Travel Report Thornybush Saseka Tented Camp (South Africa)
Thornybush Game Reserve and Saseka Tented Camp
Saseka Tented Camp belongs to the Thornybush Family and is the perfect place to combine excellent relaxation and tranquillity with a safari. Saseka is luxury at the highest level and also plays in the top league in terms of price, although there are always good offers, such as 4 nights for 3.
However, you have to be aware that wildlife photography and guiding are not the top priority here. The clientele is not suitable for this.
Saseka is designed for a very affluent clientele for whom the safari experience is of secondary importance and the lodge and service are of primary importance.
Those who visit Saseka enjoy cell phone pictures, nice drives into the bush and all this in a truly magical place.
For this reason, ambitious photographers who value good guides and animal sightings should rather choose other lodges or integrate Saseka into their vacation as “relaxation time”.
Although photos and videos of the wildlife are very important to us, we can imagine visiting Saseka again, but then with a focus on rest and relaxation.
Where to find Saseka Tented Camp in Thornybush ?
What you should definitely think about
Local currencies: South African Rand: “ZAR”, but US dollars are also accepted everywhere and gladly in the lodges. If possible, take small USD bills with you for tips. Money can easily be withdrawn from any ATM. Otherwise, credit card payments work everywhere.
Vaccinations: Coming from Germany, no vaccinations are required. However, the standard vaccinations are recommended, see Foreign Office suggestions. Malaria prophylaxis is not absolutely necessary between May and October, but of course everyone has to decide for themselves.
Luggage: The photo equipment should definitely be taken on board, so pay attention to the cabin luggage dimensions (!) Otherwise, any type of suitcase or bag will do.
Clothing: The onion principle, functional clothing and sturdy shoes are best.
In the lodges in Africa you can usually have your clothes washed free of charge – as in Mhondoro – or for a small extra charge. You often get them back the same day. This saves a lot of luggage.
Arrival Saseka Tented Camp in Thornybush
Saseka is located in the Thornybush. The lodge is one of the newest lodges in the area and can definitely be described as five-star plus. It is a good 1-hour drive from Hoedspruit via the East Gate, from where you can also reach the Timbavati.
The last 9 km are on a gravel road until you reach the entrance gate to the reserve. From there it is another 6 km to the lodge, which is relatively well signposted. When you arrive at the lodge, all you see is an electric fence and no lodge sign, which makes you wonder if you are in the right place.
Saseka Tented Camp
As soon as you arrive, you can tell that this is an absolute luxury lodge. The main building is open-plan and every little detail has been thought of. The view of the dry riverbed, where animals often gather, is breathtaking.
Saseka Tent Suites
There are a total of ten tents for two people each and a villa for families. 5 tents are to the right of the main house and five tents and the villa are to the left of the main house. All along the dry footbed.
The tents are absolute luxury. Every little detail has been thought of. Whether it’s the electric blanket in the bed, the air conditioning for hot and cold days, the ceiling fan or the all-round glazing that gives you a beautiful view of the dry riverbed, but also of the private pool that belongs to each of these tents, everything has been thought of. You can use the outdoor shower for showering as well as the one in the tent, which is completely glazed, even to the outside, so that even there you have the feeling of showering outdoors.
The minibar leaves nothing to be desired and the coffee machine even brews fresh coffee. There is a huge selection of tea, as well as everything from whisky to gin. Everything is included in the price.
The tents themselves should always be locked up tightly if you don’t want the monkeys to visit.
Each tent, as well as the main house, has its own WLAN. However, you shouldn’t expect too much from this. Even simple uploads to social media can take hours. This should be improved urgently.
From the last tent, number one, to the main house, you walk for about 5 minutes. In the morning and during the day, you can walk the route on your own. In the evening, a guide will take you there or pick you up if you want to go back to your tent after the game drive and before dinner.
Saseka SPA and Gym
Saseka does not have its own SPA, but you can use the SPA of the Thornybush sister lodge and will then be driven there by your personal driver (takes about 10 minutes). The same applies to the gym. If you want to do a workout, you can be driven to the gym.
Saseka Breakfast
For a lodge in this price range, the food was good overall, but didn’t quite meet our expectations, especially when it came to dinner.
Breakfast and lunch are really good compared to dinner. You can choose from a breakfast menu and also have a large selection of cereals, scones and fresh fruit. However, it is disappointing that the orange juice is not freshly squeezed but comes from a carton. This should not be the case at a lodge in this price range.
