&Beyond Phinda Zuka Lodge

Phinda Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

&Beyond Phinda Zuka Lodge is a luxury, romantic safari lodge built amongst wooded hills studded with aloes overlooking a private, and very busy waterhole.

African hospitality means receiving each guest as though your home were his own. &Beyond Phinda Zuka Lodge is a sole-use lodge, leaving you with your very own private luxury safari holiday lodge in Africa!

With only four bush cottages and a well-trained and motivated staff completely at your disposal, you can create your own African experience.

Included are your personal game ranger and game drive vehicle, an interactive kitchen with a dedicated chef, a butler to see to your daily needs, a comfortable library with Internet access and TV for the children, a sitting room with a fireplace for evening chats, your own swimming pool and even a private watering hole for your own exclusive wildlife encounters. With no set timetable or routine, savour the wonders of the bush at your own pace and leisure.

Each bush cottage has its own private sitting area and en-suite bathroom. At the end of the day, revel in the relaxation of an over-sized bathtub set in a circular stone bath chamber, then round off the evening with a nightcap in the generous sitting room overlooking the watering hole, where herds of antelope may be settling in for the night or an opportunistic owl may be making a meal of the insects attracted to the light shining on the water.

Truly a great example of the quality of the luxury safari game lodges and service &Beyond are famous for! If you and your family and friends are true nature lovers, &Beyond's Zuka Lodge is the place to make your next reservation at!

A Day at Phinda Zuka Lodge

If you have booked andBeyond Phinda Zuka Lodge for the sole use of your party, you will have a dedicated team of staff at your disposal, including a ranger and tracker, as well as 4x4 safari vehicle, and you can choose to spend the day as you wish instead of following the programme set out below.

Morning Game Drive

As dawn breaks over the African bush, a gentle tap on your door will wake you to the delights of a new day. Your ranger will discuss what you hope to see that day over fragrant tea or coffee and morning biscuits or rusks. andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve is renowned for its exceptional sightings of the elusive cheetah and the rare black rhino, as well as the Big Five. There is also a number of resident lion prides and rangers will do their best to provide you with an exceptional sighting of all of these animals.

Breakfast

Return to your lodge for a delicious breakfast, with platters of fruit and cheese followed by a selection of hot breakfast dishes. Choose from eggs, oats, waffles or a number of other options.

Lunch

If you wish, you can walk off your breakfast near your lodge, accompanied by your ranger, who will share his insight into the smaller animals and vegetation in the area, before returning in time for lunch.

Afternoon Tea

Cool off with a refreshing dip in the pool, indulge in an afternoon siesta or simply watch the wildlife from your private veranda. Over a late afternoon tea, your ranger will discuss what you hope to see during the afternoon game drive.

Evening Game Drive

This game drive begins in the late afternoon and lasts until after dark, when spotlights are used for a glimpse into the nocturnal bush life. Listen to lions roar in the dark or admire the small nocturnal animals. Enjoy sun-downers in a scenic location as the sun slowly sinks beneath the horizon. If you prefer, you may be able to go on a boat cruise down the Mzinene River, watching the wildlife as they come down to drink.

Dinner

A mouthwatering dinner is waiting for you at your lodge's boma or in a surprising bush location.

Wildlife at Phinda Rock Lodge

&Beyond Phinda is home to an abundance of wildlife, from the large mammals to the smallest antelope. However, it is the faster of predators that has a special place here.

Having reintroduced cheetah to the area after an absence of over fifty years, &Beyond Phinda has quickly established a reputation as one of the best places to view and photograph these rare cats. With much of &Beyond Phinda dominated by a mosaic of various savanna habitats, these speedy carnivores have plenty of space to carry out their explosive hunting technique, as well as enough cover to protect and shelter their cubs.

Along with cheetah, lion and leopard are tracked on the reserve on a daily basis and guests have a high likelihood of encountering these magnificent animals. Another success story at &Beyond Phinda is that of both the white and the more endangered black rhino. Brought back from the brink of extinction, both the grass eating white rhino and the shrub grazing black rhino are doing well at the reserve. While the white rhino favours water holes and wallows, the black rhino indulges its inquisitive nature in constant solitary rambles.

The elegant nyala antelope is a frequent sight at &Beyond Phinda, with the reserve boasting one of the highest densities of the species. With its dark brown coat, buttery yellow legs, shaggy mane and impossibly bushy tail, the male nyala is particularly spectacular, while the female contents itself with a less flashy chestnut coat.

The rare sand forest in the northern parts of &Beyond Phinda is the perfect environment for some of the rarer smaller species. The shy red duiker is found grazing on fallen leaves and fruit and the tiny suni, one of the smallest antelope species, may also be seen.

