Reviews of Ecca Lodge

"Just look at the pictures of this place and make your own mind up!

A wonderful experience all round." See all these reviews: 14n in South Africa

"Knowledgeable and very experienced rangers, great fun lovely accommodation.

very impressive organisation of the park a really good experience seeing a superb selection of animals sometimes at close quarters!" See all these reviews: 18n in South Africa

"Not the tailor-made safari we've experienced at other lodges where you fall over game as soon as you set foot outside, but this added to the adventure. Each trip felt like a real journey of discovery and on the whole we were richly rewarded.

All the staff were welcoming and again nothing was too much trouble. The atmosphere of the reserve grabbed hold of all of us and had us wanting more. The views from the northern hills were captivating.

Like at Hog Hollow we could easily have stayed longer and may just have to make a return visit." See all these reviews: 10n in South Africa

"The perfect formula would be Samara lodge and rooms in Kwandwe reserve! A more compact reserve than Samara, the Kwandwe game and birdlife was plentiful, findable and approachable. Had the lodge been to the same standard this would have been unbeatable. However on day 2 the temperature went into the mid 30s and we, along with all the other guests, found the rooms built in such a way as to make air conditioning essential. We had it but it required the skill of an astronaut to work the controls and the conditioner outlet is cunningly sited behind a wall to make the bathroom area icy while making no impact on the heat in the bedroom. Moreover the design of both the main lodge and the rooms allows the sun to bake all the surrounding decking and heat up the concrete walls to provide highly effective radiators.

We then had a farcicle episode in which we were gradually deprived of first our face flannels then our hand towels on successive linen exchanges - a situation which the lodge management appeared unable to grasp when informed or then remedy. When they finally got the message we found that all the hand towels were in the laundry and there were insufficient clean ones to go round so we were left without. The same staff continually layed the tables for breakfast and lunch out in the sun on the decking only to be asked by guests to move them into the shade inside the lodge.

We also noticed that we and one other party were the only guests staying for 3 nights. All the others during our stay were one or two night stoppers. However in their wisdom the management had placed us in one of the rooms furthest from the lodge. A crippled back episode was not helped by the long walks to and from our room. The staff were however wonderfully helpful in replacing my exhausted supply of painkillers.

On the plus side we were lucky to benefit from a 'special deal' whereby we qualified for a private guide, tracker and vehicle for the duration of our stay. Even better was the fact that our guide was none other than the reserve's head ranger. Absolutely wonderful and our time on the drives amply compensated for th shortcomings with the rooms and housekeeping." See all these reviews: 12n in South Africa

"All of the places we stayed at and visited were great but Kwandwe has to be rated as the best. Everything about it was memorable. The safari drives were very well done and we saw everything that we hoped to see - and lots more. They were fun, interesting and educational. The place itself is magical with great lodges, food and service." See all these reviews: 6n in South Africa

"Great place to view animals, although hard to find in quantity, seeing perhaps one of the big five each day. Although did not see a leopard. Next time a park with more anaimals and the same viewing privacy (not many trucks/drives) was great would be ideal

The staff are wonderful and great lodges to stay in by the river.

Trackers are knowledgable and friendly, eating freshly made pancakes in the bush whilst watching wild animals was fab.
Staff were very friendly" See all these reviews: 6n in South Africa; 4n in Zambia