Zingela Nature Reserve

Zingela Nature Reserve

Zingela Nature Reserve
5
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Zingela Nature Reserve is situated in Tolwe, Limpopo and covers an area of 27 000 Hectares with an abundance of endemic fauna and flora with three unique lodges. Baobab Tented Camp has 4 x 2 sleeper luxury safari tents with en-suite bathrooms, private viewing decks that overlook pristine African bushveld with a communal kitchen, lounge, swimming pool and braai area. Doornstock Lodge features a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house with a fully equipped kitchen, dining and lounge area and 4x 4 sleeper open plan chalets. Leadwood Lodge offers 3 two-bedroom chalets each have a fully equipped kitchen, dining and lounge area with bathroom facilities.
Duration: More than 3 hours
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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The area
Address
Farm Piramid Zingela Nature Reserve, Tolwe 0690 South Africa
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles11 reviews
Excellent
9
Very good
2
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
0

A2017EUlinda
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023
Thank you for the most unbelievable weekend!
We were received by the friendly staff and had problems with a flat tire, which the ranger graciously fixed.
The unit was well equipped and comfortable.
We will definitely recommend Zingela Nature Reserve to all our friends and family!
Written 14 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

sekokotlale
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2020
Visited with a group of friends. It was an amazing stay. All of us were so impressed. In the morning whilst having breakfast, we were treated to an elegant view of a herd of bafallos and many other game animals. The privacy of the Lodge, far from civilization makes it exquisite. And the gravel road to the lodge is well kept. So it was a great stay.
Written 8 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

mlmatshaba
1 contribution
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2020
a lovely with stay with beautiful hosts rudolph and vasti who were always willing to assist. enjoyed the game drive, the swim and the peace there. although we had some issues with hot water from the tap it was sorted almost immediately. the dogs were a bit uncomfortable though.
Written 12 January 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Charlie O
Winchester, UK60 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2017 • Couples
The constantly expanding Zingela Nature reserve is an impressive expanse of bushland and forest stretched out across the plains of South of the Limpopo river. Its a bit of a drive from Jo'burg but worth it for that genuine back to nature experience. There are no artificial big five glorified zoo experiences here. This is a landscape that is being responsibly restored to the way it would have looked two thousand years ago. There are a number of lodges that afford a decent range of accommodation from posh thatched villas to tented camps overlooking the wilderness. Many of these have views across to waterholes, which meant we could sit with our sundowner and watch the animals having theirs. You can also perch in one of Zingela's cunningly position hides for the chance to see leopards stalking empala or a buffalo grazing on grassy knoll. We managed to be in one of the taller wooden hides, built on stilts next to a large waterhole when two male giraffes began sparring over a female with us caught in the middle!!
Food-wise Zingela is a fusion of South African cuisine and European fare. With lots of local fruit and veg you can also have fun self-catering, as we did, enjoying fresh mangos each morning for breakfast. What made our stay special was seeing the effort being spent on restoration and conservation work. While the reintroduction of elephants and lions is next on the agenda already the bewildering variety of antelope left me scratching my head trying to remember all the names. Zingela is a place that's going to grow and become an important and clearly defined jigsaw piece in the only too often unreliable map of South African wilderness conservation. We will definitely be back to see how things develop. It was great to spend our time and contribute to a place that's dedicated to protecting and promoting nature and biodiversity, not one that exploits it!
Written 22 January 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

moutonsj
Pretoria, South Africa1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2018 • Couples
This is a awesome resort and a beautiful place. We were there for a short visit but will definitely come back and reccomend Zingela to others.
Written 9 September 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Lorna B
Brooklyn, South Africa2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2018 • Family
It was an unexpected delight spending the weekend among the most helpful staff and the beauty of nature. If you want to unwind and enjoy nature this is definitely a destination. Our hosts went five extra miles for us and everything was organised and done with a smile. The accommodation is very well equipped and clean.

Surita and Armand were so friendly and helpful and the game drive was amazing.
Written 16 July 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lorna, I was such a delight to accomodate you. We hope to see you soon :)
Written 30 July 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

msmgautam05
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022 • Family
Fabulous nice clean and beautiful place. Friendly staff i did enjoy and make lots of fun I will visit agin
Written 9 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

N7366QCchrisg
Clarens, South Africa1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2020
Rudi and Vasti were really great, Frans was amazing setting perfect really enjoyed our stay and will return
Written 3 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

fsulim430031
1 contribution
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Family
We had a very pleasant experience at Zingela Nature reserve--Leadwood lodge.. Vasti and Rudolf were amazing hosts and the facilities were great
Written 23 December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

WdP_UK
London, UK38 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2019
We spent three comfortable nights at Leadwood Lodge on this Nature Reserve. We found it to be a great self catering bushveld venue that ideally suited our family group of seven adults. Good cooking amenities, including outdoor fire lit for us every night with firewood provided. Spotlessly clean and very comfortable two-bedroom houses with lovely views of a watering hole and salt-lick that attracted good wild-life, including a stunning pair of Sable antelope - rare treat to see them so close up. Quiet, fenced camp-site that maximises the back to nature experience. No wifi coverage suited me perfectly, but was less popular with our children. Good bird life despite being middle of winter. Warm bedrooms with comfortable beds. Well laid out camp with a good-sized pool and lapa that would be well used outside of the winter months when we were there. Delightful hosts, conservation-enthusiast couple Adrian & Chloe were extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Adrian led us on a very engaging morning bush-walk (modest extra cost) identifying flora, creepy crawlies, birds and mammal spoor, dung and burrows. He also took us on a night-drive (modest extra cost) with some good sightings of birds, antelope, buffalo and rare African Wildcat. This was a great, well-priced, peaceful, authentic, comfortable Bushveld experience and rewarding start to our family holiday. Would definitely recommend it and would definitely visit again, perhaps also trying to spend a few nights at the Baobab tented camp next time.

Pros: Hospitable, helpful hosts & support staff.
Well equipped for peaceful, authentic, self-catering Bushveld experience at excellent value for money.
No need to take anti-malaria prophylaxis.
Ambitious plans for future development - catch it before it becomes expensive and over-popular.

Cons: Currently only two out of the Big Five (Leopard and Buffalo), so not ideal if you're looking to tick off the Big Five in one trip. But beautiful Sable, Roan and other antelope close-up with ambitious plans to expand wild-life, including potentially introducing elephants.
Final leg of the journey is on imperfect gravel roads. We managed these alright in a 2 wheel-drive vehicle, but had to travel quite slowly (averaging around 35km/h for the last hour) to minimise risk of puncture. Recommend you check your spare wheel before setting off, and ensure your tyre pressures are optimal for the journey.
Car travel within Zingela Nature Reserve isn't really possible in a 2WD vehicle, and there are no road maps of the Reserve, so this is not like a Kruger National Park safari. But there are ambitious plans to improve roads and provide maps in future. Check progress with Chloe when booking.

Don't let any of the above put you off - Zingela is definitely worth a visit, and our experience showed that it can comfortably and rewardingly be included on the first leg of a two-week trip from Johannesburg to the Kruger National Park and back.
Written 21 August 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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ZINGELA NATURE RESERVE (2025) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)