Shamwari Game Reserve
Riverdene Family Lodge is located in the award winning Shamwari Private Game Reserve, a 25,000 hectare, malaria-free private game reserve situated in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
Shamwari is about conserving a vanishing way of life, and has received numerous international awards, including the World's Leading Conservation Company and Game Reserve. Steeped in Settler history, and dating back to the time when a multitude of game roamed wild and free, the reserve is home to the Big 5 as well as cheetah, hyena, giraffe, hippo, zebra and numerous antelope species.
Shamwari prides itself on the knowledge and professionalism of their rangers, and guests will receive personal attention from their assigned ranger for the duration of their stay. Game viewing is carried out morning and evening on game drives, when you are driven in your open vehicle over the rolling hills and valleys in search of the wildlife. There is also the option to go on a guided bush walk with your ranger after breakfast.
Each of the 9 interleading luxury rooms are fully air-conditioned, and have a television and telephone, and a small lounge area. Private patios from each room leads onto the beautifully landscaped gardens.
The main areas consist of a large open plan lounge with a fireplace, a bar, a dining room with indoor and outdoor seating, a swimming pool with a shallow end especially for younger guests, and a boma overlooking the Bushmans River.
Children will love the Kids Club, which has a selection of games, toys and arts and crafts, and features a one-of-a-kind outdoor Adventure Centre to keep children of all ages entertained - from elevated walkways among the trees to ziplines and climbing walls. Visits to the Born Free Rescue Centre and Shamwari Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is another great way for kids to grow their conservation knowledge.
Guest Rating: 4.6 / 5.0 based on 15 ratings
We had a great time thanks and Riverdene Lodge was excellent.
H MCMANUS
Fantastic experience for the entire family. Though our trip was brief, everything went seamlessly so it actually felt very relaxed. Cannot wait to return! Thanks for your terrific service.
A KIPP
Staff/ Ranger at Riverdene were exceptional. They were very knowledgeable and had the kids amazed and entertained on the safaris. We also were not prepared for how good the food was. We had thought our safari trip would be a once in a lifetime experience, but now we realise we will take another safari trip in the distant future.
J CAMERON
Riverdene Lodge was fantastic - the rooms were beautiful and very spacious.
Tracey Campbell worked hard to find us accomodation that suited us and she succeeded very well - I will definitely be using Tracey's and Travel Butlers' services on my next trip to Africa.
S EYRE
Shamwari is an extremely slick operation and Riverdene was all we expected. Fantastic game drives; relaxing atmosphere; luxurious accommodation.
S Economides
Thanks for the email. I was planning on emailing you this week anyway to say thanks for everything that you organised for us. I cannot stress enough how impressed we were with each and every place we stayed and each time we moved on we thought that the next place could not possibly be better, but it always seemed to be!!
In particular, we had an absolutely fantastic time at The Constantia, very luxurious. The weather was awful on the day we arrived but Claire was just so lovely and had a bath running for us at 11.30 am with a bottle of wine at the ready!! We could not have asked for more from her and her staff. She is like a mind reader - she seemed to anticipate everything we needed before we had even thought of it ourselves!!
All of the guest houses were really lovely, and in particular the hosts at each one were so helpful to us, always wanting to suggest great restaurants and things to do in their area. Peter at Bradach Manor was great for a chat and Brenda at Oceansong in Plett was a really nice person. The Aloe Guest House in Hermanus was lovely.
And of course, Shamwari was the highlight of the trip, a really amazing place. Fantastic accommodation and our safari ranger, Vincent, was such a great guy, we had really good fun with him and the other guests we were on our drives with and we saw all of the Big 5 apart from a leopard. I was so sad to leave, really did not want to come home, which has never happened to me before on holiday!
Darren and I will certainly be recommending Travel Butlers to anyone we know who is planning on visiting SA - we cannot speak highly enough of everything you arranged for us.
P DENMEAD
Riverdene Lodge / Shamwari was absolutely brilliant it was just a shame we were only there for 2 days - I could quite happily have stayed a week - it was wonderful and the service was 1st class.
All your arrangements were 'spot on' and we had no problems whatsoever.
If and when we go back to South Africa I would definitely use Travel Butlers again.
Once again thanks for your help in making our trip to South Africa truly memorable for all the right reasons.
H FOSTER
Just had to drop you a line to thank you for your help in arranging our holiday. We had a fantastic time and all the hotels/guest houses were fabulous. Riverdene Lodge at Shamwari and the safaris were simply wonderful. Thanks again, we would certainly recommend Travel Butlers to our friends.
L PRETTY
Thank you for your email. My mother and I had a wonderful holiday in South Africa. Our stay at Shamwari has more than met our expectations and it was simply wonderful. From our first encounter with 4 lions as soon as we entered the game reserve to the welcome we received from Warren the Manager and Fred our game ranger. Our room was magnificent, the food was superb and the staff extremely attentive. The game drives were very exciting but unfortunately I never did get to see the leopard, which was my wish right from the very beginning.
Our 3 night stay at the Radisson Waterfront in Cape Town was also wonderful, the room was lovely and the breakfasts were magnificent. The staff were all very pleasant and very helpful to all our needs.
Thank you very much for helping with organising of our holiday.
C SWANSON
We're just back and I can assure you it was the most amazing holiday we've ever been on.
As you know I was a bit apprehensive about the safari but it was fantastic. every aspect of it. I just want all our friends to go and experience what we did.
Riverdene Lodge was perfect in every way. Such attention to detail, I could get used to such pampering, sadly tho the 3 days passed too quickly. But we do have nearly 1000 photos to reminice with' plus video footage, and will email the best to you soon.
Thanks again for all your help and advice. Shamwari was certainly an excellent choice and after we arrived in Cape Town anyone we spoke to told us we were going to the best. We believe it was ....
I ARMSTRONG
Melanie and I have just returned from Shamwari. It was excellent.
Thank you.
G WHITEHAIR
Shamwari lived up to our recollections and was thoroughly enjoyed by our friends on their first visit. We had an excellent ranger and the accommodation and food was first class so really I have no comments to offer other than to thank you for making our arrangements which went very smoothly.
S KERLEY
We had a wonderful holiday. Absolutely outstanding was our time at Shamwari. Riverdene Lodge was superb, everything we’d hoped for. I would recommend it to anyone and would definitely go again. We would recommend Travel Butlers and will certainly use your services again.
L CORLEY
We had a fantastic holiday and we are enchanted with South Africa. The recommendations you made were wonderful. We saw plenty of whales, lots of wild animals and thought the scenery, food, wine and people were great.
Les Cascades, Franschhoek Country House, The Plettenburg and Shamwari were all superb.
All in all a great holiday and thank you for your planning and booking. First class.
A AKERS