Xanatseni Private Camp

What a trip! Great facilities, excellent food and the most wonderful staff you can find. Dean, Dany, Sidney, Desmond and all the crew were simply AMAZING! Passionate, devoted to our well being and so knowledgefull. We really had a great time! Thank you so much Xanaseti crew for those amazing memories. We’ll be back for sure and let everyone knows how amazing you are!!!

This was a wonderful little find. Dani our host was brilliant very attentive and sorted everything we needed. We were very lucky on drives and saw the big five and many more. Dean was a great driver full of information. Food was plentiful and nothing seemed too much trouble. Rooms clean and spacious, the lookout station was great to relax and spot elephants, hyenas etc. Would highly recommend for families, couples and groups.

Xanatseni is a very special place. From the minute we arrived lovely Nilla treated us like friends. There are no room keys and everyone eats together round the table. There is such a warm, welcoming, incredible vibe. It’s like staying with friends who own a fabulous home! The staff are fantastic, the food is delicious, the pool is wonderful in immaculate grounds. Dani our guide went out of her way to make sure everyone had wonderful sightings: baby hyenas for our son, 12 lions sleeping in the road at sunrise, a leopard up a tree crunching on impala to name but a few. Simply magical. We could have stayed much longer in fact next year we are!!!

Our stay at the Xanatseni was simply incredible! The camp overlooks a small waterhole and from the lookout we spotted elephants, impala, wildebeest and much more. The staff were so friendly and no request was too much effort for them. Nila, the camp host ensured that we were totally spoilt and the game drives with Dean were everything you could hope for from a “real” experience of the Kruger. He was knowledgeable , great fun and one incredible tracker! We saw all of the Big 5 plus cheetah and wild dogs - both endangered and in relatively small numbers. The open jeep meant that viewing was good wherever you sat. We will never forget our stop at a waterhole for coffee and muffins as out of the bush came a small herd of elephants to drink. It was awesome! Our rooms were clean, well appointed and comfortable and the food was good-plenty of it too. The care for the environment and all animals was so evident. Thanks Dean and Nila (and others) for an unforgettable stay. We would love to come back !

Staff at the lodge were superbly warm and helpful. We stayed 2 nights, did 4 game drives. and ate all meals together with the rest of the guests like a big happy family. Our ranger Ash was very knowledgeable and worked hard to locate as many animals as possible on the drives. Overall, a very warm and homey stay! Thanks Nilla, Ash and all!

To Dean, Teneil, Ash, Ridge & the rest of the wonderful team at Xanatseni, where do we begin?… This was a true bucket list trip for us - we entered camp excited and full of hope for an unforgettable experience. We left (one of us in tears) feeling like we were leaving behind family in a place so magical you’ve got to be there to fully understand how much it moves you like nowhere before! We’ve been lucky enough to travel a lot, but nothing comes close to the memories we left camp with after 4 incredible days. We were lucky enough to tick off all of the big five during our stay, spotting baby hyena and lion cubs along the way - our ranger Dean & tracker Ridge made it a bit of a mission to find everything for us and the tracking of these wild animals in their natural habitats was exhilarating. Morning coffees & muffins out in the bush, and sundowner drinks watching the beautiful African sunset is something we’re already missing as part of our routine, and hot water bottles and blanket ponchos were such a lovely touch to warm up those cold starts before the sun rose / after it went back down. The accommodation was spotlessly clean and main lodge had a beautiful interior with plenty of space to relax, plus a great pool for those warmer days during down time between drives. You’re seriously well fed at this place so don’t worry about going hungry! Food is entirely home made and really great quality - plenty of variety across each meal time too meaning we were never disappointed with what was served. The entire team at Xanatseni were wonderful to us - we were fortunate enough to end up having 2 days of camp entirely exclusive to ourselves due to a quiet period for guests, meaning private game drives, but also a private dinner around the Boma fire pit that they set up for us. This place is special - if you’re looking for a 5* Uber pamper experience where you’re showered with home style luxuries and unnecessary pampering don’t go here. I say this because we had guests who joined us from a 5* camp and they were underwhelmed. I think they set themselves up for disappointment as if you visit the Burj Kalifa then anything afterwards is downhill! If you’re looking to experience an authentic safari and be among Africa’s big five literally roaming the camp at night (you will be awoken by the sound of Hyena) and be well looked after in the most real, authentic and rustic setting possible, this is the place for you! Thank you Xanatseni we’ll never forget you or the memories made experiencing your world!