Guest reviews Southern Camp At Kapama Private Game Reserve

by antoinette775 Pretoria, South Africa

Kapama Southern Camp getaway

As always a wonderful stay at Kapama. Friendly, accommodating staff, beautiful accommodation, excellent food. Making sure my daughter had her gluten free, vegetarian meals. Seeing the big 5 almost guaranteed. 😉 Just a relaxing break to make us forget about what is going on in the real world. We’ll be back again very soon.

by Jessica M Antibes, France

Fantastic experience

We lived an amazing experience and had such a wonderful stay in kapama lodge , our rangers were extremely professional and knowledgeable, we learnt and saw so much of the African bush . All the staff at the lodge were incredibly nice and caring . The food is delicious from morning to night, every single meal was delicious. Thank you so much to the chef that accommodated with vegetarian dishes for me . I would love to come back again ,

by wintertymecold_ Fort Myers, Florida

Best place I’ve ever stayed

From the time I booked my stay at Kapama Southern they did everything to make me feel special and welcome, including helping me book a spa treatment for when I arrive and an elephant encounter. Pictures do not do this place justice, you need to go and see for yourself. Everywhere you go you’re surrounded by beautiful flowers, animals roaming around sand such beautiful architecture. I booked the private Villa with pool and it exceeded my expectations. I know they suggest 3 days and that was perfect for my stay, but I’d highly recommend 5 at least to fully enjoy the activities the hotel has to offer. I loved going out with Titus and Elliot for game drives. I’ve been on safari before, but this was so great to get some new photos of Lion cubs, rhinos and even a leopard eating an impala. Kapama Southern is fabulous and I recommend to anyone reading that you book your stay immediately. Thank you all so much for helping me celebrate my birthday.

by Tarin M

Terrible

Ok so here’s my review of Kapama. There were really only two good things about this place, the accommodation which we paid for and were expecting and the lovely food. But unfortunately that’s where it ends. Aksh and I are avid safari go-ers as you all know already, and so many of you have asked for reviews everytime we go to a new place! I was so excited to try Kapama after a few I know have been to River lodge and rave about it, I decided to choose Southern camp as it had the villa option and seemed better from the advertising. But wow was it disappointing 🥺🙈 If you are a serious bush person, this lodge is not the place to be at. Ranger and tracker we got were by far the worst we’ve ever had from 5 years of wonderful safari visits around SA. Guide & tracker : As a private concession with many game vehicles going out daily the animals are territorial and are in known parts of the reserve. But our Ranger was awful, It was more a checklist for our Ranger to show us big 5 for 5 minutes each and then drive aimlessly for the rest of the drives, as soon as a big sighting was done the rest of a drive seemed to have been wasted and we drove around aimlessly following no fresh tracks and listening to no leads from the radio while the rest of the guests were out seeing incredible sightings the exact same time. Seeing the big 5 isn’t a checklist for us, as we’ve seen them already. It is more the adrenaline and excitement of chasing fresh tracks and animal movements and seeing quality sightings. Even if I didn’t see the big 5 I would’ve been so much happier if I just had an exhilarating guide and tracker that shared their knowledge. I also asked him questions about the certain prides and packs and he could not respond. Our driver was driving in an area of the park that had no fresh tracks for 3 hours and when we asked the tracker what we were looking for he agreed there was nothing on that side of the park. Service : On the second day I requested an iron and ironing board, and over 40 minutes later and 4 phone calls to reception we finally got an iron, that was just shocking service for a 5 star place?! 😂 Room service is also not an option at this place despite it being a 5 star lodge so that was also interesting? Birthday dinner : My boyfriend tried to organize a birthday dinner which the manager spoilt on the day of arrival. Later that day we were told that actually we can’t request any special menu and will be served the same food everyone else will be eating. We were quoted R1750 over and above the R40 000 To be served the same food as everyone else. Every other lodge we have visited go over and beyond and out of their way to make occasions special, including setting up lunch or dinner with no extra charge. Let me not forget to mention that they still tried to charge us for this R1750 at checkout and receptionist told me that it was drinks we had at the bar (drinks were included in our package). Overall view : Sadly these last few points along with other small issues in addition to this which I won’t mention all takeaway every extra effort that could have been made considering this is supposedly a 5 star lodge and the experiences we know family members have had at River lodge. Regardless of this experience we still made sure that we tipped our waiter, Ranger and tracker despite the dismal efforts we received. A very disappointing experience for me considering I chose this place out of many lodges to spend my birthday at, we gave Kapama the feedback and really weren’t expecting much and alas all we received was a “Sorry” 😂 so while you all ask me about this reserve. I think it’s an incredible reserve but don’t go to Southern camp. I know many people who have had a better experience at River Lodge

by mailJ5748ND Munich, Germany

Spontaneous 4 day safari

We stayed for 4 days at the southern camp for a spontaneous trip to south africa, flying in from Europe. The trip was amazing. The lodge is very nice, the villa super clean and beautiful, the staff very attentive and professional - and not to forget the ranger with whome we did the daily game drives. Overall a special adventure and the lodge a very good choice for couples or famalies.