Umkumbe Safari Lodge

What can I say… wow. Umkumbe River Lodge was nothing short of perfect. The staff are friendly, welcoming, accomodating and everything in between. You can see that they are genuinely passionate about their job. The room was clean, beautiful and has everything you need. The safari guides are friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. I am so eternally grateful for my experience and cannot recommend Umkumbe River Lodge highly enough!

We had such a wonderful experience here. The staff is very friendly, everything is clean, and the food is fantastic. We saw all of the Big Five and more. Our guide, Marko, was knowledgeable and did an excellent job guiding us through the bush. I wish our stay here was a little longer. I would definitely come back here. Note: alcoholic drinks are not included and are tallied at the end of your stay.

Great lodge with a great location. A very nice and dedicated young team tries to fulfill almost every wish of the guest. The equipment of the accommodation is great. Very clean and tidy. The food is good and is served together around the fire or on the terrace of the main building. the safari guides are very experienced and show the guest the complete big 5. I can definitely recommend this lodge. Super friendly and welcoming, great value for money.

An even better experience than what I had imagined or even hoped to get. The guides/trackers are genuinely excited about these animals and getting us the best experience possible. We had Ty & Ford for most of the trip and Marko & Joe for some as well and both very knowledgeable about everything we saw but also in finding the hard to see animals such as Leopards, Lions, Wild dogs and heaps more. The food was incredible at every meal and the rooms/grounds were very well maintained. Would recommend this to anyone asking about Safari in South Africa.

What a superb experience we had at Umkumbe. All the staff were most helpful in making our stay a really happy experience, from two game drives each day bush walks and good food. We saw lots of game on each drive too.

In January 2023 my wife and I went on safari in South Africa prior to going to Cape Town to embark on a cruise.. I had some concerns about the excursion since we were celebrating our 62nd wedding anniversary (both of us are 82). Although we are both pretty healthy, the hosts and other guests were fantastic in tolerating 2 people who are not as nimble as they once were.The company picked us up at our hotel in Johannesburg and took us to the first camp, Kruger Adventure lodge in Kruger. Commute was about 5 or 6 hours. We spent two days in Kruger and thenwe were taken from Kruger Camp to Sabi Sands Game Reserve. We were lodged in a beautiful Tented Camp in the bush named Umkumbe Bush Camp. I cannot say enough about the quality, ambiance, client care and service the lodge staff provided. It was, in a word, outstanding. Accommodations were wonderful, game drives hard to describe unless you were there. Our Guide for the drives – Jacques, was extremely knowledgeable and anticipated the movements and locations of the game unbelievably well. We saw all of the Big 5 and other animals up close and personal from our open top land rover. It was certainly the highlight of our trip. I cannot express the quality of this part of the five day trip. On the fifth day we were picked up at Umkumbe Bush Camp and taken back to our hotel in Johannesburg.I give agency and staff and the camps and staff a hearty ‘Thank You’ for a memorable trip. We recommend it highly. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a solid 10.Richard and Marilyn H

We did the night safari with Umkumbe and it was, hands-down, my BEST wildlife experience yet (and I’ve had a lot).Elsabe was our guide and Forward was our tracker - they were incredible. They know exactly what their guests want and how to give it to them, but they also have a beautiful way of making even the smallest things interesting (they even got us excited about Impala, like, right?!?!)I would 10/10 recommend this safari, even if it is the only thing you do while you’re there. Trust.

We were able to see the big 5 and some more animals even though it was raining for weeks! Our guide Jess was amazing, there are 2 game drives per day and you can have coffee time with snacks in between.Also the staff at the lodge were so kind and the food was absolutely delicious! Bravo to the chef!! We spend Valentine's Day and there was a special dinner for all of us and also heart shape cookies :) those details are really special. I give a solid 10 for the Umkumbe Lodge and all the staff, so glad we made there as we had to pospone our plans because of covid on 2020. Best honeymoon ever!

We just returned from our trip to Africa and I can say that without a doubt Umkumbe was my favorite place that we stayed. I had zero expectations coming into our stay and truly loved every moment. It was the perfect way to kick off our trip. Our guide Tyron was fantastic and we loved Moses, the tracker who joined us for the evening drives. Our room was spacious, clean and private with such nice touches. And the food was delicious! Matilda is the most amazing cook -- we really enjoyed every home-cooked, fresh meal. I also liked the schedule, while it did feel a little camp like, it was perfect for the experience. Everyone who works at Umkumbe is so genuinely nice and helpful and wants to ensure that their guests have a wonderful stay. Thank you, Umkumbe!!