Honeyguide Tented Safari Camps - Mantobeni

This is an exceptional property in the Manyeleti Game Reserve adjacent to the Kruger National Park. It is a magical place where Impala's roam the property and the elephants come to drink water from the pool. The "tents" are very nice with toilet facilities and showers and comfortable beds. The food was good, but the staff are the best! They do everything they can to meet your needs and wants. Everyday there are two game drives into the reserve where you can get very close to amazing game animals. The guides on these drives are very good at their jobs. Ours was named Brilliant and he truly was brilliant. He can find animals, birds and snakes at distance and at night in places I can barely see. He is amazing! We want to thank the staff for making our stay very special-Dan, Mavis, Trevor, Previous, Noa and other...and especially Brilliant!

Experience with elephants was special, but the lodge needs some TLC and lacks attentio to detail

Property was nice and relaxing; the Elephants at the pool were amazing. Food was good but a menu should be provided at dinner given you order your main course at lunch, and by dinner time you have forgotten what each course is. A couple of times I didn't like the dessert, and if I had had a menu I would have realized and not had the dessert, and therefore not wasted food. Housekeeping may need to be more diligent with the mosquito net as it's opened while guests are out on their morning game drive and not closed until they are out on their evening game drive. I found a scorpion in the bed one night - we were very lucky I saw it by my pillow before jumping into bed! Game drives need more variety - there are a lot of animals in the park, so as amazing as lions are, it's lazy to just take guests to see the same ones for 3 hours during every drive. Other lodges talk to the guests more and we know certain animals habitat in certain other areas of the park (we did the same circuit many times!). I know both myself and other guests eventually had to ask our guides to take us somewhere else so we could try and see some other animals, which we did end up seeing, much to everyone's delight. Also ensure every guest gets the warning about the 'thieving' monkeys and hiding their stuff, as well as needing a chaperone when walking around the camp in the dark - other guests didn't get these warnings and lost possession to monkeys getting into their tents. Wonderful stay otherwise.

We did actually have Elephants two times at the pool. The Staff and Guides are awesome. We stayed for 11 nights ( we did do 3 independent days ). Food is excellent, wines are excellent. Nathan, the manager was also awesome, and our driver Daniel was also, you guessed it...awesome.

Manyeleti game reserve is an amazing safari area. Our guide Anton and tracker Johnson were superb, and had so much knowledge to share, not only of the animals but the bird life and the flora and fauna and in general the amazing interdependence of nature and the circle of life. One of the best safari experiences and I have had a few. Thankyou. The camp on the other hand is looking very tired, and the customer service was very average. Can I suggest that a thermos flask of ice cold water is supplied in every tent. We were advised to only drink the water from the 2 taps at the main dining area. A long walk if the elephants get in the way or it is a warm day/ night.! The fire pit area needs a face lift as the cushions are faded and tired looking. Rusks before the early morning drive were tasteless. Snacks at sunset were always peanuts and dried fruit - no biltong ( to show off local delicacies). Waiting staff were very off hand with their service. We only found the hide by the water hole on our last day as the orientation lady did not mention it. I needed to ask 3x for a laundry bag and still never received one. These are small criticisms but not difficult to fix to make it an amazing experience. I hope this is constructive criticism, and helpful.

We saw all the Big Five as well as much more. The food and service was awesome. The lodging was comfortable right in the middle of nature.

Spent 4 nights at Honeyguide during a recent trip around South Africa and it was he absolute highlight. 2 long game viewing drives a day - never more than 6 people to a car. The guides were a highlight, and Anton and Douglas took fantastic care of us during the trip - we learned so much and it really made the experience much more enjoyable. Lions, elephants, rhinos galore and even an extended visit with a cheetah. Because this is a concession, you can go off road to get very close to some very large animals. The tented accommodation was luxurious although noise travels fairly easily among tents. But it is spacious and you will occasionally have elephants wandering through the camp - which is great. Food is served buffet style and is all to a high standard, particularly the generous breakfast. Would highly recommend for a wonderful safari experience

