from Johannesburg! We went on an absolutely brilliant Game Drive. Our Guide, Rene, was world class (I’ve been on a LOT of game drives). She was full of brilliant info, great jokes and such a vibe! Highly recommend this as an outing with the whole family. We saw awesome sightings and just loved feeling like we’d been away for the whole long weekend.

Travelled to mongena with my best friend and our 2 dads for our first ever safari, we had 1 night in the main lodge and after a long travel from the uk was pleased to be welcomed with a lovely big room each and equally as big bathrooms. After settling in and getting refreshed we were greeted by Shareece who would be our guide during our stay at main lodge. She gave a quick safety brief and we were away on our first trip, there was 4 in our party and another man who was in our van so all in all 5 of us and the guide, I felt this was a lovely amount of people as we had plenty of room in the van to move around and take photos. During our 1 night stay we had 2 safaris, 1 afternoon drive after arriving, and 1 early morning one the next day, I must say Shareece was extremely knowledgeable and tried her best to ensure we saw as many animals as we could without feeling rushed and somehow during our first 2 drives we’d managed to see most of the big 5! I’d say the grounds of mongena were kept well and definitely had the bush African experience we were looking for, there was plenty of impalas and zebras walking round freely much to the delight of our group. The rooms were lovely and clean, beds comfy and the bathrooms were also nice and clean, we did only stay here for one night so can’t comment on frequency of cleaning etc. The food at the kingfisher restaurant was absolutely amazing for each meal we had while there, and while soft and alcoholic drinks weren’t included between the 4 of us hardly spent anything compared to the price of the uk! Overall for our first safari experience we all throughly enjoyed the accommodation and game drives we did and were happy with the animals we did see. I will say at the time of year we went I would definitely recommend taking a jumper/coat as a minimum because the morning/evening drives can be pretty chilly with the wind when the sun isn’t around!

What amazing accommodation! We recently stayed at the Barn House at Mongena private game lodge - and what a lovely surprise. It was far better than we expected. The decor was stunning and there was every utensil and piece of equipment you could have hoped for. We felt right at home from the moment we arrived. The attention to detail and the cozy atmosphere made our stay unforgettable. It is unfenced so we were treated to the real African experience of having giraffe walk past while braaing and before our morning game drive we had the excitement of 6 lion resting close by to the Barn House. I would also recommend eating at their Kingfisher restaurant - they have superb food - such an amazing chef and staff.... I definitely recommend staying there. Mongena has a variety of different accommodation and I've had the pleasure of staying at both Little Mongena tented camp (glamping) and the Barn House and I can honestly recommend both.