Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve

An excellent game park but let down by poor maintenance and management

We hired a lodge for a family of six at Hluhluwe Hilltop Camp which was excellent. During our three day stay we experienced the game park, including a game drive which too, were excellent. What was not good however was how the place was managed and maintained. For example:
1) There were only 2 x washing machines for the whole camp and both were broken!!! On inquiring I learnt they had been out of order for at least two weeks prior to our arrival.
2) Secondly, the swimming pool was full of green water. Completely unusable for lack of regular cleaning and maintenance. It looked as though the pool had been in this condition for weeks.
3) The shop, as advertised on the website was virtually empty of anything useful apart from small quantities of tea sugar plus two small loaves of bread. The shelves were empty due to nobody ordering stock and goodness only knows for how long. We had to waste a morning driving out of the park to buy groceries.
4) On several occasions there did not seem to be enough restaurant or bar staff on duty resulting in long waits.

I strongly urge management not to forget that things do breakdown and therefore have to be repaired in a timely fashion. Shelves don't restock themselves neither do swimming pools clean themselves. It's called management!!!

Amazing experience but the toilets and ablutions at the entry gates were horrendous.

Been to this reserve a number of times but I must say my experience today left me disappointed. No pos machine at the main gate to pay by card . No pos machine in the Hilltop restaurant and the food was mediocre . Limited wine available as their liquor license had expired. The gardens at hilltop have also deteriorated since my last visit and I can see attention to detail is missing .

Game is wonderful, the accommodation very much below par. Staff not much better

Combined with a cruise on the Pongola River, it was especially a relaxing moment to enjoy the scenery rather than a discovery of species. The visit of the animals in the encampments, zebras for example, remains a pleasant moment.

we didn'see very much, maybe we where unlucky

Lots of invasive plants makes view difficult

Only had an afternoon here - so difficult to review as didn't travel that far within the park.

This was the final park visited. Overall very similar to the other destinations mentioned above and below, but staff in the park seemed less friendly.
Less animals and birds seen here and during one of the drives our car was packed with 10 people although other cars were almost empty. The weather was dry.
We stayed at the Rhino Ridge Safari Lodge. Very nice rooms, good food, less friendly staff although our guide was very friendly and knowledgable, and overall less wildlife sums up the two nights w stayed here.

about Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve

It is very old park in South Africa which we visited last year. I like the natural bird sanctuary that available all type of birds of the world. http://bayangotours.com

This is a smaller reserve and while it does include a beautiful stretch of beach, it just wasn't as beautiful as Phinda. But there was plenty of wildlife to be seen.