A Big 5 Safari in KwaZulu-Natal: Our Stay at Rhino River Lodge, Manyoni

Our South African safari at Rhino River Lodge, in the Manyoni Private Game Reserve, was one of the best travel experiences we have ever had. It was so magical, I hardly have the words to express it.

We visited over New Year, arriving on 31st December 2022 and staying until 2nd January 2023, with no real idea what to expect, and left completely spellbound. If you are looking for a Big 5 safari in South Africa that is intimate, ethical and easy to reach, this is our first-hand guide to how it works and why we loved it.

A quick word on trust: we plan and book our own trips and paid for this one ourselves. We have since also been on safari in Tanzania, so we can compare the two honestly, which we do further down.

Why South Africa (and KwaZulu-Natal) for a Safari

Renowned for sightings of the Big 5, the lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo, South Africa is one of the world’s top safari destinations. KwaZulu-Natal, in the northeast, is a brilliant and often overlooked choice: it is malaria-low-risk, easy to combine with the coast, and just a few hours from Durban, so you can self-drive rather than needing internal flights.

One important caveat: not all safaris in South Africa are ethical. Please choose a game reserve where the wildlife is genuinely protected. Manyoni, for example, is a serious conservation reserve, well known for its rhino protection work.

Manyoni and Rhino River Lodge at a Glance

Quick Facts
Where	Manyoni Private Game Reserve, in Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, around 3 hours (about 300 km) north of Durban.
Reserve Size	Around 23,000 hectares (about 57,000 acres) of protected Big 5 wilderness.
Getting There	Self-drive up the N2 from Durban or Ballito, then a rural district road into the reserve. No 4×4 needed.
The Lodge	Rhino River Lodge, a small, boutique lodge (four deluxe rooms, family loft chalets and two private safari houses).
Best Time to Visit	Dry winter (May to October, best August to October) for game viewing. Summer (November to February) is hot, green low season.
Possible Sightings	Possibility to see all the Big 5. Manyoni is especially known for rhino. We saw rhino, lions, elephants, cheetah (with a cub!), giraffe, zebra and hippo.

Rhino River Lodge: small, boutique and brilliant value

Rhino River Lodge is a small, boutique lodge on the banks of the Msunduze River, and it is beautifully done. There are just a handful of rooms and chalets, plus two private safari houses, so it never feels crowded. You park right by the lodge and step straight into the experience. Check out our Manyoni Instagram highlight to see our experience.

The food was fantastic: beautiful meals, freshly made for every breakfast, lunch and dinner, with proper vegetarian options (a lovely surprise for us). The whole place felt intimate and personal, run by staff who clearly care.

On value: we paid R15,700 for two people for our stay in December 2022, which was around £350 each at the time. Incredible value compared with Tanzania! Prices have risen since, so check current rates directly. At the time of writing, Rhino River Lodge rates start from roughly R3,400 to R5,000 (£155-£225) per person per night, plus a small Manyoni conservation levy. Still extremely good value compared to other African safari destinations.

Crucially, there are no huge driving distances here, so you do not need a private jeep or private driver as you do in Tanzania. You drive yourself to the lodge, and the lodge takes care of you from there.

Getting There

We happened to be in South Africa for a friend’s wedding, staying in Ballito after Cape Town and the garden route, so a local safari was the perfect add-on. We rented a car in Ballito and drove up the N2, then turned off onto the rural district road that leads into Manyoni. It is a fairly straight, easy route, and you do not need a 4×4.

A word on the driving, because it is different from the UK. Much of it is single-lane, and you will share the road with timber lorries carrying chopped wood, with few places to overtake, so you need to stay alert. You will also see people walking out from villages and the odd herd of goats or chickens wandering into the road. We arrived without a scratch.

Our Arrival: A Lion King Moment Within Minutes

We honestly had no idea what to expect from a safari. After turning off the N2, barely 300 metres driving into the reserve, before we had even reached the lodge, a herd of zebra, giraffe and impala came through the trees and made their way across the plains. It was like something out of The Lion King. We couldn’t believe our eyes. I was driving and we hadn’t expected this much wildlife so soon, so we just slowed right down and took it in. It was beautiful.

