Mongena Private Game Reserve

Capacity

Style

On-site stay

Catering

This place has ruined all other hotels, resorts, all-inclusives, etc. for me because of how incredible my experience was here! EVERY single staff member was extremely friendly, kind, helpful and diligent—they really make Mongena feel like a (luxurious) home away from home. The game drives were so much fun every time and the game drivers were all extremely knowledgeable, warm and friendly (shoutout to Dafnika and Lizelle). Overall, this is definitely amongst some of the best experiences of my life and I could not recommend Mongena AND Little Mongena enough.

Had a fabulous 3 night stay in a family room which was very comfortable & exceptionally clean. All the staff were very friendly & helpful. We loved the game drives and our ranger Luke was amazing, very knowledgeable & passionate about his work. We also did a sunset cruise which was really good. Would also like to mention Matthew, the restaurant trainee, it was very busy at times and he did a great job. Would thoroughly recommend Mongena.

We spent a long weekend at Mongena, and it truly was a magical experience. Springbok, nyala, zebra, and even meerkats wander freely around the units, so mornings begin with a cup of coffee and the joy of watching wildlife roaming nearby. The game drives were exceptional—our guides were highly knowledgeable and communicated with one another, which meant we were fortunate enough to see lions three times in just one long weekend. We also went on the sunset cruise, which was an absolute highlight. Having been on many boat cruises before, this one felt truly special. With over 300 bird species in the reserve, birds were everywhere, and we were thrilled to spot a crocodile along the way. We’re hoping to see a hippo next time! The food was outstanding, and the staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming. While the larger units are situated next to one another in a single building—so considerate neighbours are a plus—the units themselves are modern, extremely spacious, and very comfortable. We will definitely be returning to Mongena.

THEFT AT LITTLE MONGENA We stayed at Little Mongena for three nights two weeks ago. We thought we had a great time at this beautiful place with great game drives (Sharice was an amazing ranger), great food and good recovery. Sadly when we returned home we had to discover that we had become victim to a theft with high criminal energy. Those thieves could only have been employees of Little Mongena. While checking wallets, electronics and jewellery regularly while being there we never thought that people would steal a majority of our perfumes by decanting them out of the bottles. Even if there would have been a safe in our tent we never would have thought that we‘d need to lock away our perfume bottles. Especially at such a luxurious place that charges up R10.000 per tent/per night. The perfume stolen/decanted from both my wife’s and mine bottle was worth a few thousand Rand (ca. 150 USD). The fact that someone with such a high criminal energy (you need to be prepared and bring extra bottles for decanting) went through our personal belongings is very disturbing. What was even more concerning is the fact that we did report this to Mongena management immediately after our return home (even with photographic evidence) but did not receive any feedback after more than one week. Unfortunately we cannot recommend this place.