Aerial view of thatched chalets and a turquoise pool scattered through green bush, hills on the horizon

South Africa  ·  Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal

Rhino River Lodge

A family-owned, family-run lodge in the 23,000-hectare Manyoni Private Game Reserve, in the heart of Zululand.

Rhino River Lodge is family-owned and family-run, and you feel it within an hour of arriving. It sits in the Manyoni Private Game Reserve in KZN, a 23,000-hectare Big 5 reserve in the heart of Zululand, some 30 kilometres north of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park. Serious bush, in other words, run by people who treat guests as houseguests.

The lodge's reputation rests on three things: staff who are genuinely welcoming, value that makes you check the bill twice in a good way, and a child-friendly approach to safari that does not involve parking the children somewhere while the adults have the fun. Families come here because the lodge is run by a family, and it shows in the small accommodations that nobody advertises.

An A-frame log-and-thatch chalet glows from inside at dusk, a small deck with red chairs in front
Lights on at the chalet
Relaxed, warm and unpretentious: the sort of safari lodge you recommend to friends with children and then slightly regret, because now they know about it too.

Manyoni supplies the rest. Twenty-three thousand hectares is a great deal of room for lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino, and the lodge's own name gives a fair hint as to which of the five it takes a particular interest in.

Relaxed, warm and unpretentious: the sort of safari lodge you recommend to friends with children and then slightly regret, because now they know about it too.

01

The lodge

Chalet lounge with log walls, a timber staircase to a loft, a grey sectional sofa and stump side tables on a woven rug
Inside a chalet
Two single beds under a draped mosquito net, giraffe-print cushions against a wall of pale logs
Twins, under netting
A bright blue pool in front of a thatched gazebo, acacia trees and a stone wall under a summer sky
The pool

02

Evenings

A table for two with a white cloth set on the sand beside a stone-ringed fire, lanterns hung in the trees at dusk
Dinner in the bush
Canvas director's chairs circle a stone fire pit outside the thatched dining lodge, tables set for dinner inside
The boma fire

Rhino River Lodge

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