Tembe Elephant Park

We spent two days in this nice park and in this lodge, completely managed by people from the local community. Our tent was cozy, nice and with enough space for bags and stuff and the tents are very far one from another, that is very appreciable. We loved the outside shower. Meals are good. Our guide Thulani was very nice and skilled and it was a pleasure to have game drives with him. Meals are good. Something I didn’t like was the lack of transparency about price of beverage during safari and meals: it was completely unclear, they informed us only during our second day – and only on my request - that a bottle of white wine for sundowner costed just 3 time a glass, otherwise I would have ordered the bottle since the first day. We were told that the red wine for dinner costed Rand 170 but on the final bill we found Rand 190. For breakfast, I ordered an espresso coffee that was charged Rand 20 and I was not informed about it. I think these matters are very important. The place (park, tents, safari, our guide) would be rated 5 but for this lack of clarity about price I rate it 4.

Having not been very happy with my last stay, I decided to give the lodge another try and take a friend who had never been and wanted to go. The booking was very straight forward and it was much better for us having a 4x4 so could drive ourselves to the lodge and hide when we wanted. Unfortunately they still don't tell new arrivals about the hide and that you can ask your guide to take you and this really needs to become part of their standard introduction. The food had improved from last time and whilst the portions are still not big, just go up for seconds. They don't tell you that you can but for us of a prop forward build, it's the only way you'll get enough food. The crème brûlée our first night was one of the best I have ever had! The chicken the second night was back to being over cooked but overall the food was better. The guiding was better this time with Kulu as our guide who was very knowledgeable and patient. The road network is not massive and will need some attention after the heavy rains this year but this is better than what I had seen elsewhere in KZN. The accommodation was very comfortable with some nice touches like handwashing powder next to the sink, a small fresh milk and tables for leaving suitcases on. It's still a long way to come if you are not doing Kosi bay or Mozambique but I'm pleased to say it's now back on my list of go-to places to stay in KZN.

This is the second visit to Tembe and didn't learn the first time. The staff on the whole are brilliant but the guides are awful I'm sorry to say. They do not understand that foreign travellers are on the vehicles and do not want to bird spot as do the local visitors. This time to add insult to us 60% of conversation was in Zulu (not Africaan) because the others in the vehicle were local. We spent hours looking for birds and did not mix it up with animals. It is my own fault should not have gone because my first visit was identical apart from the language. If they have any thoughts of attracting the higher paying foreign visitors they should change drastically. I was not the only customer complaint of this. We confronted the guide (Philip) who surprisingly was confrontational saying that the other guests wanted to view birds and would continue. We did not go on the remainder of the three game drives because of this. We have been visiting South Africa since 1994 at least twice a year and have not come across this before. Remainder of the staff amazing but sorry the guides are a law unto their own. Other vehicles did have good game viewings but not us. If you are thinking of going as a foreign visitor I would honestly look at this review it is all truthful and don't want others to put up with what we had to

Special place with very comfortable accommodation, good food and amazing game drives. We had a wonderful stay - 100% recommend. The family tent was beautiful - we were very glad it had electric blankets for the night time chill. The outdoor shower was perfect for the warmer days with Guinea fowl poking their noses around. We had some incredible animal encounters and memories to last a lifetime.

Another wonderful trip to Tembe Elephant Park! We stayed at Tembe Elephant Lodge. Our tent was in good condition and had air conditioning (which we didn't need). Everything was clean. Good quality linen. Food is simple but delicious. Staff are friendly and attentive. Plenty of birdlife and animals. Didn't see many elephants this time but our encounters with the elephants were amazing. The elephants were very relaxed and didn't seem bothered by the vehicle. We didn't see lions or leopard but we did see fresh lion and leopard tracks. The other guests staying at Tembe Elephant Lodge saw both lion and leopard during their stay. A great place to relax!

What a fabulous experience. Although, I'm not the biggest fan of tents, the tented accommodation was good. Tents are very spacious and clean - the outdoor shower is a very interesting experience itself. Meals are delicious and portions are perfect (on the small side), but if you are a big eater make sure you bring some snacks with. Service is friendly and polite. Our ranger/game driver Vezi was absolutely amazing - great knowledge and brilliant sense of humour - he made our game drives truly memorable. The park is marketed as big 5, but you mainly see the elephants - their are very familiar with game drive vehicles. We were lucky enough to see 2 lions, buffalo and elephants obviously. No rhino and no leopard. The park is run by local community which is another great addition.