it was a very nice stay and good food lovely people.

it was difficult to find

Wonderful tented camp on the edge of the river. Very comfortable accommodation, good food and the loveliest team running the place. We had amazing game drives, saw the Big 5 and more!

The hospitality, location

no WiFi in the room😢😞

We had an amazing time at Thakadu River Camp. The staff were extremely friendly, Patience and her team were very helpful. Our ranger Billy was very knowledgeable and the game drive’s were fantastic and lots of fun. It was an incredible experience and we will definitely go back.

Nothing.

clean, friendly staff and beautiful accommodation

Our second stay at Thakadu & we had a great time, staff are friendly and welcoming, game drives were great-maybe a little too much bird watching. Food was delicious. The viewing deck has perfect views of the elephants playing/drinking in the river. rooms are comfortable and clean.

If you’re having a hot breakfast the service is very slow as it’s made to order and when the lodge is full it can take an hour to get your food, almost might be worth them taking pre orders like they do with dinner or having a buffet. No generator for power outages.

The tent accommodation was lovely, private and quiet.

Earliest check in was 2pm and lunch went on until 2.30. Getting to the lodge isn’t an exact science and we were offered lunch at 2.20. Too late for us so we missed out altogether!

the location and the unique setting. the game drive was excellent

Very nice location. We saw elephant family bathing directly in front of the pool. The reserve has so many animals, very nice to see all. I was in krüger and pilanesburg before and can say this was the nice game drive experience so far! Thank you all!

The staff and food were excellent, amazing drives with very knowledgable guides. We felt at home!

nothing except some of the rooms are a bit of a walk (through beautiful trees) to the main lodge so you have to plan a bit ahead of you have to be somewhere at a certain time.

Thakadu is situated inside the Madikwe reserve, which is a massive, malaria-free reserve of over 75k ha. The camp itself is about 30 minutes drive from the Molatedi gate, so if you are driving, it is convenient to get to; once you have arrived at the gate - the route is well-signposted and easy to navigate. The camp is situated on a river, with superb sightings of game from the pool and dining areas. We missed a wild dog kill in the area just 20 meters from the pool patio because we were out on a game drive! We had some brilliant sightings that afternoon - win some' lose some. You can't be in two places at one time... We found the lounge, pool, and dining areas tastefully appointed and decorated in a 'safari' style. The tented room was large and very comfortable, and the bed was enormous. The bathroom and shower areas were generous, and the water was always hot. Toiletries were generous, the beds were turned out, and the mosquito nets were down while we were out on the afternoon game drive. The rooms have a lovely balcony overlooking the bush on the riverbank; you have to lock them carefully to keep the naughty vervet monkeys out! We were most impressed by the staff, who always tried their best to help, and there always seemed to be someone around when needed. Their command of English must be complemented, and most communicate extremely well, which must be commended in a rural area like Madikwe! There was undoubtedly a luxury feel, and we felt pampered; we had our special dietary needs well-catered for, and the cooking was delicious and generous.

The ranger assigned to us seemed a little impatient at times, and we felt that he could have made more of an effort to communicate on the radio with others to ensure more sightings because, after all, that's the main reason we were there. We were in the furthest tent from the main lodge, which meant we had a long way each time we wanted to be there. There were some minor issues with the bathroom, the raised basins are not the most comfortable or efficient. However, they do look good! Mealtimes could also be a bit quicker; we found the whole serving rigmarole a bit too long-winded; this would have given us more time to enjoy the pool and lounge areas.

I loved everything - size and comfort of the tents, fabulous food, great location, friendly staff, great animal sightings, pool with view.

nothing!

Brilliant! Loved that it was a community project and a little rustic. Not as polished as a 5* which can sometimes be too formal but better for it! The staff were warm and friendly. The food exquisite. Exclusive feel with only 12 tents therefore there is a jovial spirit amongst the guests which we really enjoyed. Loved Agnes for her laugh and Satis for being our rogue ranger! Note - we were in no 9 and 10 which is far but good for walking off all that food! Monkeys are cheeky too - stole my toast 🤣

Nothing I can think of

Thank you to all the wonderful staff...your smiles were amazing.

I wish we could've seen a leapard....

Everything - it’s location, facilities, food

Amazing location over the river where animals come to drink and a group of beautiful elephants bathing there few times a day. Highly experienced game drivers. Only 12 rooms which makes the entire experience very private. Food was 5 star worthy.

Service during meals is slow. It might be intentional in order to show formality but I prefer meals to go quicker. Rooms are set one after the other on the river. Higher room numbers will require ~5 minute walk to the lobby and will have no wifi.

Fabulous lodge, exceptionally good food, lovely atmosphere in the boma, every tent private, spacious and overlooking the river. Our guide was knowledgeable and respectful to his clients, colleagues and the wildlife.

Clear instructions on which gate to enter at were absent and our sat-nav tried to take us there via the delivery roads (which don’t exist!). Our guide was a little surly at times and his English hard to understand.

Nice location and tented rooms with everything you need. Good food and nice common area with a great terrace and a small pool overlooking a waterhole (lots of elephants at our arrival, amazing sight). Two game drives without any amazing sights except for two Rhinos but it's Madikwe, not a zoo!

Nothing

Is a like to stay in a movie set. Wonderful

Staff are amazing. Very friendly. Moodiness and Percy have great teams. Vincent the ranger was excellent.

The food was below par. Wrong fit for Bush. No understanding of children menu or eating times. Meat was poor quality. Small servings Small range. The buildings are old. Pool water freezing and deck lay out completely wrong. Had to walk very far to last tents. Suggest making game drives later in the morning. Most people didn't go in rhe morning. Times have changed. People are tired. Waking up at 5am shouldn't be a punishment. The lodge is 'tired' and needs a serious upgrade.

The food is nice and the service staff is good.

The guide could give more information during the game drives.

Breakfast was the only decent meal that I ate although it was very limited

When booking via booking.com it does not tell you about any extra costs until when you are done booking and you get an email telling you that there are additional costs,almost R400 extra costs pp No one mentioned anything about the 21km very rough dust road to the lodge Upon arrival I did not have lunch which was meant to be part of the package because I was told that there was no food left and the food was to be served in the game drive and they couldn’t make anything for me Come dinner time there was only 2 options of starter to choose from.2 options of main meal to choose from and only 1 dessert option.there was no menu whatsoever and they served very small portions Breakfast time they just assume that everyone has to be at the game drive and again if you don’t go to the game drive you have to wait for everyone else to come back for you to be served.this was meant to be at 10 and I complained but only to be served at 9..the staff is sooooooo not friendly even the manager who kept on saying that there is nothing else that she can do..boring experience and I will never recommend this place to anyone it’s a total waste of money and time.