Saseka Lunch
The lunch is really very good quality. However, the portions are on the whole more manageable, as in a gourmet restaurant, but that’s OK. A selection of drinks and a small selection of cakes are offered for high tea.
Saseka Dinner
Dinner is served as a fixed four-course menu on some evenings and there is no choice. So if you want to eat vegetarian, for example, you have to specify this at lunchtime.
On other evenings, there is a normal selection of starters, main course and dessert. We didn’t find any of the dinners to be worthy of the luxury of this lodge in terms of taste. We expected much more from the kitchen for a lodge in this segment.
Service Saseka
The service can be described as courteous and good, but here too we have been better looked after by cheaper lodges. The filling of drinks in the tent’s own fridge only works to a limited extent and the changing of towels and bath towels does not always work as one would expect. The tents are cleaned twice a day, once for the day and once for the night. The overall cleanliness is excellent.
Games Drives Saseka
Wake up at 5:30 in the morning and set off on the first game drive at 6:00. You can have a coffee beforehand, either in the tent or in the main house, as well as a small snack.
On the game drive itself, there is theoretically a coffee stop, but not always. It depends a little on the guides’ mood. We thought it was a shame to only have a coffee stop on one of the four morning drives and it was rather poor, which is due to the fact that the guides want to be back at the lodge by 9am. As already mentioned, this lodge is not necessarily about the safari experience, but more about the lodge itself.
The afternoon game drive starts at 15:30 and lasts until 19:00, depending on the sightings. A stop is made here for the sundowner. However, this usually takes place after sunset and the spots are generally nothing special, although there are some very nice spots in the reserve. A little more attention should be paid here, as the sundowners are actually a really nice experience that you want to remember.
Safari Cars
The vehicles are occupied by a maximum of six people and there is a storage compartment in the middle that is large enough for a camera with a telephoto lens. For animal sightings, the reserve allows a maximum of two vehicles per sighting, which is certainly good for the animals, but significantly shortens the time spent with the animals per vehicle and leads to long queues until it is your own vehicle’s turn.
This is also rather unattractive for a lodge in this price range and is a disaster for photographers. For example, we had two sightings of a leopard, some of which lasted less than 10 minutes and then we had to make way for the next vehicle.
There should be an urgent improvement here or, if you are an ambitious photographer who is interested in taking pictures, you should not stay at this lodge.
Overall, you can see the Big Five in the reserve and, with a bit of luck, you will succeed in doing so. There are no cheetahs in this area, as the landscape is not suitable for them.
Is it possible to combine a trip to the Thornybush Reserve with other safari areas?
Yes, you can. Here is an example of the route we took:
Day 1: Munich -> Johannesburg -> Welgevonden
2nd-4th day: Mhondoro Safari Lodge
Day 4-5: Polokwane (Protea Marriott Hotel)
Day 5-7: Hoedspruit (Safari Moon Luxury Bush Lodge or Unembeza)
Day 7-11: Saseka Lodge Thornybush
Day 11-13: Saseka -> Mantobeni Honeyguide in Manyeleti
Day 13-16: Mantobeni Honeyguide in Manyeleti – Simbavati Hilltop (Timbavati)
Day 16: Simbavati Hilltop -> Hoedspruit -> Johannesburg -> Munich
See our other travel reports for the lodges mentioned.
Conclusion Saseka in Thornybush
Overall, our impression of Saseka was mixed. The tents are some of the best we have experienced on a safari so far. You simply feel comfortable and could actually stay there all day and relax. For ambitious photographers at least, this should be the main reason for a visit: to relax and switch off, in other words, to simply unwind. As already mentioned, we were moderately impressed by the service and food. We have had much better experiences in other, often cheaper lodges. We were most disappointed by the safari drives. The guides know too little about photography and if the guest has more knowledge of guiding (at least we felt) than the guide himself, it becomes problematic. Overall, however, Saseka provides a wonderful safari experience and we would consider another visit, at least for the rest and relaxation that you experience in the tents.
Want to order a calendar from our photo tour?
as of 18,90€, Sizes A2-A5
What photo equipment for Thornybush?
The photographic equipment we took with us is listed below. You also have the option of ordering the photographic equipment we used directly via our Foto-Store and requesting further technical details. There are also lots of extras available there.
Cameras:
- Z8 (Nikon)
- Z7ii (Nikon)
- Iphone
Lenses:
- Z 70-200mm f/2.8 (Nikon)
- Z 24-120mm f/4 (Nikon)
- Z 180-600mm f5.6-6.3 (Nikon)
Alles in einem Lowepro Runner 450 (Backpack)