Great Fish River Lodge

Accommodation in one of nine private suites, three meals daily, morning and evening Big 5 game drives in an open 4x4 with a qualified ranger and tracker, bush / nature walks (subject to availability), selected house beverages, laundry, emergency medical evacuation insurance, transfers to and from the lodge airstrip, and Wi-Fi throughout. Premium drinks, spa treatments and helicopter charters are billed separately. A Conservation, Community and Reserve (CC&R) Levy of R1,500 per adult per night and R750 per guest under 19 is added on top.

Standard shared stays at Great Fish River Lodge are adults-only (18+). For families travelling with children, the entire 9-suite lodge can be booked on a sole-use basis — your group then has the run of the property and the standard age restrictions don't apply. For families on a non-sole-use stay, consider Melton Manor (sole-use family villa, all ages) or Uplands Homestead (sole-use, all ages) on the same reserve.

Great Fish River Lodge is perched on a steep bank above the Great Fish River with expansive views over the Kwandwe reserve. Each of the nine suites has a covered veranda with its own plunge pool, en-suite bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers, separate WC, twin basins, and personal bar. Game viewing density is exceptional with rarely more than 30 guests on the entire 30,000-hectare reserve.

Kwandwe is approximately 160 km (1h45m drive) from Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), or 185 km (2 hr) from East London. The reserve has its own airstrip with a daily scheduled flight from Port Elizabeth — the fastest option. Transfers to and from the lodge airstrip are included. After checking in at Heatherton Towers reception, you will be transferred to Great Fish River Lodge by reserve vehicle (15 to 30 minutes).

Morning and evening Big 5 game drives in an open 4x4 with a qualified ranger and tracker — early-morning drives at dawn over the Great Fish River, late-afternoon drives that often include night-drive sightings of aardvark, aardwolf, bat-eared fox and porcupine. Interpretive bush walks with an armed ranger reveal the smaller wonders — lichen, mosses, ferns, raptor nests, and close encounters with antelope, giraffe, warthog, and occasionally buffalo. Rhino tracking and conservation experiences are available on request. Mountain biking and star bed sleep-outs can be booked separately.

Kwandwe applies a CC&R Levy of R1,500 per adult per night and R750 per guest under 19, charged separately from the room rate. The fee contributes directly to anti-poaching work, community upliftment programmes, eco-education initiatives, and the teams involved in direct conservation employment. The booking widget includes the levy in your final per-night total.

60+ days before arrival — no forfeit. 30 to 60 days — 50% of booking total forfeited. Less than 30 days — 100% of booking total forfeited.