The Game Drives

The lodge runs two game drives a day, in the early morning and the evening, when wildlife is most active. Our guide picked us up around 5am, just outside our room, and the rangers were superb, talented spotters with a deep knowledge of the animals and their habitat, which really does make sightings more likely.

Mornings included coffee and homemade biscuits in the bush, which was magical, unfolding a table and dark green camp chairs at a gorgeous spot in the reserve. On New Year’s Day they added a little Amarula to our coffee stop. Those small, thoughtful touches made it feel special.

Wildlife Sightings

We saw four of the Big 5, with only the leopard eluding us. What we hadn’t fully appreciated is how important Manyoni is for rhino (the clue is in the lodge’s name). Because rhinos are so hard to see elsewhere, many people come here specifically hoping to, so we felt very lucky to spot one from a distance. We also saw majestic giraffe everywhere, lots of zebra, lions, hippo, elephants, and cheetah, including a cheetah cub walking right down the road.

Far Fewer Vehicles than the Big-Name Parks

Because Manyoni has only a small number of lodges, there are very few safari trucks about. The lodges stay in radio contact and there are strict rules on how many vehicles can be at a sighting. Even though the reserve is far smaller than somewhere like the Serengeti, there were far fewer tourists and jeeps, which made sightings feel private and calm. It helped that we visited in low season too.

New Year at Rhino River Lodge

We had expected a quiet, slightly lonely New Year. A different place we almost booked outside the reserve had basically told us everything would be closed and we’d be on our own. Instead, Rhino River Lodge put on a special midnight game drive on New Year’s Eve so we could see nocturnal animals, plus an incredible campfire and braai to see in the new year. We were overwhelmed with gratitude to be somewhere so wonderful, with staff so thoughtful. It was by far the best New Year’s we have ever had.

Best Time to Visit Manyoni and Rhino River Lodge

For the easiest game viewing, aim for the dry winter months of May to October, with August to October the prime window: cooler, less humid, and the bush thins out so animals are easier to spot.

We visited over New Year, in the summer green season (roughly November to February). It is hotter and more humid, and the thicker vegetation can make animals harder to see, but the scenery is absolutely stunning, lush and green, and it tends to be quieter and better value. Despite the green season, we still had a fantastic safari, so do not rule it out, especially if you want fewer crowds.

How to Book

If you want to plan a KwaZulu-Natal safari like ours:

• Rhino River Lodge: see Booking.com for rates and availability. The booking and rates on Booking.com include two daily game drives and three meals per day.
• Compare other KwaZulu-Natal lodges and packages via BookAllSafaris or Booking.com.
• Flights to Durban or Johannesburg: we start our search on Skyscanner.

A Booking Mistake to Avoid: Stay at a Lodge Inside the Reserve

As this was our first proper African safari, we did not realise at first that there are lodges inside the game reserves. We did a huge amount of research and comparison and very nearly booked a place outside the reserve, which would have meant driving in and out for game drives and, as it turned out, a much worse experience.

If you are booking a safari in South Africa, 100% make sure your lodge is inside the game reserve. You do not want to stay in a village outside and be shuttled in. It is different from somewhere like Sri Lanka, where staying outside a reserve and driving in is normal, because South Africa’s reserves have lodges within them. Staying inside means wildlife is right outside your window and game drives that start right outside your room.

Tips for a South African Safari

• Book a lodge inside the reserve, not a cheaper place outside it.
• Choose a reserve with conservation credentials, like Manyoni.
• For the best sightings, travel May to October; for lush scenery and lower prices, the green season is still lovely.
• Compare several lodges before booking; we nearly got it wrong.
• Search for “game reserves.” We had been trying to search for “South African safaris” but this language is used less frequently and South Africans refer to safaris as game reserves and going on game drives.
• Pack layers: early game drives are chilly even when the days are hot.

South Africa vs Tanzania: How They Compare

Having now done both, they are very different. Our KwaZulu-Natal safari was more relaxed, more comfortable and much better value: you self-drive to a single lodge and head out on short game drives twice a day.

Tanzania is a bigger, wilder undertaking, with vast distances, long days in a private jeep and the epic scale of the Serengeti, at a much higher price.

For a first safari, a smaller budget, or if you simply want to be well looked after, South Africa is a wonderful choice. For bucket-list scale and the Great Migration, Tanzania wins. You can read what our Tanzania trip cost in How Much Does a Safari in Tanzania Cost.