Raptor’s eye view on the Highveld

The Great Fish River Lodge sits high above the Fish river and gives guests a raptor’s eye-view of the valley and its inhabitants.

There are only nine suites all of which offer expansive vistas from either their deck or private plunge pools. Open all the doors and you bring the outside in as you sit and watch wildlife parading past, often stopping to look at you as you in turn watch them.

At Great Fish guests have to follow the Boy Scout motto “Be prepared” when it comes to eating. Three meals are served daily and depending on the season (and the weather) they can either be enjoyed at the lodge or out on game drive. This is not just about sandwiches and coffee. The padkos that the chef prepares is done right before your very eyes, from basic cereal dishes to freshly baked scones and brilliant scrambled eggs.

Back at the lodge, meals can be taken al fresco on the deck or in the dining room.

Kwandwe offers a safe home for the endangered Blue Crane to breed and management have re-introduced cheetah to the area for the first time since 1888. Aside from the ‘Big 5’, the reserve is home to a variety of game species that are not often seen. On various game drives, we were lucky enough to see Bat-eared foxes as well as nocturnal Aardwolves.

Situated near Grahamstown, Great Fish River Lodge is accessible via both East London and Port Elizabeth.