Imbali Safari Lodge

From the uncertainty of not knowing if we could get in to The Kruger due to heavy rains causing flooding bridges this turned out to be one our best trips ever! The drive from Skukuza Airport (the cutest airport in the world surely!?) to our hotel at Imbali was in itself a Safari drive! On arrival we were greeted like missing old friends and treated as so for the duration of our trip. Our lodge was first class, a huge mosquito net clad king size bed with a fantastic panoramic veranda with our own plunge pool overlooking the river! All very private and peaceful with the beautiful sound of birds, crickets and tree frogs! The food at the resort (we had to skip meals as it comes frequent!) was first class with whatever your tipple is on tap! Two Safari drives a day which are superb and not hurried! A break for coffee and rusks in the morning, sundowners in the evening and the day to recover/chill during the day balances it all out superbly! Our guide Mark was awesome, as was the other guides, but we are biased!!! All of the above AND we saw the big 5! If you want a top notch safari with great people looking after you, Imbali is the one for us!

A wonderful Safari Lodge in the middle of the Mluwati Concession. Our guide and ranger Jayden was really exceptional. He's extremely passionate about his job and the Bush. He very much opened our eyes about this very unique world we didn't know until that. With Jayden we did altogether 10 Safaris and every each of them was interesting, mind-blowing, funny and exciting. It's hard to put in words what we experienced, it's beyond words. One improvement would be great though: please dear management, introduce a bar into this wonderful lounge room of yours.

Whilst the game drives and our guide were amazing, that's where the magic ended. The lodge itself is extremely overpriced for what it offers. The reception and restaurant staff are poorly trained, do not listen to any requests outside of their normal routine, the food is mediocre especially the breakfast. The drinks on offer were pathetic and there were only 3 different local beers to choose from, and no international brands at all. There was no option of a non-alcoholic beer even when we asked on arrival if it could possibly be arranged. This request was seemingly dismissed. The few wines on offer were on more than one occasion not even put in a fridge before lunch or dinner and an alternative wine would often need to be ordered so as to get a chilled wine. The staff would push you to put in your lunch or dinner order before you had even finished your starter of your current meal - only interested in completing their required tasks as fast as possible rather than concentrating on guest service, enjoyment experience. On arrival the staff were not expecting us, there was nobody to welcome us and the room was not ready for us and we had to wait for it to be prepared. After the game drives there were no staff to meet you on your return as in other lodges and the refresher clothes offered were simply left on the reception desk along with the tray of liqueurs which remained uncovered - seemingly hidden for the guests to find and serve themselves. This was not a single occasion but observed each and every time. On leaving there were no staff to see us off, help with bags or bid us farewell. We were constantly reminded of remembering to leave a tip by any staff we encountered on our last morning - seemingly that was all they cared about, and whilst we did leave a tip, we feel it was definitely undeserved. The lodge itself is in disrepair and seems tired and old. The decking and the pool need urgent maintenance with missing wood panels, exposed nails and screws, rotting and warped wood. The pool itself was a milky green and the bottom of it which could not be seen was littered with branches which was not pleasant to discover whilst attempting to take a swim. The lounge furniture was constantly dusty and all the lodge windows and glass were milky and had not been cleaned in weeks. The electricity was constantly going off with the back up generator not working as it should. Even when electricity was on the air conditioner did not cool the room and merely acted as a fan - definitely in need of a service. Even when electricity was on, the WiFi signal would fluctuate from nothing to a very slow and weak signal at best making any online activity almost impossible. The game walks advertised (and what we were most interested in) were only available on one of the days as the guide had to be brought in from another camp as their own bush walk guide was unavailable. The same applied to the massage treatments with the lady being there on the first day of our stay, b

Short safari trip Picked imbali as a good place for a short 3 day safari. Food portions were large and of good quality . There are some areas where the wood at the lodge and around the property need some replacement but overall didn’t detract from a lovely setting . Watering hole for elephants is directly opposite the restaurant area so good for breakfast and lunch . Safari drives were good and Jayden did a great job for us . Would have been nice to have a transfer from local airport Skukuza included in the cost of the room. Private hire was around £135 each way.