Activities at Phinda Zuka Lodge

Mzinene River Boat Cruise

Begin or end your day with a leisurely cruise on the Mzinene River. A game drive with your ranger will take you down to the river. Wind your way along the reed-lined banks, where fever trees, gnarled sycamore figs and acacias provide nesting places for over 200 species of water birds that inhabit this riverine system. Photograph these beautiful birds in the soft light of dawn or dusk before returning to your lodge.

Maputaland Beach Adventure

The vast sandy beaches of the Maputaland coastline provide a beautiful setting for a half-day beach outing. Soak up the sun, splash in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, relax with a good book, play beach games, take leisurely walks along the shoreline or snorkel alongside Jesser Point, a protected marine reserve.*

Indian Ocean Scuba safari

Recognised as one of the top ten dive sites in the world, Sodwana Bay offers an abundance of fish and marine life throughout the year. The gullies, ledges and pinnacles of the coral reef are home to more than 1 200 fascinating fish species.*

Black Rhino Tracking on Foot

Slip on a pair of walking shoes and spend the morning with an expert ranger and tracker to find the rare and endangered black rhino on foot. Follow rhino tracks, recognise rhino middens and scratching posts, and read the signs of the bush in search of your quarry.*

Turtle Nesting Adventure

(Available November to February)

For four months during the southern hemisphere summer, the enormous leatherback and loggerhead turtles emerge from the Indian Ocean at Sodwana Bay to lay their precious eggs in the sand. As the moon rises over the ocean, excitement grows as you drive along the deserted coastline in search of fresh turtle tracks that emerge from the ocean and travel along the beach in search of a suitable nesting site. Watch as the female turtle digs her nest and lays her clutch of up to a hundred eggs.*

Swimming with Whale Sharks

Drift in the warm currents of the Indian Ocean as you swim alongside the largest fish in the sea. Accompanied by a skipper and certified dive-master, head out to sea on board an inflatable vessel in search of these enormous fish. Once located, jump into the water to swim next to these massive yet gentle giants.*

Zulu Village Tour

Be invited into an authentic Zulu homestead, visit the training school of a local sangoma, or traditional healer, and shop for exquisite handicrafts in the community surrounding &Beyond Phinda. Get a glimpse into the rituals of daily life and see how tribal culture and traditional affect rural Zulu villagers in the modern world.*

(* at an additional cost)

Children

Children are most welcome when family-friendly &Beyond Phinda Zuka Lodge is booked for exclusive use

If available, booking exclusive use of a safari vehicle means that game drives can be tailored for the shorter attention span of younger children, leaving and coming back to the lodge at any time. A swimming pool is available for families to enjoy.

When booked for exclusive use, the lodge can accommodate one triple room. This means that, should parents wish to share this room with younger children, an additional bed will be set up in the parents’ room for children 16 years or younger.

Game drives are available to children aged twelve years and older. Children aged six to twelve are permitted on game drives at the lodge manager’s discretion. While children younger than six cannot participate in game drives, childminders can be arranged during game drives and meal times at an additional cost.

Rates

Please contact us for our latest rates and availability.

Included

• Accommodation
• Three meals daily
• Soft drinks
• House wines
• Local brand spirits and beers
• Teas and coffees
• Refreshments on game drives
• Laundry
• Safari activities
• 1-hour nature walks accompanied by experienced armed trackers (subject to availability)
• Emergency medical evacuation insurance
• VAT
• Transfers to and from the lodge airstrip

Not Included

• Telephone calls
• Safari shop purchases
• Gratuities
• All items of a personal nature
• Champagne
• Cognacs
• Fine wines
• Premium brand spirits and cigars
• Adventures at Phinda
• Government bed levy
• Conservancy or park fees
• Landing fees
• Administration fee

Rate Conditions

All rates are inclusive of VAT and in South African Rand. Accommodation rates are per person per night sharing. Villa rate will be quoted on request.

Long-Stay Rates: May be applied for a combination of &Beyond lodges in Africa (subject to seasonal availability of the offer), for the same guests on a single itinerary. These cannot be used in conjunction with any other &Beyond offers, including Signature offers.

Single Supplement 2015: 1 to 6 Jan; Jul to Oct; 21 to 31 Dec: A single supplement of 50% applies from the first single room. Rest of year: 50% supplement is only charged from the third single room per booking.

Children under the age of 16 sharing with 1 or 2 adult are charged 50% of the adult rate. This is subject to the availability of triple rooms.

Private 4x4 safari vehicles can be pre-booked at Phinda Private Game Reserve at additional cost and subject to availability.

Munyawana Conservancy fee is not included in the above mentioned rates - these are charged per person per stay.

All pricing is indicative and subject to exchange rate fluctuations. &Beyond Trading Terms apply.