Elephant Plains Game Lodge

“Wonderful stay!”

We have had an absolutely fantastic four-day stay with three nights at Elephant Plains Game Lodge. The service was exceptional, and everything worked perfectly from start to finish. We stayed in Room Number 5, which had a wonderful direct view of the waterhole — truly an unforgettable experience. … more

We have had an absolutely fantastic four-day stay with three nights at Elephant Plains Game Lodge. The service was exceptional, and everything worked perfectly from start to finish. We stayed in Room Number 5, which had a wonderful direct view of the waterhole — truly an unforgettable experience. The food was excellent, the atmosphere warm and cozy, and the game drives were incredible. We saw everything we hoped for, including the Big Five. We would therefore like to say a huge thank you to the entire team and highly recommend anyone to spend a few days here at Elephant Plains Game Lodge. Best regards, Denis & Mille

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“Perfect mix of bushveld and comfort - luxurious but not pretentious- what a treat.”

We had the most spectacular few days at this beautiful and friendly lodge, and incredible game sightings with our game guide Jordan and his tracker Taps. First time to Africa for our friends from NZ, and despite having made many visits to the bush, this was by far one of the best. Sabi Sands’ ethic… more

We had the most spectacular few days at this beautiful and friendly lodge, and incredible game sightings with our game guide Jordan and his tracker Taps. First time to Africa for our friends from NZ, and despite having made many visits to the bush, this was by far one of the best. Sabi Sands’ ethical approach to acclimating the animals to vehicles, and limiting vehicle numbers at sightings meant we had incredible interactions with lion, leopard, rhino, hyena and elephant among others. The food was spectacular and staff super friendly across the board. Our party of 8 ranged from 16-60 and we celebrated 3 birthdays while on our trip - the special birthday dance from the staff at the BOMA dinner was a highlight for everyone. Hope we can come back soon!

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“Wonderful Sightings & Lovely Lodge”

We took friends to Elephant Plains for two nights. Their very first sighting: leopards mating! We also saw another leopard with her two 6-month old cubs. Our guide, Jordan, was fantastic and all the staff at the lodge were warm and welcoming. Very comfortable accommodation and great food. Highly re… more

We took friends to Elephant Plains for two nights. Their very first sighting: leopards mating! We also saw another leopard with her two 6-month old cubs. Our guide, Jordan, was fantastic and all the staff at the lodge were warm and welcoming. Very comfortable accommodation and great food. Highly recommend!

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“Mixed Bag”

Elephant Plains is a very pleasant place to stay, but we had some hiccups initially. We arrived as scheduled mid-afternoon and had a wonderful reception. Our host was very gracious and accommodating. The room (Manyaleti) was wonderful, which is the room we paid for. We had lunch once we arriv… more

Elephant Plains is a very pleasant place to stay, but we had some hiccups initially. We arrived as scheduled mid-afternoon and had a wonderful reception. Our host was very gracious and accommodating. The room (Manyaleti) was wonderful, which is the room we paid for. We had lunch once we arrived, which was very bad. Our first stop in Kruger was Honeyguide Montobeni, which was much more appetizing, interesting and accommodating. The buffet selections initially offered were not good. The only healthy selection was fresh cut fruit. They offered a "layered" salad which was best described as salad soup. Dinner tonight was another adventure. We went to the bar and ordered a glass of white wine. When it arrived below room temp, not even chilled, we asked if they had any chilled white wine (Chard, Sauv Blanc, Chen Blanc) and the answer was no. Forgive us if we don't understand SA wines, but it seemed a bit odd. Turns out the cooler was broken and no one bothered to put wine on ice. Dinner was another really weak buffet. Chicken drumsticks, shoe leather lamb chops, salad and corn-not good. We did reach out to our tour planner, and they provided feedback to the property immediately. Things improved dramatically over the balance of our stay and the food quality was much better. Hats off to the team. The lowlight of our trip (and the reason for visiting) was afternoon tour, which made us wish we were still at Montobene. Our guide Nick was way too inexperienced to be behind the wheel of a vehicle with seven people under his care. It didn’t take long to realize that we were at the mercy of a juvenile adolescent boy who had just been handed the keys to Dad’s car. He was certainly enamored with the sound of his own voice, and likely has way too much testosterone for the job he is paid to do. There were several instances where we thought we were going to be thrown from the vehicle or taken out by a low hanging branch. He was not very bright. Overall, it was a very disappointing experience and has us questioning if we will do more than one more drive. We also voiced our concerns with the GM and by the third drive he had gotten feedback. His attitude adjustment had him pouting a bit, but it was easier to deal with a bad attitude than risking our lives. We felt obliged to tip him at the end of our trip and did so. He never acknowledged the tip or let alone say thank you. Again, the guide we enjoyed at Montobene was far superior. I would encourage people to give this property a shot, but highly encourage you to avoid immature tour guides with limited experience. It can be a significant game changer.

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