It's hard to believe that someone would find Ulusaba to be a "huge disappointment," as described by a previous reviewer. I suppose it depends on one's expectations. If you expected your young son would be allowed on safari drives and he wasn't, you would be disappointed. However, you need to do your homework. "Not worth the money?" Again, personal opinion, I suppose.

My wife and I stayed at Ulusaba Safari Lodge in early March. It was fantastic. The accommodations, public spaces, service, and safari drives were all outstanding. It wasn't very busy so they upgraded our room. River Lodge 1 had a large bedroom, bathroom, and deck overlooking the dry river bed. I could envision rooms that were more deluxe (plunge pool, better view, bigger, etc.) but it would have been overkill, as we were in our room for about 20 minutes per day while not sleeping.

Safari drives were great. We saw the big five (and more) up close. Couldn't have asked for more.

I could go on and on but I'd simply repeat all of the positive feedback elsewhere.

If I had to find flaw, I would say the food was only good, not great. If you're a foodie and want your salmon tataki with only a razor-thin sear, you'll likely be disappointed at times. However, simple dishes were prepared skillfully and ingredients were always fresh.

Also, we drove ourselves to Ulusaba from Nelspruit airport via Hazyview. It's a rather easy, safe drive but you need to allow 3+ hours to get back to the airport. We scrambled a bit to make our flight back to Capetown.

We went in December 2009 to get married and have a honeymoon. We were greeted with an excellent service from the very beginning. We stayed in River lodge 4 which which was just perfect (and the plunge pool was great after a hot safari.) On safari we spent our time with Trevor and Sam who as well as being friendly and polite are clearly very knowledgeable and passionate about their work. In fact we found all the staff at ulusaba to be most genuine and thoughtful we've ever come across. Nothing was too much trouble (not that we ever had to ask for anything). Johan even doubled as our wedding photographer on our big day, he took us out to some amazing scenery and took some wonderful photos. The food was absolutely out of this world. The safari was incredible, we saw everything we were hoping to and more. Our wedding was perfect and felt like we were among friends who just wanted our day to be special. If we could only holiday in one place, this would be it! But be warned you will judge your holidays afterward more harshly!!

I have been all over the world and this place is simply awesome. My other favorite vacation was Kenya/Tanzania - Ngongoro Crate Lodge, Little Governor's, Amboseli, etc...and this place was better. The night safaris, the staff and the game walking through the camp make this an amazing experience. I can't say enough good things about this place.