Rothwell Rose

Everything about this lodge is designed to amplify the expansive landscape around it. The views are truly incredible and with floor to ceiling foldaway glass doors all around your suite the distinction between inside and outside is wonderfully blurred.

There are nine suites at Great Fish River Lodge, each with an ensuite bathroom, indoor and outdoor showers and a spacious deck area with private plunge pool.
The lodge accepts guests over the age of 12, but on a maximum 1 child sharing with 1 adult per suite. The Kwandwe Private Game Reserve is a Big 5 safari destination covering over 22,000 hectares in the malaria-free Eastern Cape. As well as the 4×4 game drives guests can also enjoy specialist walking safaris, as well as fishing which has proven to be particularly popular with guests.
Meals are served on the suites private decks, in the candlelit dining room, or surrounded by lanterns in the boma under a blanket of stars.

Found on the banks of the Great Fish River after which the lodge was named, Great Fish River Lodge is the option most suited for adults out of the four lodges on the exclusive Kwandwe Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape. Kwandwe Private Game Reserve lies approximately 65km from the coast and 45km inland from Grahamstown. This is a pristine safari destination in 22,000 hectares of private wilderness, making it the largest private Big Five game viewing area in South Africa. The reserve can be reached by daily scheduled flights from Port Elizabeth or Plettenberg Bay to the Kwandwe airstrip, or by road. The drive from Port Elizabeth takes around 1hr45m and transfers can be arranged for those not self-driving.

We particularly love this lodge for honeymooners and couples as it has a wonderfully romantic feel to it and being less family friendly than it’s sister properties tends to attract mainly adult guests. The suites are all vast and spaced well apart from each other to ensure guests have all the privacy they need. It’s rather like having your own little house in the bush and a stunningly designed one at that!

Kwandwe Private Game Reserve is a malaria free destination.

Children over the age of 12 are accepted at Kwandwe Great Fish River Lodge.

A gym in a bag is provided in each suite.

The lodge is closed each year from 17th May to 11th June.

The reserve can be reached by daily scheduled flights from Port Elizabeth or Plettenberg Bay to the Kwandwe airstrip, or by road. The drive from Port Elizabeth takes around 1hr45m and transfers can be arranged for those not self-driving.

Kwandwe Great Fish River Lodge is fully inclusive. Rates include: accommodation, transfers to and from the lodge airstrip, all meals, soft drinks, South African premium and sparkling wines, local and premium brand spirits, beers and game drives refreshments, safari ctivities, fishing safaris, night drives, laundry, child-minding, emergency medical evacuation insurance and VAT. Rates exclude: community and conservation levy per person per night, champagne, cigars, in-room massage treatments, gratuities.

Day and night game drives

Walking safaris

Local community visits

Bush breakfasts and dinners

Fishing on the Galpin Dam

Specialist photographic safaris

Boat safari and floating pontoon

Rhino monitoring and darting experience