Our family of 8 stayed in the VIP Marula Villar for 9 days from 1st July 2024
The Villar is set alone from anywhere else and has its own pool, butler, cook and staff who went above and beyond making our stay one of the best experiences of our lives.

Having previously been on many Safaris throughout Africa, the wildlife viewing has to be amongst some of the best animal encounters I have ever experienced.

Our guide (David) and our tracker (Steve), made sure we saw the Big 5 (and even the Ugly 5) many times over.
They were extremely professional and informative and taught us so much about the animals, eco system, flora, and even the history and folklore of the local area, and South Africa in general.
They were able to identify every bird, insect, animal, animal track etc. plus they found us the most amazing places to stop for our morning tea and coffee and evening ‘sundowners’

The staff at the Villar were exceptional.
We had our own butler (Russell), cook (Ephraim), Nkateko (Kbless), Skenera and Redolf.
The food was excellent and extremely varied, in fact it was 5-star dining at every meal.
They also put on an amazing meal with balloons, cakes and candles etc for my son and granddaughter’s birthdays.

The staff and management genuinely care about the environment as well as the guests.

Thank you everyone for making our family holiday an unforgettable experience.

There are many positive things about the Vuyani, with probably the highlight being the staff. They are extremely welcoming and attentive and nothing is too much trouble. The lodge itself is nice and comfortable. Something people don’t mention in the reviews is that everyone sits together for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We enjoyed this aspect, but if you aren’t that way inclined, it’s probably good to know!
I’d say that although the lodge is of a high standard, it is probably starting to age a little. One of the families we spoke to had constant WiFi issues and also issues with their water supply. We didn’t have any of these problems!
The food served is of a good standard and plentiful, similarly they are very generous with drinks etc.
Our small gripe really was around the condition of the safari jeeps. They are certainly well worn and have intermittent issues. None of the dials in the drivers side work and we did run out of fuel probably 1km from the lodge. Rather than send out some cars from the lodge (5 mins of a job) they sent another jeep from the river lodge (the other side of the park) and we sat around for 30 minutes waiting.
No big issue.
It seems there was perhaps some sort of issue between lodge owners as we were unable to visit certain areas that were previously accessible in the park. It was a shame as there were sightings posted on the radio of animals we didn’t see (such as the leopards) and we were unable to go there. Not the fault of the guides - they were excellent!
In summary it was a really enjoyable stay and I’d recommend it. A little bit of extra investment would make it extra special.