We thoroughly enjoyed our two night stay with Honeyguide Tented Safari Camp. We had four amazing game drives guided by the very knowledgeable Anton and our tracker, Johnson. They, and the rest of the staff, really made an effort to take care of our comfort and questions. They even found olives for my martini in the bush!!! We had wonderful close encounters with four of the "big five" including a couple of elephants drinking from the plunge pool near where we had lunch. The platform tents were very comfortable and we felt very safe at night while we listened to the animals doing their thing all around us. The menu was fixed (with two choices for dinner) and the food was very good (but not gourmet). But there was plenty of good wine and interesting mealtime conversations with the very international guests around the table. You could spend more for more luxurious accommodation, I guess. But we wanted to feel closer to nature and Honeyguide was the perfect choice. It was an amazing experience.

great African experience....we saw the Big 5. On the first safari we saw a leopard and several lions. The night trips were very exotic and in the sky you could see the stars so clearly including the Southern Cross

Excellent staff, safari and accommodations. Food was very good. Animal sightings were unbelievable!

Fantastic experience !

Glamping with no fences between you and the animals. Amazing experience!

It was a great experience overall. There was nothing not to like here. Staying in tents was a different experience from staying in a lodge, as there was so much noise around us, particularly during the night. The tents face the sunrise, and that was beautiful to watch from the bed. Unexpected visitors such as the elephant that came to drink from the pool added to the experience. The only reason I have not given it 5/5 is that we felt it was expensive for what it was, and extra things were missing, such as welcome drink on arrival, coffee during breakfast. ( it was offered afterwards) .

We saw lots of different animals; the meals were very enjoyable; everyone worked together to make the trip great. I can say enough.

Wir hatten einen wundervollen Aufenthalt im Camp. Das Essen und der Service waren hervorragend. Durch den Guide konnten wir auch die „Big five“ sehen.

Super Game Drives

Eu esperava mais , a tenda é simples , porém bem confortável , o ponto alto é o lobby onde elefantes ficam próximos a piscina e é possível interagir com eles. O Safari achei fraco , apesar de 1 game drive foi excelente, os outros 3 foram bem fracos. A área da reserva é muito grande , tendo muitos animais , acredito que deva ter mais agilidade nos games , se perde muito tempo vendo animais de pequeno porte , pássaros , e os grandes e mais esperados acabam ficando com pouco tempo para ver. Valeu a experiência bem no meio da selva , em tendas confortáveis ,porém achei caro pra voltar novamente pelo que oferece.

WOW! Diesen Urlaub werden wir für immer in Erinnerung behalten. Tausend Dank an das ganze Honeyguide Team! Man fühlt sich dort so gut aufgehoben, der Service ist exzellent, man befindet sich mitten in der Wildnis und fühlt sich trotzdem stets sehr sicher. Es ist so surreal, dass riesige Elefantenherden mehrmals täglich das Wasserbecken vor dem Pool aufsuchen und man sie aus allernächster Nähe stundenlang beobachten kann. Und dass man auch von seinem eigenen Zelt aus immer wieder Tiere sieht. Das Essen ist unfassbar lecker, man kann immer aus verschiedenen Gerichten wählen und es gab kein Gericht, das nicht geschmeckt hat. Alles wird mit viel Liebe angerichtet. Last but not least: Die Safaritouren waren der Wahnsinn! Tausend Dank an unseren Guide Brilliant! Er ist genauso wie sein Name schon verrät: brilliant :) Wir haben alle Big 5 und noch so viel mehr gesehen. Er hat ein unglaublich gutes Gespür für die Tiere. Eine einmalige Erfahrung! Wir kommen sehr sehr gerne irgendwann wieder.

Ficamos no Mantobeni.. Tenda excelente com vista para um lago aonde os animais passam o tempo todo para beber água! Elefantes iam beber água na piscina do hotel sempre, Safari fantástico, vimos os big fives! Experiência incrível!!!! comida muito boa também...

Good game drive. Could see lions, elephants, zebras and so on during the morning and evening drive. Friendly staffs. Spacious room, but not too big.