Lion Sands River Lodge

Complete heaven in the bush! The contemporary style of the buildings present a fresh look at a bush experience. Our room was luxurious and had every amenity we needed. The meals were exceptional, with a leaning towards healthy & wholesome. The friendly staff at River Lodge made us feel as if nothing was too much trouble. The gym was well equipped and very private. Our game drives were interesting, and while we did see 'the Big 5', wider interests were satisfied too. An exceptional experience all round!

This trip was our 30th anniversary and we wanted it to be special and different. Lion Sands River Lodge did not disappoint. This was the best trip we have ever taken! The lodge and people were so welcoming and friendly. The food was exceptional (and plentiful)! Our Guide Kyle and our Tracker Eddie made each safari trip fun and informative. We stayed in the treehouse on our actual anniversary and what a magical place! Lion Sands made this the trip of a lifetime and we were so sad to leave.

PERFECTION!!!!! Lions Sands is hand down one of my favorite places I have stayed. Its worth every penny. The customer service, property, rooms, attention to details, special touches, game drives, spa and activities were top notch. Our morning and afternoon game drives were AMAZING!!! We saw all big 5 animals. Thanks for making our time in Africa one to remember.

The most incredible, epic and amazing vacation of my life! I can’t say enough good things about this experience. - The rooms were absolutely gorgeous and well appointed! Always clean and well maintained. - The service was top notch! The people really made the experience. Every detail was taken care of. - The food was delicious! Made fresh daily, custom menus, absolutely unbelievable dining experiences. we happen to be there over Easter, and the Easter brunch spread was like nothing I’ve ever seen before! - The guides on safari were so sweet. I can imagine week after week they are met with the same questions from first time, safari travelers like myself and my husband. They had so much patience, excitement, and thrill to show us the bush, and all of the animals! We had Ozy and Heavy, quite the incredible duo!!! - We saw all animals on our list and more. We will be back!!

My husband and I stayed for 3 days 2 nights at River Lodge as part of our trip to South Africa from Hong Kong. This has been our favourite holiday so far (and we travel a lot!), amazing hospitality, amazing food, and amazing game drives. We would 100% return! The South African couple that we shared game drives with told us Lion Sands (or the greater Sabi Sands area) offers the best game drives experience. We cannot agree more! We went into the bush to track a Leopard that was hunting, something that wouldn’t be possible in Kruger National Park! 10/10 would recommend this to all our friends that’s paying a visit in South Africa! We hope anyone visiting would have the same rewarding experience as us. Thank you again for the Lion Sands team for this unforgettable experience.

There are no words to describe Lions Sands - you just have to go and experience it for yourself. This is a luxury lodge and a once in a lifetime experience for us so for anyone else wanting to tick off Safari from the bucket list and get it right the first time just go straight to Lions Sands - you will not be disappointed From the moment we were greeted at the airport we were treated like royalty and that service continued throughout our entire stay. Every member of staff adds to the personalised experience and nothing is too much trouble for anyone. The Chef even made us a local specialty Bobotie on request! Adelaide and Geoffrey were the best waiters and the Housekeeping left us notes every night! There were so many personal touches, campfire dinners, sunset drinks were some of the lovely surprises - everyone went above and beyond and we are truly grateful. We saw Hippos, Buffalos, Elephants, Monkeys and Crocodiles from the balcony of our suite and ticked off the big 5 by our second safari. I do have to give special mention to our guides and trackers who blessed our family with the most unbelievable encounters and left us pinching ourselves. We were a 3 generation family of 10 so we had 2 Guides - Ozy and Ruvan and 2 trackers Abriham and Heavi - absolute legends!!! Such great ambassadors for South Africa, so passionate about their job and so knowledgeable on all the wildlife. Our kids absolutely adored them and are already missing them all - we do hope one day we see them again! From the bottom of our hearts.....THANK YOU!

Great location, friendly staff who work as a team, great rooms and food. Our first experience in Africa and we are looking forward to more! Shout out to Pierre and Joe our safari guides. Their passion and respect for wildlife and the natural environment made the trip fabulous.

My husband and I did 3 nights here for our honeymoon in January 2024. The weather was great during our stay thankfully! We Loved our experience here. We really enjoyed having Cruz and Lloyd with us on the game drives. They were so friendly, professional and educational. They made us feel calm, safe and always smiling. They really went the extra mile in our opinion. The food was incredible and very appreciated as well as the cleanliness of our room every time we walked in - and always fully stocked with the mini bar drinks! We absolutely loved the barbeque on our last night, the food, dancing and looking at the stars in the dark there was incredible. The only sad part was that we did not get a chance to book the treehouse for a night - that was my fault for not having done it in advance. Overall, we would love to come back soon & will definitely recommend to friends!

What can I say?! This trip to Lion Sands was life changing - I can’t express how amazing the team are here. It’s been a family owned business from the beginning - and you can tell - the whole team really care about your time here. From the welcome to the exit everything was five stars plus plus! Our butler Ntombe was wonderful. Our housekeeper Sindile was great with lovely handwritten notes on a lovely blackboard and just left our room immaculate. Chefs Susan and Connie never failed to deliver delicious meals - I could not fault one of them! Perfect every time. My spa treatment was first class. Honestly I can’t think of anything negative to say. I leave my last words for our amazing guide Kim and Tracker Joyce! The all female power house duo who worked hard for the five days we were there to allow us to experience some incredible sights - interactions with Elephants, Leopards and Lions. We got to see all big five but their journey with us went beyond that - snails fighting in the road, the smallest Chameleon, the tracks that suggested two mating Leopards and their determination to find them. and the finale of making us brave enough to go on a bushwalk! They opened my eyes and heart to a beautiful world I could never have imagined! Thank you Kim and Joyce - we will definitely be back to Lion Sands and hope to see you when we get there!