Eastern Cape
Riverbend Lodge
Riverbend Lodge is a luxury property situated on the 17,000 hectare Nyati private concession within the Addo Elephant National Park, in the Eastern Cape. This personal and friendly lodge is a typical Cape Farmhouse style, with high pitched roofs and wide verandas. Sip a cocktail in the Polo Bar, savour delicious Pan-African meals complemented by fine wines and enjoy late afternoon high tea on the terrace, with views of the surrounding Zuurberg Mountains.
The 8 luxury suites are furnished with antique dark woods, classic fabrics and quality linens drape the twin or king beds. Seven of the suites are classic luxury suites, whilst one is a honeymoon suite, perfect for newlyweds with a private plunge pool and the option to enjoy romantic candlelit dinners on its own decking. For groups – or those desiring a more exclusive experience – there is an ‘exclusive-use villa’ available. Situated 1km from the main lodge it is equipped with a private pool, chef and guide.
Watch the lazy herds of Elephant from the pool area or the veranda, as they move through the region, or go on a mountain walk to learn all about the varying vegetation and the wildlife. You can also enjoy game drives, birding and horseback safaris. Your stay at River Bend Lodge includes all meals, park entry fees and daily game activities.
Facilities
All the rooms are air-conditioned and have ceiling fans, satellite televisions, electronic safes, mini-bars and coffee and tea stations. The en-suite bathrooms offer hair dryers, quality amenities and separate baths and showers. The sitting areas open out through cottage pain double doors, to private patios with views of the natural surroundings.
Spa, pool, lounge, bar and newly renovated “Silver Thorns Restaurant” offering fine dining cuisine.
Local Wildlife
Addo Elephant National Park is one of the largest game reserves in South Africa and the only one with a coastline – as such they like to call it a ‘Big Seven‘ reserve including great white sharks and whales! Its size allows the incorporation of five biomes of great diversity, including Nama karoo, Albany thicket, inter-zonal forest, fynbos and the Indian Ocean coast bordered by dunes and grassy plains. Spekboom succulents put on a beautiful display of pink flowers in October/November.
The present c.450 elephants in the reserve originate from 11 which had managed to survive the attention of hunters and farmers when the park was established in 1931. Two prides of lions were reintroduced in 2003 and buffalo, black rhino, meerkat (suricate), Burchell’s zebra, eland, red hartebeest, bat-eared fox, black-backed jackal, ostrich, secretary bird and blue crane may also be seen. The largest concentration of the unique flightless dung beetle is in this park. Giant golden-orb-web spiders, many species of tortoise, southern dwarf chameleons, Tasman’s girdled lizard, yellow and small grey mongoose, bush-buck and grey duikers may also be spotted. The waterhole near the main reception, illuminated at night, is a good site for bird watching in addition to viewing larger animals and their nocturnal visits.
Optional Activities
Game drives – the lodge has its own comfortable safari vehicles and tries to supply individual guides and jeeps to guests as much as possible. “Introduction to South African Wine” courses are available, as well as photographic courses and spa treatments. Children’s activities and babysitters can be arranged.
Alan Godwin
Area Specialist
If you have any questions regarding our South Africa tours, please feel free to contact me on +44 (0)1803 866965
We have just received the feedback form from you for our recent trip to South Africa which I will fill out shortly but I also wanted to thank you personally for organising us such a fantastic trip. The sheer variety of scenery and activities was amazing and the accommodation was uniformly excellent. We enjoyed good weather for our first few days in Cape Town allowing us get the best from Table Mountain as well as travel down to the Cape of Good Hope. A storm front did give a couple of wet days but this had little impact on our wine tasting in Franschhoek. In Hermanus we were fortunate to spot an early southern right whale as well as a humpback. We absolutely loved Montusi mountain lodge – what a view! We were also glad we visited the battlefields and the drive to Fugitive’s Drift lodge was quite enjoyable although I will never complain about potholes in the UK again. The suites at Tanda Tula were amazing and well beyond anything we have previously experienced on safari. The wildlife viewing for mammals was excellent with great sightings of lions and rhino in particular. Once again, many thanks and it’s now time for us to start our diet as we ate and drank rather too well.
