aha Thakadu River Camp

We decided to do a trip to South Africa which included a safari. There are plenty of accommodations within the reserve to choose from. We chose this location since it was community owned & operated, and it was very reasonably priced. You will either have to take a prearranged shuttle or fly in. I did a shuttle and it is four hours from Johannesburg. We spent four nights here. I am not one for ultra luxury; the tents were more than enough for me. I enjoyed being about to completely unplug from television and the internet. Honestly, you do not spend much time in your rooms if you do the morning and evening drives. I felt like I was on the go for majority of the time. The food was off the charts. I got to eat things I could not get in the states and some I had never even heard of. I did not go hungry at all. Nothing better than eating real, homemade meals versus some processed, mass produced meal. The staff were so friendly and helpful. We loved joking around with them. I enjoyed sitting by the pool or by the river and watching the random animals walk around. There was a bit of a drought when we were there, so they weren't as active as it could be. Our guide for the drives was amazing. He took his time in finding animals. We got to see all of the Big 5 within the first two days, which is definitely not normal. We saw so many animals that are normally more reserved. A few things to think about: (1) The pool is not heated. I repeat IT IS NOT HEATED. It felt nice on the super hot days, but it will take a minute for your body to get used to it. (2) There are wild monkeys running around the property. Do not leave food sitting around on your balcony; they will steal it. I would discourage eating anything on your balcony. They can be aggressive. There is a chance they will come into the dining room during breakfast and lunch. The staff do there best to keep them out. At least they are not around at night during dinner. (3) Be careful walking around at night. The camp is surrounded by electric fence. But there could be snakes on the paths. There many be other random animals (non-dangerous) walking around. I saw something (looked like a small, fat deer) as I was walking to the lobby one morning for a drive. It was literally right next to the path; I just happened to see it. It looked at me, I looked at it. Then it went back to eating the grass. To this day, I still have absolutely no idea what it was LOL I hope they have continued success. I would stay here again. (At the time of this review, they are closed due to damage from a flood.)

What an incredible experience. A beautiful lodge set within an amazing game reserve where the welfare of the animals is at the forefront. We truly felt that we were experiencing the animals in the wild and on our return to the lodge each day we were treated exceptionally well by the most wonderful team of staff. The tented rooms were beautifully fitted out with fabulous terraces. The pool where we could relax and watch as a range of animals visited the nearby river was fabulous and an extra bonus was the in house massage service, massages were provided on your own terrace which was just wonderful.

Acomodação confortável e limpa . Comida oferecida saborosa e de qualidade , mas com poucas opções . Safáris incríveis , nosso ranger era maravilhoso ( Vicent). O atendimento é bom , mas existe uma preferência notável pelo hóspede europeu . Nossos bangalôs (11 e 12) eram os mais distantes (500m até o prédio principal ) , nosso carro de Safari o mais velho e até a mesa designada nas refeições era a pior localizada .

The camp is in a beautiful setting. The game drives were extensive, well led and comfortable. The variety of game seen was impressive.

Rooms are a little rustic but have their own unique ‘charm’. Plenty of space and the bathroom is good. The facilities throughout are pretty good and the pool area superb. Food is good but not a huge variety. The staff are all friendly & welcoming - special shoutout to the lady who looks after the restaurant!

Very disappointing experience sadly. The room that we were in was falling apart, literally, and the bathroom wasn't clean when we arrived, neither did it get cleaned properly during the entire stay. The game drive on the first day was a huge let-down where the driver (not a guide) was racing around chatting on the radio without communicating with the guests at all. Possibly the worst game drive of my life!! Regardless of the great sightings, the guided experience was a disaster. The manager did correct it the next day though, and from there the experience got much better! The management and restaurant staff are real gems, and if it wasn't for them this holiday would've been a flop. Sadly, the most important aspect of a safari trip - the safari - was such a huge disappointment that the rating remains at a 2 star :(

We spent 4 nights at Thakadu, a very memorable experience. The staff are attentive and welcoming, and made us feel at home. The game drives were rewarding, with Percy our guide making sure we were all happy. The highlight for us was the meals. The kitchen staff could teach some of the more expensive lodges a thing or two about bush cuisine! In 4 days we didn't have any repeat lunches or dinners, everything was freshly prepared in the kitchen, and each dish was beautifully presented and delicious. Despite the extreme heat (40deg +), all of the fresh produce was perfectly fresh. The freshly baked muffins with coffee on the game drives went down a treat. We will be back!

What an experience of a lifetime, every staff member made sure we enjoyed our stay, the food was very good, good variety every day, game drives very good, saw lions and rhinos nearly every day, had close encounters with lions while they were eating - what an experience

10/10 from start to finish. Lovely staff who could not be more helpful. Delicious food. Amazing driver who went out of his way to ensure we saw everything. Loved the coffee and muffins in the morning drive but the G&T at sundown was the cherry on the cake. Really recommend booking this camp.

Absolutely superb camp to stay, we enjoyed a 2nd trip here because the service, staff & food are truly wonderful, rangers (thanks again Vincent ) are brilliant and really try getting you the animals you mainly want to see along with tons others, restaurant staff are so friendly and helpful along with serving very tasty well presented food and the cleaners are the best, turning your beds down every night along with leaving a little treat, personally wouldn’t book any other place to go on safari Thakadu river camp gives you the best to making you feel you really are on safari.