The only down side about the property is the food selections and there was no room service , or food to be delivered to your room/villa.

The reserve an absolute beauty specially in the game drive when you see the hells, valleys, bushes, ponds and drive between trees forests. we had a 4 bedroom and we woke up every morning with animals on the patio (safe animals ) because we were in the safe zone as we were with children. The villa was nicely decorated. The game drive was very interesting and it was the highlight of the stay. We stayed 2 nights and we had a total of 4 game drives. we had our private guide as we were a family of 8 members. The guide (Aby) was very nice and informative about animals and their locations. She was also patient and she was very keen to show us all animals. We saw 4 of the Big 5 and other animals too: Lions, lioness and little cubs, Rhinos, hypos, zebras, buffaloes, giraffes , elephants, deers and many other antilops. The villa was about 15 minutes drive from the main area (reception, restaurant and pool). we had our own car. but there was an option to get a ride for an extra charge and it would take time for them to come to you then to drive to the main area. It was winter (July) and cold. The bed was heated, and there were heaters in the rooms.

Stayed in July 2022

unique experience, and exceptional welcoming staff. would love to come again

Stayed in June 2022

toooo many rhinos … OMW:-)

insane insane insane - everything was top! location, house staff, service, good … Very good

Stayed in March 2022

nothing of note

great staff and informative rangers lovely location that blended with the surroundings nice and plentiful food

Stayed in April 2022

Had an incredible 2 night full board safari at Gondwana. The staff have been wonderful throughout. A special thanks to our ranger and guide, Corlea, for taking us on the most incredible drives and going above and beyond to find the lions. We saw a wonderful range of animals and the food and hospitality was excellent. What more could you want? I’d highly recommend this place for a safari within easy reach of Cape Town.

Stayed in May 2022

The menus were good but the food didn’t live up to the expectation sadly. Loved the juice shots though.

Very beautiful and friendly.

Stayed in April 2022

very minor but would suggest solar for the pool so it could be heated - was wonderful sun trap but water very chilly.

Everything!! Was an amazing experience

Stayed in April 2022

nothing

we stayed in one of the house away from the lodge,it was about 4k out ,at 1st it seemed a long way ,we did half board so only had to go twice a day to the lodge for meals and game drives ,the best part we saw 4 of the big five from our own car as we went back and forth,it was so peacefully at our lodge with lots of buck around as well ,it was in the protected part so dangerous animals

Stayed in May 2022

..it felt like paradise - a wonderful game reserve we highly recommend!

Stayed in April 2022

Everything, perfect! A huge reserve, driving through amazing scenery and seeing a lot of animals traced by great guide Heinrich!

Stayed in April 2022

The safari is very poor , if i knew that earlier I wouldn’t come . They only have 3 lions that the guide couldn’t find any , one chita that we didn’t see also , we saw the elephant from far far away and that was frustrating. It wasn’t worth the money . You can see me looking at the elephant.

The property was very high class and clean . They gave us a 4 room house for only the two of us which was weird. The food was good as everything. The stay was amazing the opposite of the poor safari .

Stayed in March 2025

All drinks including water was additional Larger than i thought - had been anticipating a smaller lodge feel Felt it was quite impersonal - a “coach party” type

Good food. Not excellent, but tried hard. Breakfasts excellent.

Stayed in January 2025

No good available It’s hard to deal with people in reception and I don’t like a food and its not flexible

Clean villa The place is very nice but the services are not worthy of the level of the place

Stayed in July 2024

- I don’t like the quality of the food in the restaurant menu it’s not good for everyone although they know about the people came all the way from different countries so they should know what type of food they must serve specially the dinner . - Check out time 11 :00am not convenient for the person who booked for one night because the safari trip finished at 10:15 am then the breakfast took 45 minutes which supposed to be buffet, and they told you if you late check out pay R 500 half hour R 1000 for one hour which is not fair .so check out time must be at 12:30 - 13:00 . - I didn’t find the time to stay at the villa I booked because of the two safari trip schedule 4:00pm and 6:45 am so I didn’t enjoy the pretty of the villa .

Location, staff, villa, safari guide I like the way how he was explaining , talking very friendly nice , wise and experience.

Stayed in June 2024

i had to pay extra 400R for transportation from reception to villa during check in while i do not know the location of my villa! this was not clearly indicated and i found out during check out!

