Reviews of Ecca Lodge
Wildlife sightings and reviews
26 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Ecca Lodge and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

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"Kwandwe Ecca Lodge review"
Views and setting are amazing, in fact it's impossible to find something not to like! Beds are super comfortable, bathroom large with huge shower and deep bath. The days are very structured with drives leaving at approx 5:30am and 4:30pm (Dec times) although our ranger was quite relaxed so if we'd wanted to change something I'm sure he would have worked around it. We did find the schedule exhausting for the children because dinner ended up being quite late and so you do have to snooze during the day to be fit to enjoy the trips out!
Ranger and tracker were brilliant - so interesting and motivated to show us the best sightings possible....and they didn't let us down....we saw all of the Big 5 with lots of close up views and had wonderful views of the reserve along the way. As a first proper safari I can't recommend it enough because of the high probability of seeing lots of different animals and when not out on a drive then the Lodge is a beautiful place to hang out and relax. It also felt completely safe.
Finally, although Kwandwe was fully booked when we went it didn't feel too busy because the rangers worked carefully to ensure we were never too near more than 1 other jeep.
If you also want a sense of African vastness Kwandwe is a good choice. So pleased we chose Kwandwe!" See all these reviews: 8n in South Africa

Black Rhino
2 sightings

Buffalo
1 sighting

Cheetah
3 sightings

Eland
3 sightings

Elephant
6 sightings

Giraffe
7 sightings

Hippo
1 sighting

Leopard
1 sighting

Lion
3 sightings

Oryx
3 sightings

White Rhino
3 sightings

Wildebeest
1 sighting

Zebra
3 sightings
"Kwandwe Ecca Lodge review"
We couldn’t recommend Kwandwe more for families." See all these reviews: 12n in South Africa

Black Rhino
6 sightings

Buffalo
10 sightings

Cheetah
1 sighting

Elephant
10 sightings

Giraffe
10 sightings

Hippo
1 sighting

Lion
8 sightings

White Rhino
10 sightings

Zebra
10 sightings
"Kwandwe Ecca Lodge review"
Jason , our guide/driver was a font of knowledge and always happy and optimistic. Nosi, our tracker, was an eagle eye--we saw SO much simply from Nosi's expertise. We were only able to do one short late morning walk due to the wind (Jason explained that the dense shrubbery of Kwandwe could be treacherous during windy days--difficult to hear and smell game) But I still got a great video of a dung beetle on that walk so I was content.
I would have loved to have been able to stay for longer. Not the same game density as South Luongo park but still had great viewing." See all these reviews: 16n in South Africa

Black Rhino
1 sighting

Buffalo
Multiple sightings

Cheetah
4 sightings

Eland
5 sightings

Elephant
3 sightings

Giraffe
7 sightings

Lion
9 sightings

Oryx
1 sighting

White Rhino
6 sightings

Wildebeest
1 sighting

Zebra
6 sightings
"Kwandwe Ecca Lodge review"
The public areas were lovely and spacious and all the staff extremely professional, friendly and helpful. We liked the family friendly atmosphere of the lodge and our game guard Chris and tracker Siza were knowledgeable and completely committed to showing us all the wild life large and small. The food was excellent, and the staff responded to requests positively and flexibly. There was lots of lovely small touches which made us feel very special.
It was a truly memorable experience, from the barbeque, cakes for afternoon tea to cheetah sightings, pancakes by a river and evening drinks watching the hippos." See all these reviews: 13n in South Africa

Black Rhino
2 sightings

Buffalo
10 sightings

Cheetah
3 sightings

Eland
10 sightings

Giraffe
10 sightings

Hippo
5 sightings

Lion
10 sightings

Meerkat
3 sightings

Oryx
10 sightings

White Rhino
4 sightings

Wildebeest
10 sightings

Zebra
10 sightings
"Kwandwe Ecca Lodge review"
Very family focused with two great ranger/trackers who were first class.
We felt we were all hunting for the wildlife rather than it being paraded past us." See all these reviews: 15n in South Africa

Brown Hyena
1 sighting

Buffalo
1 sighting

Cheetah
Multiple sightings

Eland
Multiple sightings

Elephant
Multiple sightings

Giraffe
Multiple sightings

Hippo
1 sighting

Lion
1 sighting

Oryx
Multiple sightings

White Rhino
Multiple sightings

Wildebeest
Multiple sightings

Zebra
Multiple sightings
"Amazing safari. Superb with kids. Just wow!"
"Safari and guides"
Guide, Raun and tracker Vusi exceptional and never had such an enthusiastic guide in our many safaris.
Great for the children and security no problem." See all these reviews: 8n in South Africa

Aardvark
1 sighting

Black Rhino
1 sighting

Buffalo
1 sighting

Cheetah
1 sighting

Eland
3 sightings

Elephant
2 sightings

Giraffe
6 sightings

Hippo
1 sighting

Leopard
1 sighting

Lion
2 sightings

Oryx
6 sightings

White Rhino
6 sightings

Wildebeest
2 sightings

Zebra
3 sightings
"Fantastic safari and lodge. "
"Kwandwe Ecca Lodge review"
The jeep we were in broke down once which meant we had a short game drive on our last day (reduced by at least 45mins)" See all these reviews: 13n in South Africa
"Perfect finish at Kwandwe Ecca"
In terms of game viewing this place still has something to offer even if you've been on quite a few safaris before. We expected it to be difficult to go on gamedrives with our small kids (2 & 3), but this actually went fine.
The ranger, Evan, and tracker, Sibo, were really great with them. Every day the kids looked forward to going in the safari truck with their friend Sibo." See all these reviews: 14n in South Africa
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