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Thornybush Game Lodge

Thornybush Game Lodge

The flagship of the Thornybush Collection in the 14,000-hectare Thornybush Private Nature Reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park, with 18 five-star suites overlooking the Monwana River and Big 5 game drives.

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At a glance

Thornybush Game Lodge is adjacent to Kruger National Park in South Africa’s Limpopo Province. The lodge holds 18 five-star suites overlooking the Monwana River, with twice-daily game drives covering the Big Five and a range of other species.

The wider Thornybush Collection includes eleven lodges within Thornybush Private Nature Reserve and one within the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, with the flagship Thornybush Game Lodge anchoring the collection’s main offer.

The lodge sits within easy reach of Hoedspruit Eastgate Airport, around 30 minutes by road, with daily flights from Johannesburg. The setting is open bushveld with strong game density, and the lodge’s traversing rights across Thornybush and into the wider Kruger ecosystem give the safari experience a depth that few private reserves of this size can match.

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Thornybush Game Lodge

In detail

  • Food and Drink

    Food and Drink

    All meals are included. The main lodge restaurant serves contemporary South African cooking with local game and Cape wines, with breakfasts and lunches taken on the deck overlooking the Monwana River.

    Dinners alternate between the dining room and the traditional boma, where meals are served around an open fire beneath the stars. Bush breakfasts and sundowner spots can be arranged for guests wanting to dine out on game drive.
  • Spa and Wellness

    Spa and Wellness

    The lodge spa offers a focused menu of massages, body treatments, and facials, suited to a between-drives recovery hour rather than a full-day wellness commitment.

    A swimming pool on the main deck and a fitness room round out the wellness offer. Spa treatments can be arranged in-suite for guests wanting more privacy.
  • Activities

    Activities

    Game drives in open 4x4s happen twice a day, with an experienced ranger and tracker covering the full Big Five across the 14,000-hectare Thornybush Private Nature Reserve. Lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo are all regularly tracked, with the reserve’s traversing rights extending the available terrain.

    Bush walks led by armed rangers, sundowner stops at scenic vantages, and visits to the wider Thornybush Collection lodges for guests wanting to combine multi-lodge stays round out the activity offer.
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Room Types

Thornybush Game Lodge

The flagship of the Thornybush Collection, with 18 five-star suites overlooking the Monwana River. The decor is contemporary with a chic, modern finish.

The largest of the Thornybush properties and the natural starting point for guests wanting the collection’s signature offer.

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Thornybush Game Lodge

The River Lodge

A more intimate sister property within the 14,000-hectare Thornybush Private Nature Reserve, with four suites overlooking the Monwana River.

A strong choice for guests wanting a smaller, more private safari experience within the wider collection.

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The River Lodge

Simbambili Game Lodge

The collection’s single Sabi Sand Game Reserve property, surrounded by jackalberry trees and a wildlife-rich savannah, with the Manyeleti River flowing through it.

For guests wanting to extend a Thornybush stay into the famed Sabi Sand reserve, this is the natural pairing.

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Simbambili Game Lodge

Our reviews

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Travel inspiration and editorials

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Greater Kruger is often discussed as a single destination, but it is really two different safari experiences sharing one ecosystem. Kruger National Park and the private reserves along its western boundary sit on unfenced land, so wildlife moves freely between them, yet the rules, the pace, and the feel of a stay differ considerably depending […]

3 min read

Kruger rewards visitors year-round, but the experience changes considerably depending on when a traveller goes. Wildlife visibility, weather, and crowd levels all shift with the seasons, sometimes in opposite directions from each other, which makes the question of timing more complicated than a single best month.

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Kruger National Park is one of Africa’s most accessible wildlife destinations and one of the most rewarding, but first-time safari travellers consistently arrive prepared for the wrong things. The wildlife guides and the packing lists cover the obvious ground; what follows is the part that usually gets left out.

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Wine brought most travellers to the Cape Winelands in the first place, but three days here can hold a great deal more: private art collections, working olive groves, cycling through vineyard rows, and a slower pace than a single-day tasting circuit allows.

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