MANTIS FOUNDERS LODGE 5 stars

Family friendly

We had a great experience at Founders Lodge Shamwari. World class hospitality and absolutely luxury all the way. We were fortunate to see the Big Five as well. Our rooms were beautiful and the staff were really amazing. We will forsure be back !

We have been staying for 2 nights for our pre-honey moon trip. Everything, I mean everything is just perfect! The game drives are amazing and exceptional ! I just want to say thank you to everyone at the lodge for that unforgettable experience.

We had the most wonderful 3 night stay at Founders Lodge. Glynnis and Craig (and their entire team) were amazing hosts - so friendly and welcoming, and real perfectionists! The fabulous meals were all served at different spots around the Lodge, so we had a range of views and rooms to enjoy throughout our stay. The food throughout was delicious. The Lodge is set overlooking an amazing landscape, and there were always views of rhino, warthogs, giraffe etc etc to enjoy from there. The new hideaway, which overlooks the waterhole, allows remarkably close-up viewing of the animals as they drink and bathe. The two game drives per day across Shamwari were brilliant, and we enjoyed the company of our great guide, Martus. We saw pretty much everything (apart from the elusive leopards), and always from a fantastic viewpoint with very few (if any) other vehicles nearby. The highlight was seeing a recent kill of a baby giraffe by lions one afternoon, and the next morning seeing the same lions (with cubs) fully tucking into the remains of the carcass. Not pretty, but fascinating! The abundance of elephants and rhinos was a joy to see, and we probably had better viewings of them on this safari than we've ever had on others we've been on. I'd really recommend visiting the Born Free Sanctuary while you're there, too. The whole vibe of Founders Lodge, and its staff, is so relaxed and charming (but run like clockwork by Glynnis and Craig!). We really hope we're able to go back there again some time. Thanks so much to everyone for looking after us so well (and for making the dinner with the special guest happen!!).

Wow, wow , wow. This place is outstanding and worthy of six stars! We have just spent seven nights here and have to say absolutely everything and everybody is perfect! The food is out of this world and the chefs are deserving of Michelin Stars! Our room (the master suite) is stunning with all necessary requirements! White fluffy gowns, we needed them as our luggage did not arrive for four days , so we literally arrived in the clothes that we stood up in! Luckily Glynnis and Craig the managers were extremely kind and arranged for us to pop our gowns on whilst they arranged for our clothes to be freshly laundered each day! Glynnis and Craig are amazing managers and because our luggage containing urgent medication hadn't arrived they did everything they could to help us trace it and Glynnis even rang a local surgery/pharmacy for us to try and get an emergency supply of medicines. I hasten to add that we had taken sufficient medication for the flights and first day but due to cancelled flights and missed connections it wasn't enough! Just nothing was too much trouble for either of them! When our luggage finally arrived and the airline refused to courier it out to us Craig arranged for his private driver to go to Port Elizabeth to collect it. We are forever grateful! The game drives are absolutely outstanding and our guide Martis was superb getting us to the best viewing points to see so many wild animals, it was the most incredible, emotional and spiritual experience for both of us! And worth every penny! Thank you all so much, Kim and Pete xx

I don’t have enough words to describe this experience. If you can, spend a few days there. I hope I can come back someday