The staff was very helpful

Stayed in June 2024

I saw very few animal and no lion

The room and the ranger

Stayed in April 2024

Property

Staff

Stayed in March 2024

I came the second time after 2016 with food memories. This time it has been a disappointing experience in many aspects. Each single item would not have a problem…the sum was simply too much for a 5 star resort. At the check in we were presented a print out of proof that our 3 year old was not allowed to on a drive. We would have needed to book the same car privately not to disturb other customers. However, there was no availability. We then talked to another couple how we’re happy to share a car. This was rejected referring again to the T&Cs “one villa, one tour”. Eventhough this did not make any sense both economically and ecologically (at least from first perspective) after escalation to the management we finally found a solution. In the villa there was filtered tap water available. Nothing else…which again at the price point was questionable. Flexibility and responsiveness to children’s needs was missing. We booked full board and I was surprised that you need to pay for all drinks incl water except juice and coffee at breakfast. At check out, the invoice was not correct. No good bye, no feedback questions. The lower you went the in hierarchy the more kind and welcoming the staff was. Just to mention a few things…

The scenery in Gondwana is truly stunning with animals once in a while walking in front of your villa.

Stayed in March 2024

WARNING, they do NOT honour your booking dates. We booked for Feb 15-17 2024 and confirmed back on Sept 22, 2023 on Booking.com and via e-mail. Literally 2 hours before check in, we received a call stating that they do NOT have a room for us on the 15th and that we have no place to go. They stranded us despite having a solid booking for 6 months, and we pre-paid in full. When we did get to stay, for only 1 of the 2 nights paid for (the 16th), we learned that others were also denied their booking and denied entry not only to the lodge, but the entire game reserve. They apparently overbooked to the order of 10 more couples than they had rooms, so many were stranded. Also, it says that this was adults only, no children, however, there were many babies, toddlers, kids, and teens. Worse, the booking staff do not communicate with the check in staff, so everything was confused and we are now out for 1 nights pay. And unfortunately, even Bookings.com does not seem to want to help, which is deplorable.

The game drives were the highlight. Checkin was a little awkward but it worked.

Stayed in February 2024

Booking process was terrible and I would not recommend booking with Gondwana on that basis. Several months after booking, one Saturday morning I received an email demanding payment by Monday morning to a South African bank account that I could not verify outside of the Booking.com process. If I did not pay by Monday morning they threaten to cancel my booking. This was despite my providing a credit card guarantee and Booking.com terms not requiring payment until much later. I complained to the general manager about this and the potential fraud risk involved but got an indifferent reply. No follow up, no welcome note, or apology after I arrived. The house was beautiful but required some maintenance and rooms could have been cleaner. The door handles into my bedroom and onto the balcony broke off multiple times during our stay and had obviously been repaired multiple times. When we checked-in I told the staff I needed some laundry done, but was told we could sort it out the next morning. The next morning when I asked to do laundry I was told it would only be sent that evening and would take 48 hours to come back which was too late and too long so I had to wear dirty clothes for my visit. If we had put something in when we arrived I would have at least had fresh clothes for our third day. Every safari camp I’ve ever visited offered same day laundry, even in the middle of the Okavango Delta. Gondwana is 30km from the nearest major town and not far off grid. Given the rates we were paying we should have had a same day laundry service. The guide was very friendly and enthusiastic but several times couldn’t answer questions about the flora and fauna and didn’t follow up with us later.

Very beautiful house in a private setting. Lovely to have antelope grazing in front of our deck and pool. Staff were friendly, especially Douglas our butler. Food was very good.

Stayed in January 2024

There is no hospitable feeling, the staff view you as bothersome. The game drives were very disappointing, this is not a safari, but you are charged safari prices.

The setting is beautiful, with sweeping views of a valley. The Villa was spacious, clean and lovely.

Stayed in January 2024

Food offering needs to change daily !!or at least offer some specials.

We stayed for 3 nights ,which was one too long as there not that many animals on the property,we never got too see the 3 lions or 1 cheetah. The food offering was not great with the same menu offered during our 3 nights,most dishes were too spicy for my taste. We started off in the Ecocamp which I would not recommend as it is pretty basic, luckily we were moved to a villa in the main part of the reserve. The camp was well run the staff were excellent, unfortunately our experience did not live up to our expectations.

Stayed in December 2023

The staff were neither friendly nor knowledgeable. Slow and inefficient service completely inadequate for the price. I had hobprenotated a day before going there paying a lot for a villa and I tried to cancel one night, they told me it was not possible and nobody could help me. The villa is too big for two people and not cosy. Drinks and safari fee are not included and it was not specified anywhere. Overall I would not recommend it. Value for money totally wrong

Safaris and location

Stayed in October 2023

the staff weren’t friendly and felixaeble

the location and view

Stayed in October 2023

Our villa was freezing! And our game driver mentioned some of the reserve was off limits so we were unable to reach some of the animals. I’ve never heard of this before…

Location, stylish, big

Stayed in August 2023