We stayed here for one night. The view from the terrace overlooking the river is spectacular. The rooms are ok - nothing special; more or less clean but ok for one night. The view is worth the stay.
The restaurant is ok - we only had breakfast there.

We stayed at Olifants for the long weekend and had a wonderful time. We had a river view hut and the view was awesome. Everything we needed was supplied and the accommodation was spotlessly clean. The staff that really stood out was Puti and Sidwell. Beware there is a monkey in the camp that steals cellphones. He grabbed my cellphone and we had a hilarius time chasing him until he dropped the phone from high up in a tree. Luckily it was a Nokia and survived the fall.

Firstly, I have to start by saying we have been fairly spoilt in the past having frequented various 5* lodges / reserves around SA over the years. Mostly thanks to being taken away by big corporations as a "thank you" for business.
The perception one often hears about seeing the wildlife in SA is that you only get to do this if you are in the smaller privately owned & run reserves which cost a fortune & are normally only for the wealthy who can afford the premium prices.
Well we took the decision several years ago, to as far as possible only utilise the National Parks accommodation for our trips to the bush. At the time I thought a big compromise for me as I do like my creatuure comforts!! But this is certainly not the case at all. We now do an annual trip to Kruger & several shorter long weekends to the various othe parks, both SANPARKS & EZEMVELO & every time we go we see an abundance of game including the Big 5, with ease on our own driving around. The prices are fantastic & what we pay all in for 10 days in Kruger, the private reserves charge per person per night & more. Yes the accommodation is fairly basic, but well maintained & clean & lets be honest you only sleep there. To me the National Parks are fantastic!

We have just returned from our 10 days in Kruger. This was our first time staying in Olifants Camp which we really enjoyed, it is a beautiful camp & the setting above the river is awesome. We booked a river view bungalow which was wonderful, as always they were neat & clean. We found all the staff to be very friendly, chatty & helpful. Looking at previous reviews my answer to the "bad service" is we have never found this, however we often witness people being treated according to the way they treat others, if you give attitude you will be handled with attitude, common courtesy & friendliness always goes a long way!!

We booked an early morning "Guided Bush Walk", an awesome experience to be out in the bush on foot knowing their are wild animals around you. Our 2 rangers, John & Dennis were fantastic. We had a "Sunrise Game Drive" booked but opted to swop this for a "Sunset Game Drive" which was done no problem at all We went out with another ranger Eric, who was also amazing, very knowledgable, informative & a great sense of humour, we had a fantastic drive with him.

We had dinner at the restaurant on one occasion, it was very quiet with few people. The service & food was really great, we enjoyed it.

Our game sightings in the area were fantastic, of the so called "must see" we saw all but Rhino & Cheetah. I d believe the key to successful game viewing in the park is patience & knowing what to look out for, the twitching of an ear, the sounds of the birds & their alarm calls etc. We never go a day without seeing plenty of interesting sights.

One of the highlights for us was doing the Mananga 4 x 4 trail which operates out of Satara. A maximum of 6 vehicles allowed per day & must be pre-booked. It truly gives you the feeling of isolation from the sometimes madding crowd & we were lucky to have amazing sightings along the route. We passed only another 2 vehicles on the trail. Well worthwhile.

Overall a fabulous stay at Olifants.


"

The view is the thing that makes Olifants stand out. Its spectacular with Elephants walking through the river, hippos lounging in the river. and antelope including Kudu walking on the bank.
We had good service, the main person who stood out to us was Given (waiter), he was smiley and had a great sense of humor! The food like in other rest camps is the same 'Tree Restaurant' chain and lacks in qulaity & variety. A wider range & non-microwaved food would go a long way here.
The rooms were spacious, we were in the family room, and found it very comfortable but a bit simple and we lacked a view, so we spent our time on the main deck..no complaints there!
In the evening when the bats come out, look out for the Bat Hawk who preys primarily on bats as he hunts and usually manages to catch 2 in mid flight! Great show.
Dont forget your camera and your bino's when you visit Olifants, its a must have.
There are lots of acitivities available such as river walks, bush walks, night drive, morning drive, and bike trips.
The view did it for Olifants but otherwise it ranks the same as the other camps.