Notten's Bush Camp is perfection—Paradise itself found and recovered, providing us mortals with a chance to return to the Garden of Eden for the duration of your stay. I recommend it across the board in the highest possible terms, without any reservation, hesitation, or equivocation.
At a Glance: The "vibe" is on point, especially when it comes to a safari vacation. There’s just this indescribable, irreplicable aura of simpler times long gone, which creates an authentic Old World feel found nowhere else on earth. Yet, twenty-first-century amenities and creature comforts abound, combining the best of modernity with history. For a small sample: as our transfer shuttle arrived on the property, a herd of elephants strutted across the viewing vista to the watering hole, while Cheryl—the marvelous maître d’hôtel—joyously welcomed us with chilled lemon water and guided us to our room.
The Lodge: Notten's Bush Camp is so special because you truly feel welcomed into the home of the Notten's family. Dave Notten himself made a point of meeting and chatting with each guest, even following up on my father’s health (he’d been sick the day before) by inquiring as to his wellbeing. His personable cousin, Dale, manages the day-to-day operation. After each game drive, he would ask us with genuine interest and excitement about what we saw, just like a fun uncle eager to hear about our adventures and see our many videos and pictures. Jan also manages the operations to perfection; although she’d been sick for the start of our stay, once she was better, she made sure to introduce herself to my father and me, asking about what we’d been seeing and always happy to chat over a drink. Cheryl was an absolute delight as the front face of the lodge, always welcoming us with drinks and warm face cloths after each drive and happy to answer any questions and immediately alleviate any concerns. She was also just a pleasure to talk with about South Africa, the safari industry, and the excitement of the game drives. You could tell she was legitimately excited by the wildlife sightings and would share in our glee about what we were seeing. Salon, Gift, and Timbi were marvelous waitresses, always super helpful, proactive, personable, and warm. My dad and I each have different dietary restrictions (gluten free, peanut/shellfish allergy, respectfully), and so, together, we are a bit high maintenance in that regard. But they were right on it, delivering amazing meals day in, day out. It truly is a sign of a good vacation that we didn’t have to worry about our food allergies, knowing we were in the best of hands. While I forgot to get the names of the chefs, I can assure you that their cooking was seriously out of this world. I’ve been all over the continental US, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Central America, the Caribbean, Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, and East Africa, and the food at Notten’s was some best I’ve ever had. All of the baked goods on the game drives were homemade (the best breakfast bars I’ve ever had) and the meals (each multiple delicious courses) were exquisite from start to finish. Dale himself took to grilling the steak one night, and it was prepared perfectly. The wine and cocktails were paired and tailored to the meals to perfection by Medion, the main bartender, who is both generous and extremely talented with the spirits and array of stellar South African wines. The groundskeeper (whose name I’m also forgetting, I’m sorry!) is also extremely talented. He kept the kerosene lanterns full, which really set the Old World charm, while maintaining the Garden of Eden across the lodge with the perfectly manicured lawn, pool, and fountain areas, all of which perfectly complemented the bush while transitioning perfectly to and from it.
The view from the Summer House—the main lodge building—was without rival: vervet monkeys hopping about, baboons out on the vista, beautiful birds everywhere, in addition to spectacular views of nyala, warthogs, giraffes (drinking!), elephants, warthogs (one afternoon, we counted ~15 all at once), kudu, zebra, and impala running around over the horizon, all visible without even standing up from the dining table.
The rooms were exquisite, spacious yet cozy, with huge verandas and gorgeous bathroom, all with massive windows of the game-laden vista. The outdoor shower was amazing, with views of the stars at night and nyala and baboons in the afternoons. The freshly drawn warm bath with bath salts waiting after each evening drive was a wonderful and most welcome surprise.
