Forest Lodge

Phinda, South Africa

GENERAL SCORES /5:

Lodge/Hospitality: 4

Rooms: 5

Food: 4

Guiding: 5

Game Viewing: 4

OVERALL: 9/10

Vital Statistics:

Country: South Africa

Game Reserve: Phinda

Management: And Beyond

Year we stayed: 2007

Approx price pppn then: $400

Forest Lodge Review Summary:

Forest Lodge consists of squarish bungalows on stilts, with walls made largely of glass. Sounds weird, but it really works. The hospitality and food were decent, but it was the outstanding guiding (thanks Markus) that made the place special. The game is excellent, but the number of fences one comes across makes it feel a bit less wild.

Forest Lodge Review

As at many high end safari lodges, you drive up, throw your car keys to someone, and relax knowing that you will not see your car again until you are leaving and that all your luggage will have miraculously got to your room before you.

Forest Lodge is a relatively large one and the hosting is not as personal as it is at many - it feels slightly more like a hotel. Everything is built to look eco-friendly and the reception, lounge and dining area have a calm, relaxed feel. It is the rooms which are special though.

Each chalet is pretty much square shaped and on stilts, but the walls are almost entirely glass. There are trees all around and the chalets are well spaced so you still have complete privacy, but the floor to ceiling complete-wall windows make you really feel a part of the forest. This was Lou's favourite lodge in Phinda. The rooms feel very luxurious and the bathroom has both a shower and a voluminous bath. There is a clearing in front of the lodge where one can often see antelope wandering and grazing. The room we had did have a view of this plain, but not a very good one as it was largely obstructed by trees.

As usual the food is plentiful and was quite good. To me, during our first lunch and dinner, it felt a bit too much like a hotel. A very good hotel, but still a hotel. I think this was because the tables were spaced out and we were eating alone rather than with others on safari. By the second night we knew our safari-companions and ate with them.

Our guide was Markus and he was excellent. Friendly, extremely knowledgeable, and very attentive to what his guests wanted. We had one particularly memorable drive with him, trying to find a herd of elephants we could hear in the trees. He was somehow driving at break-neck speed along barely-discernable roads to get to where he thought they were heading. Very exciting. Oh, and we got a great view of the herd as they crossed the road right in front of us. Superb!