Kariega Game Reserve Ukhozi Lodge

From the minute we arrived until we left - everything was perfect. Welcome drinks, friendly and efficient staff, stunning lodge and gorgeous bedroom cabins with plunge pool (too cold for me!). As we absolutely love our food, we were very pleasantly surprised with delicious meals 3 x a day - see photos!! Not forgetting the main event: the fabulous game drives. One at 6am for 3 hours and another at 4pm for 3 hours. Our guide JJ was super knowledgeable and showed us the maximum amount of animals - he just found them every day!! Thanks very much for an amazing stay xx

The best Reserve 4th time and can't wait to go again.Staff friendly and nothing is a problem. Brendon our game ranger was AMAZING, knew his stuff and really went the extra mile.Foix and accommodation highly recommended. Thank you Kariega for a amazing 3 days

Most amazing experience ever. We booked this for our honeymoon as it had been a life time dream of my husband’s and it did not disappoint. I would recommend it to everyone. The food was delicious, the service was brilliant, you couldn’t ask for more. We couldn’t have been looked after better. The managers were so lovely, and often made us laugh too. Megan, our guide, was the complete highlight of the trip. Megan was outstanding, not only incredibly knowledgeable but also very personable! If Megan said she was going to try to see an animal she did everything she possibly could to make that happen. Her driving is incredible and she was determined to get you as close as possible while still being incredibly respectful to the animals. I have a million more compliments I could give her. Best experience ever.

First visited Ukhozi Lodge in 2023. Our 2nd visit did not disappoint. The lodge is lovely and the suites are spacious with everything you could want. The reserve has been extended since our last visit with predators being separated and furthest away from the lodge. However, the daily drives always produced sightings you wouldn't want to miss. Our ranger Megan, assisted by Kianna, delivered on every level and made each drive an adventure. Ask to do the river cruise which was a lovely way to spend a morning. Kariega Ukhozi is well worth a visit if you're in the Eastern Cape.

We recently returned from an eight night stay on the Kariega reserve as part of a small group tour with Wildlife Worldwide. We stayed at Ukhozi and River Lodges and Settlers Drift. Each was of a high standard but smaller and more intimate than the much larger Main lodge. Each had its own character. Ukhozi was really relaxing with resident bushbuck and massive millipedes seen on the way to the main hub. River Lodge was in a superb riverside setting with Pied kingfisher easily spotted from the frontage. The lodge's speciality was river trips down to the ocean. Wonderfully different! Finally, Settlers Drift was luxury tenting. Attention to detail was evident everywhere although even their staff were a little stretched when the elephants decided to wreck the incoming water pipes! Kariega is a superb example or rewilding in action. We saw two more male lion awaiting release and five cheetah also nearing release. With fences of newly acquired farmland being removed there is much to see. We were exceptionally lucky to have Wayne and Brendan as our guides. I've been on many safaris and , in their own areas of expertise, they're as good as it gets. They also happened to be two really nice people who did their utmost to educate, entertain and satisfy our requests. Kariega is suitable for first timers after the big five or specialist photographers/veterans like us who were after specific species. The density of land cruisers/guests was low and sightings were often just us. The species available were good. Many antelope species ranging from duikers to Nyala to Eland. Ungulates included white rhino and excellent sightings of Black. Elephant were plentiful and ridiculously laid back. The birding count was high with Crowned eagle and Knysna turaco being especially prized. However, for us, the trip was built upon trying to see and photograph Caracal, a cat I've failed to see in over twenty safaris. Kariega and the team turned up trumps with three sightings of a female hunting that totaled nearly two hours of photographing and observing behaviour. Getting to Kariega involved twenty four hours of travel from the UK. Was it worth it? Absolutely!

One of the best experiences we have ever had. A tough one to follow. We went to the paradise island of Mauritius for the second part of the holiday and said it was hard to beat our experience in Kariega. From the minute we arrived we were looked after so well. the food was amazing, staff super attentive and friendly.our guide was simply the best.Lloyd you made the whole experience one we will always remember. You were knowledgeable beyond your years….apart from grasses . You made the safari such a wonderful time.we saw everything we wanted to see and more. We had fun, laughter, full days, full tummies and wonderful sleep. The rooms are first class. Huge and comfortable. Each with a plunge pool. The staff cannot do enough for you. Food was first class. No complaints at all. Our group bonded well which also made the holiday. Forever in our hearts and we hope one day to return. We might need to be on commission as we keep telling people how wonderful Kariega is.