Our trip to South Africa was nothing short of amazing. During our two weeks, we stayed in two different hotels and an AirBnB villa.

The first hotel was a Radisson Blu in a half-decent location but nothing all that special – although I did love their breakfast buffet. The AirBnB villa we shared with some friends, and was a great choice for our last few days.

Our second hotel, however, was really something special; Ikhaya Safari Lodge.

The rooms start at around £95 per night, so definitely a little pricier than I normally like but it had come highly recommended, and we really wanted to experience something special while we were in South Africa – who knew when we’d be back!

The hotel

The Lodge is amazing and everything you’d imagine a safari lodge to look like. It’s off a busy main road – with one heck of a steep drive – but feels like you’re stepping into a little slice of paradise. The views from the terrace are amazing, and overlook a beautiful vista with Cape Town in the distance.

Our room

We chose to stay in the Pumba Room – partly due to my love of The Lion King – and it had the most beautiful terrace with a breath-taking view. The room itself was modern, stylish and although a little small, it still felt light and airy.

In comparison, the bathroom was actually huge. It featured a large, spacious shower, two sinks and some extra space for storing clothes.

The only bit I wasn’t a huge fan of was the animal skins on the floor. Walking around barefoot freaked me out slightly, especially when I stepped on the tail of what I’m guessing was a warthog. While I loved the authenticity, I feel like I may have reached my limit of what I was comfortable with.

Once we’d arrived and dropped our bags off in our room, we explored more of the lodge. The main house was connected to our room via a little windy path and I felt like we were really out in the wilderness somewhere.

The main communal area of the house was beautifully decorated with African art and – you guessed – more animal skins.

The staff – and our furry friends

The Manageress was lovely, really welcoming and friendly, and instantly made us feel comfortable. Partly helped by her assistants; Poppy and Daisy the two resident Dachshunds. As you can imagine, I instantly fell in love. Poppy was full of energy and wanted to be everyone’s best friend. She would follow us everywhere and curl up beside us on the chairs – whatever it took to have your attention. Daisy was older and a little calmer, but she would quietly appear by your leg, ready for some petting.

Each morning, we had breakfast out on the terrace of the main house with the stunning backdrop of Cape Town in the distance. We had the choice of the small breakfast buffet which consisted of cereals, fruits and pastries or we could order hot food from the kitchen – and we could basically have whatever we wanted.

The staff were amazing. As our friends were also staying at the Lodge, they would set up a table for us so we could eat together and would know exactly when we were ready to order. Everything was made on demand and tasted delicious – I would have scrambled eggs, bacon and mushrooms and man it was gooood.

The facilities

As the summer season hadn’t quite started yet, we (and our friends) were lucky enough to be the only guests which definitely worked in our favour. The Manageress went above and beyond, allowing us to have a BBQ with other friends that weren’t staying at the Lodge. They helped set everything up, including a buffet-style table outside by the pool with everything we would need.

Because it wasn’t quite full summer when we visited, we had hot days and then we had some cooler days. The pool was mostly in shade during the mornings, and during the height of the summer I can imagine this would be bliss. But it wasn’t quite warm enough for that yet – it didn’t stop us from getting in the water, but it definitely wasn’t relaxing-on-a-lilo-season just yet.

The most entertaining part of being in/by the pool was watching Poppy run up and down and bark at the water. She got so overexcited at one point that she fell in and had us all in stitches. Don’t worry, she was fine. She swam out and then came and cuddled on the loungers to dry off.

I’m so glad we chose to stay here. It’s definitely one of the most memorable hotels we’ve ever been to and if I’m ever in Cape Town, I will definitely be booking to go back.