Phinda Zuka Lodge

African hospitality means treating each guest as though your house were his own. At the sole-use Phinda Zuka Lodge we have taken this concept a step further, giving you your own private holiday home in Africa! With four bush cottages and a team of welcoming staff completely at your disposal, feel free to create your own African experience.

Everything you need is right within reach - your personal game ranger and game drive vehicle, an interactive kitchen with a dedicated chef, a butler to see to your daily needs, a comfortable library with Internet access and TV for the children, a sitting room with a fireplace for evening chats, your own swimming pool and even a private watering hole for your own exclusive wildlife encounters. With no set timetable or routine, savour the wonders of the bush at your own pace and leisure.

Accommodation at Phinda Zuka Lodge consists of:

Savour the luxury of choice at this relaxed lodge - choose if you prefer an early morning game drive or to sleep a little late. With a dedicated ranger and vehicle on standby, your game drive experiences can be as frequent and as long as you want. Your personal chef is waiting in the interactive kitchen, so choose your own menu or opt to be surprised. Join in the cooking or just give instructions and watch your favour recipes take shape! Indulge in lively banter with friends or family at the large dining table or take in the scenery at an al fresco meal in the garden.

The cropped garden lawn ends in a popular watering hole that entices many a four-legged visitor. When the temptation of the water gets too much simply take a dip in the sparkling lodge pool or follow the example of the resident water monitor lizard and bask immobile in the sun on the extended pool deck.

Should you want a little privacy, each bush cottage has its own private sitting area and ensuite bathroom. At the end of the day revel in the relaxation of an oversized bathtub perfectly situated in the middle of a circular stone bath chamber. Round off the evening with a nightcap in the generous sitting room overlooking the watering hole, where herds of antelope may be settling in for the night or an opportunistic owl may be making a meal of the insect life attracted to the light shining on the water.

At Phinda, it is our passion to share our knowledge and understanding of the bush and its inhabitants with our guests. How we do this is up to you - choose whether you prefer to do your game viewing from the comfort of a safari vehicle, close up on foot or even from a boat or canoe. Our highly trained rangers and trackers will do their utmost to delight guests with a selection of the following activities:

Twice daily game drives - conducted in an open air safari vehicle in the early morning and late afternoon / evening and accompanied by an armed ranger and Zulu tracker

Interpretive bush walks - a leisurely walk within easy reach of your lodge to take in the sights, smells and sounds of the African bush, accompanied by an armed ranger

Mzinene River canoeing - coast smoothly down the Mzinene River in a sturdy canoe disturbed only by the dipping of your oars and the occasional splash of a water bird. Take in the riverine vegetation and the local bird life, and, if you're lucky, your quiet approach might earn you a choice wildlife sighting as the animals come down to drink

Mzinene River boat cruise - glide down the river at sunrise or sunset, watching the smaller denizens of the bush perform their morning or evening rituals. Listen to birdsong chiming from the surrounding trees and watch the lazy splashes of hippo or crocodile as they wake from their slumber or settle down at the end of a busy day