Ngalali Retreat

Location is great! Hosts are so kind and helpfull, and the food is amazing!

Lorenza and Xander were amazing hosts, and it was great to spend time with them and their puppies. They catered to our every need during the stay. They even arranged for us to go a sunset spot for champagne on one of our game drives to celebrate our honeymoon! Helen was such an attentive server as well, delivering beautiful meals. We were somewhat picky about the timing of our meals, and we worked with the team in advance who was able to cater to us with no issues. They even gave us a choice for lunch when we arrived on the first day, and when we chose a salad, they delivered a mountain of fresh vegetables such as avocadoes and courgettes, paired with delicious olive oil. We of course were treated to home made pasta at night, as well as a braai with a tomahawk steak on our other night. Ngalali is located on a private reserve which makes driving to the game drives convenient. It was also much less crowded than Kruger. There were lion cubs staying in the private reserve, and we were able to see them waking up just next to our car during our last game drive. But the best animal viewings were honestly from the hotel itself. Two giraffes were just in front of the gate when we first arrived, and we were welcomed by a herd of elephants and their babies playing in mud as we were having lunch. On the last day, a herd of about 150 buffalo were running past and we could see them from the gate!

Wouldn't change anything!

Gastgeber, Personal, Lage, Essen, Game Drives

Thank you Lorenza and Xander for the lovely stay! For your knowledge and hospitality, when we come back to SA we will definetly stay again with you.. xx

Lorenza, Xander, Rebecca, Grace, Helen e Sidney are incredible people, they made me feel at home, with my own family. They accepted to change my reservation, 'cause I had problems with my flight, and they didn’t charge me for that. And all the hospitallity, the kudu's barbecue, the chocolate mousse... Jan, Cris and Eugene, the guides that also worked with them as I was a guest, were fantastic guides, adding so much to the experience. Thank you, again, Lorenza and Xander, see you soon with Teresa and Antonio.

To leave...

Fantastic food great hosts and super friendly staff No really: fantastic food Sometimes it is difficult to find good accommodation and you don't know where to start, well don't look further...take this place. It is comfortable, clean and has a nice atmosphere. Do not expect to find a five star hotel, it is not nor does it pretend to be. It is a good accommodation in a game reserve. Ask Xander for a game drive or a bush walk. Wish we could have stayed there longer

The shower in the room was a bit weird. Good shower made a wet mess of the bathroom. Everything else was great... Beds were not my cup of tea but I'm not the reference. If you like dinner without a view don't take this place because sometimes there is an elephant playing around the watersource 😉.

The accomodation was super. You feel like you are the only people in the entire park. Monkeys and impala’s right outside your room window. The rooms are spacious and very nicely decorated. The outside area’s are incredible. Very piecefull and while you sit on the porch you can see the animals outside the gate. If you book the breakfast and dinner you are in for a treat. Helen is an amazing cook. The owners xander and lorenza are very friendly. They accompanied us two nights. That was very entertaining and interesting for us. We got to know a little bit more about the country this way. We did the safari in kruger park which was very well organized. We also had the boattour. That was a great adventure, where kruger park was on paved roads for everybodies comfort we enjoyed the game drive with xander as it was much more the real game drive out of africa feeling on unpaved roads. We loved that. Bottom line you will enjoy yourselves immensely at Ngalali retreat and we made some new friends in Africa.

Toilet inside the room haha. Another level of intimacy. But not a problem for us. 😂.

The food was great. We liked the idea of all the guests and host having meals together, and the group interaction was superb. The host and staff are very friendly and helpful.

The quality of the mattress need upgrading

Amazing, atmospheric place. Xander is a very involved guide :-) Very delicious food.