The Game Drives: Out of this world. Stupefying. Indescribable. I was left utterly speechless during and after each drive, and I’m still struggling to formulate into the words the emotional highs and rush of the game drives. Honestly, I’m coming to the conclusion that the wildlife and our encounters with it were simply so beautiful that they defy articulation in the English language. I’ll try my best at a description here, but it will invariably fall short. Mr. T wore many hats seamlessly, as our fearless Guide, Ranger, & Driver, plus Teacher & Comedian. He and our Tracker, Wonder, were the ultimate dream team. Watching their perfect coordination and synergy was truly magnificent in its own right, as they conducted a graceful pas de deux across the African bush to find and provide the best—pretty much unheard of—views of what are normally the most elusive animals. Mr. T and Wonder were both extremely informative, supportive, helpful, and hilarious, having a great rapport with each other and their guests. They also made sure we felt safe and secure at all times. Mr. T’s bush walks were also a real treat: it was so special to experience and appreciate the smaller aspects of the bush—like the ant lion, termites, various tracks, weavers’ nests, and the Magic Gowrie—in greater detail. We also got to see plenty of larger game on the walks: giraffes, impala, warthogs, a bull elephant, a terrapin, and goliath & grey herons. Though we were not assigned to their vehicle, Joe and Tom were also just fantastic. Early in the morning with coffee around the fire, they would talk to me about animal calls, their families, the Notten’s family tree, the pictures on the wall, and general stories from the rich experiences of their lives.
The animal encounters were just unbelievable. In terms of cats, we saw the southern Talamati pride (including cubs) up close on three separate drives, including when they were finishing up a Wildebeest carcass. We also saw the Gijima males up close as they awoken and yawned, preparing for their evening patrol. One morning, we followed a younger male during his strole, including while he drank and started to stalk a baby giraffe. Mr. T and Wonder knew exactly how to maneuver the vehicle such that we kept pace with him perfectly. We even heard the lions roaring at multiple points during the night. Just the best. The leopard viewing was simply without rival: we saw the massive resident male, Nweti (I think that was his name), up close as he staked out a warthog den, and we heard him sawing early in the morning. However, it was Ntsumi, the resident leopardess, and her two sub-adult female cubs who really stole the show. We saw them pretty much every drive; one of the sub-adults loved to walk underneath our vehicle numerous times. We even had to stop for about five minutes while she just camped out underneath us. We got to see Ntsumi stalk a female nyala and stroll around with both sub-adults as they practiced their stalking and chasing skills. Something about seeing three leopards all together at the same time leaves you stunned.
Elephants were everywhere, including big bulls up close and personal. Rhino abounded of various ages and sizes, we saw massive bull Cape buffaloes with oxpeckers over their faces, and we had plenty of hyena encounters, often on the heels of the leopards. I just cannot believe how frequently and closely we got to behold such rare animals so relaxed and doing what they do best. The array of different behaviors we got to see (stalking, calling, drinking, eating, sleeping, walking, playing, nursing, yawning) was so humbling and spectacular.
Conclusion: My dad and I went to East Africa for a safari trip back in 2018, and we immediately started to plan a return trip. We wanted to prioritize and maximize game viewing, especially of the cats, which led us to the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. While researching where to stay therein, I came across Notten’s Bush Camp and based on their website, TripAdvisor reviews, and social media posts, I developed what I jokingly referred to as “vacation crush” on the lodge. Because of Covid-19, we had to kick our South Africa trip back to 2024, so needless to say, my anticipation for the Greater Kruger ecosystem, the Sabi Sands Reserve, and Notten’s in particular had been slowly rising for quite some time. With that in mind, I also tried my best to manage my expectations within the realm of reality, especially when it comes to viewing wildlife—which is, by definition, unbeholden to us and exactly what makes them so special, exciting, humbling, and magical.
With that context in mind, I can honestly say Notten’s Bush Camp utterly and completely blew me away. I wish I could award them an infinite number of stars, but alas, TripAdvisor limits me to five. Everything exceeded my already high expectations and even surpassed my highest hopes, in every way possible. The lodge, the atmosphere, the “vibe,” and the mood are unique, genuine, and without rival. More importantly, the animals, the wildlife, and the educational wildlife encounters are simply out of this world. Most importantly, it’s the staff and employees—the people—who make Notten’s many notches above the rest. It’s clear from the second you arrive that at Notten’s, you’re family.
