Guest reviews Aha Thakadu River Camp, Madikwe

by kdmacadams

Photography/Game viewing

Our game drives provided excellent opportunities to interact with the wildlife, with great photo ops throughout the day. I was amazed at the diversity of animals and the beauty of the land we saw throughout the safari drives. It was truly an exceptional experience!

by tebogomoema Rivonia, South Africa

Birthday Outing

I certainly enjoyed my trip and the staff made it more memorable. We had an amazing aha experience worth every money spend. The room was clean, we saw the big 5 in just two game drives, also had a game drive in the rain. Will certainly go back any day

by Mobile234763

Unbelievable Experience

There is nothing I can say but Fabulous! 5 stars in all aspects! Our ranger Vincent was great. The food was great and tents were clean and comfortable. They are organized, safe, and eco friendly. Thank you so much....

by hayleyf363 Lincolnshire, United Kingdom

A little tired now...

I find this one of the more difficult reviews to write as I do genuinely want people to support community lodges in Africa. However, I also want to ensure people make an informed decision based on fact rather than emotion. After all it costs a lot of money to stay in Safari Lodge. Thakadu is set in a beautiful location and has a viewing platform overlooking the river. This is truly beautiful and we spent many hours watching elephants and antelopes visiting the river. The rooms are more than adequate but like the rest of the lodge, they are now looking tired and in need in of some TLC. For us this doesn't matter so much, but for others wanting to visit, it does look quite shabby in places. The food was ok, but it was nothing special and service was painfully slow, so much so, we decided after one day not to go to lunch as it took just too much time. We were lucky to have Billy as our ranger and he truly is one one the best rangers we have ever had. We have done thousands of game drives and he is up there with best. Sadly, right now game viewing is quite poor in this area. The cheetahs are up north and as such to far away to have any viewings, the female cheetah up north has just given birth and as such is off limits and the wild dogs have been put in a boma up north to stop the lions killing them. Whilst other lodges in the north of the reserve have plenty of sightings, without Billy, the sightings here would be dismil in comparison. We visit Madikwe on a regular basis and have stayed at many lodges within. The variety and numbers of animals seen here fell far short of other places we have stayed at. The staff were quite indifferent and there was an absence of any real warmth or atmosphere here. I hope that some of these things can be rectified as I wish any community lodges every success. However, I also believe that unless shortfalls are highlighted, things don't change and hence the difficulties in writing such reviews. Even though it is cheaper to stay here, I don't think we would return again. I do however, wish them every success in the future.

by Janethak Bagan, Myanmar

Excellent safari lodge

Fantastic place to stay. Quiet peaceful and incredibly well run. The staff were helpful polite nothing too much trouble. All our game drives were spectacular you certainly get up close and personal with the animals and the rangers were informative interesting and went out of their way to make sure we saw as many animals as possible. Small jeeps small tracks and we even went completely off road to catch site of a small pack of wild dogs. Brilliant! I would highly recommend this game lodge. Thank you for the experience. We loved it.