Zulu Nyala Heritage Safari Lodge, Hluhluwe

We recently spent a wonderful weekend at Zulu Nyala Heritage Safari Lodge, in Hluhluwe.

The Zulu Nyala Heritage Safari Lodge was built in the 1940’s as a hotel, and as a rest stop for those travelling between Maputo and Durban. Since then, the hotel was restored to it’s former glory in a beautiful colonial style – with new accommodations offerings.

Hluhluwe is already a favourite area for us to travel, as we first visited on our honeymoon. Since then, we’ve made multiple return trips to various other lodges or hotels. We love ‘bush’ holidays even if not in the traditional or more luxury sense, so any opportunity to try a new one is always met with great excitment!

The grounds at Zulu Nyala Heritage Safari Lodge are enormous – they have a number of accommodation options, from family rooms, twin rooms and suites, to the Tented Camp (for a real ‘glamping’ experience).

We were lucky enough to spend the weekend in a Heritage King Suite, and it was exceptional. Extremely spacious, comfortable, and very clean. All kitted out with day beds, a lounge, a coffee/tea station and mini fridge, as well as a massive bed and bathroom complete with sizeable shower and bath tub.

Along with these gorgeous accommodation options, Zulu Nyala Heritage Safari Lodge boasts plenty of activities on site. They have a beautiful spa as well as a fully equipped gym and 2 swimming pools.

You can also visit the on-site traditional Zulu cultural village, do a spot of shopping at their curio shop (packed with wonderful goodies) or head into the Zulu Nyala reserve on a twice-daily game drive.

ZULU NYALA CULTURAL DANCING — A taste of the Zulu Cultural village, with dancing at night.

We thoroughly enjoyed our morning game drive in the Zulu Nyala reserve with ranger Musa – he was so knowledgeable of the bush, the animals, and he worked so hard to make sure we got in as many sightings as possible during the drive.

There are also SO many outside excursions in the Hluhluwe and St Lucia areas, and these can be organised through the hotel. You can visit the Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve for half or full day tours, or visit Emdoneni to see a variety of wild cats and interact with cheetahs (we’ve actually visited Emdoneni – you can learn more HERE). You can also do an elephant interaction, visit the reptile centre, cruise on the St Lucia estuary, visit a pineapple farm, go fishing or beer tasting. There is SO much to do!

Zulu Nyala Heritage Safari Lodge serves up 3 buffet-style meals a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and they have a well stocked bar that also carries snacks and treats should you so wish.

The meals are well-cooked and well varied, with a couple of meat options as well as delicious veg and salads. There is always a South African traditional dessert as well! Breakfast is a classic fry-up with fresh fruits, yoghurts, cereals and pastries (we even had some very delicious game sausage one morning). Lunch offers up salads, hot meals and some sweet offerings like brownies. Dinner for me was the highlight, especially the ‘braai night’ where we were served up with potato bake, salad, pap and grilled corn. This was followed up with malva pudding!

The bar also stocks such a FABULOUS selection of South African wines (and you know I’m all about my wine), so we were chuffed to find some of our usual favourites available. It was very easy to head to the bar and order an ice bucket, bottle of white wine and some glasses, and head over to the pool for an afternoon of relaxation.

We had such a wonderful and VERY relaxing stay at Zulu Nyala Heritage Safari Lodge. The property is beautifully maintained, and they’re doing some upgrades to certain areas as well, so there’s a lot to look forward to! The staff were all exceptional – so polite, so friendly and always helpful.

If you’re a South African resident as well, you’re entitled to take advantage of their current specials – you can view those HERE.