Sondela Nature Reserve & Spa Makhato Lodges

We liked the close proximity to the animals, the size of the lodge and the garden. We enjoyed making a fire to braai on our first night and the outdoor shower in Makhato unit 81. Ultimately we were grateful to have a large enough unit for a small family reunion and the game drive was a fun novelty experience but not what reception advertised to us. I think Cheeky the Zebra was the saving grace and star of the show as were our guides. We enjoyed our meal at the restaurant. It was also lovely driving the roads and seeing many spectacular animals on our way to the lodge and viewing so many warthog on our first night.

The unit felt dark, cold, dirty and over used, like it was in need of a little spruce. Although we were in a dusty area, the house was quite dirty in areas that are often overlooked. The duvets, covers and pillows were old, over used and thin. We were given extra blankets for the excess cold as we visited in June and one of them had burn marks on them. The pool was not presented clean and it appeared the creepy was not working. We tried to use the microwave on the baked potatoe setting which set the potatoe on fire, causing a fire inside the microwave, filling the unit with smoke. On our first night we had to make the trip into Bela Bela as we were not aware we had to bring out own coal and fire starters, it felt as though the host could have either let us know this was not available easily at the deli and shop (because of the closing time being so close to check in and far from the unit) or perhaps provide 1 bag as a courtesy. On the second night, I had to fix the gas bottle hook up as the stove was not receiving gas to cook dinner! Although we enjoyed the meal at the restaurant we found the server took time to warm to us. The staff at the gate seem to enjoy being unwelcoming and on the intimidating side. I felt like I was at a traffic stop by the local police looking for a reason to give me a fine. When calling reception to enquire about game drives, the receptionist was cold and short and we were unable to find anyone or a place to buy tickets for kids activities and therefore, my son couldn't take part. We also called reception to inform them of an injured animal and were told someone would be down but no one arrived and the injured animal hobbled off, seemingly without having received the care it very clearly needed. The kitchen floor in particular was dirty on arrival and the carpets in the lodge felt as though they were caked with decades of foot use and grim as were the curtains.

the place,animals and the staff

Gravel road

Scenery

Distance from Reception to Makhato

The location was good and animals could be seen from the unit as they are free roaming

There was a bat in the unit which made it hard to sleep for the people in the upstairs area

Very quiet place, the wild life were on our doorstep

The Beds were slept through and the bedding felt dirty, The water pressure was almost non-existent in 1 of the bathrooms.

view of animals around the resort, and the rooms are spacious.

The reception is far from the chalets; bedrooms were not cleaned properly and the dish soap was not enough.

La nature

Pas de wi fi