Our stay at the Elephant Chalet at Thula Private Lodge was peaceful and comfortable.
The chalet is spacious, with a bedroom and a loft, one with a queen size bed, the other with two single beds. They each have mosquito netting that works quite well. The aircon in both the bedroom and the loft works great. On a 41 degree Celsius day, the chalet stayed perfectly cool. The outdoor area is spacious and has a great braai stand. There was plenty of firewood on arrival. The pool is lovely, and the pool area is shaded and gets a nice breeze. The staff were extremely helpful. Daniel met us and gave us the keys and all the information we needed. He also invited us to watch the crocodiles being fed (which is more of a spectacle than I thought it would be!). He was always on hand if we needed anything, going to extra lengths to get us what we needed if it was unavailable. The reserve itself is what you’d expect – open, dry, etc. There is a crocodile enclosure, but aside from that, all other animals roam free. If you’re lucky and stay on the lookout, you may see elephants (we didn’t, but we didn’t go looking for them, either). We did see a lot of springbok. For anyone who is sensitive to this sort of thing, the chalet does have taxidermied animal heads – two outside and one inside. Note that there is a dirt road for the final few kilometres towards the reserve. It shouldn’t be a problem for most cars, but small run-around cars might have a hard time.
