Guest Book

If you have comments for us about your stay at Shamwari then please email us. We would love to hear from you.

Some of our guests had this to say about their stay at Shamwari….

Lynda and Peter Moore, UK. We just wanted to let you know what an amazing stay we enjoyed in Shamwari recently (Nov 09). On our arrival we were welcomed immediately by Matt and were totally looked after by him and his team throughout our stay. Nothing was too much trouble from the beginning (even the jacket that had spoilt in my case was cleaned and returned to me within a couple of hours). We were treated like royalty. The honeymoon suite with its fantastic view was absolutely amazing. The food was delicious and the waiting staff, as all the staff, very courteous. The drives were superb. Abel, our ranger, though careful always of our safety, skillfully managed to find us all the big 5 and more including a leopard with her cub. For us the special touches were on the return from the first evening drive the bath being drawn with bubbles, flowers, candles and a bottle of wine and the presentation after dinner of a birthday cake with the staff singing Happy Birthday to me in both languages. The stay was the perfect ending to our holiday in South Africa. Thank-you so much.

Peter and Gillian Roberts, UK. What an awesome experience! The whole package – the animals, the staff at Long Lee Manor, and indeed, the Manor itself, combined to make our stay at Shamwari (Sept. 09) the most memorable part of our trip to South Africa. We were fortunate to spend our time on the reserve with Roger, the Head Ranger, a genuinely nice guy whose passion for the animals was only matched by his skill in tracking them down! We would love to know if the ’bandit’ retained his golf title! Heartfelt thanks from both of us – to think, my wife didn’t even want to go!

Ms Norma Bookless, SA. A huge Shoutout to all of you...I miss Shamwari soooo much since I arrived back in Cape Town. My experience was out of this world and taught me a lot about wild life and my approach to it in the future. Large shoutout to game rangers Jamie (speedster) and Darryl (spot) for making my drives memories for life. To Stacy and company at the spa for their treatments that just added to the luxury of the whole stay. Yesterday on DSTV I had a gap filler......Shamwari was on Animal Planet showing how the north lion pride arrived and then how the South lion pride also came about. Howthey met and had a battle captured on screen with a standoff thank goodness. A battle to be waged on another day, but so interesting having seen these beautiful males in real life. As there are still some animals I didn’t see in flesh there is much more still to witness the next time I visit you all next year. I am really looking forward to our next meet and hope to renew friendships made with your wonderful staff.

Agatha & Vincent McGee, Sligo, Ireland. We've just returned home to Ireland after a 2 week stay in South Africa. The highlight of our stay was certainly our 2 day visit to Shamwari from 17th to 19th September '09. We could have stayed longer. The memories of seeing the wildlife in their natural environment will stay with us forever. Shamwari turned this holiday into the holiday of a lifetime. Suffice to say we were sad to be coming home. There is absolutely no doubt but we will be back, as soon as possible. Piero is a brilliant guide/ranger, highly informative and competitive in the sense that he did his utmost to enable us to see as much as possible for our 4 game drives. On top of that he was great 'craic' as us Irish would say, i.e. good fun. A big thank you to all the staff who made our stay so memorable. We will be back.

Alan & Kim Walker, Shropshire, UK. We spent 4 days at Eagles Crag from 28th Aug to 01st Sept 09 and would just like to say a heartfelt thanks for the magical time we had. Everything about the place is fantastic, from the rooms through to the staff who go out of their way to be helpful. We must pay particular thanks to Frans, our ranger guide, who ensured we saw everything that Shamwari had to offer. His knowledge and enthusiasm are obvious and infectious in equal measure and he never tired of my wife's persistent thirst for more...... so much so she had to ensure that the management understood it was her fault we got back in so late, not his (we were watching a Cheetah stalking some prey after all). We would also like to thank Elvis for coming out of hiding to provide an armed escort during the evenings. Shamwari is truly magical and we are already planning to come back.

Ruth and Davina Williams - Wales. Thank you very much for the great stay at long lee manor (20th-23rd of June, 2009) I will never forget the stay-even getting up at half past six was great, and the sun was even out throughout winter! Julius and Phillip were great rangers, I had a great laugh with both! All the staff were so kind and generous with us.Hope I shall see you again in future. Best wishes

Sarah & Alexandra Hall. I would just like to say a huge Thank you to all the staff and our rangers Phillip and Julius at Long lee. The food and rooms were fantastic and the drives showed us more than we could have wanted. The combination of informed rangers and incredible animal sightings(..including a leopard!) made it a trip my daughter and myself will treasure forever! Oh and did I mention the aardvark! amazing! Thank you to the staff for sharing their lemonade recipe. it is a huge hit, and for the general kindness and enjoyment of our experiences.These days it is all too easy to return from a trip and never want to go back.... I am already thinking how to persuade the rest of my family to return on visit! Thank you again.

Alonso Weber, Mexico.  I just wanna to tell you that i have the greatest journey of my life.... im so happy to be the first mexican ever been there... and i love every moment that i spendt. tks

Win & Cara Hotchkiss, USA. Shamwari - Bayethe.  We spent two nights/3days at Shamwari and loved every minute of it, the whole experience was incredible. The staff was amazing, I have never eaten so much food in my life. We had a wonderful time at the Shamwari and would go back in a heartbeat. The accommodation itself was luxuriously with the most beautiful view. If money were no object I would definitely spend 3 nights, but 2 is certainly enough. Having been on Safari before in Kenya I wasn't sure what to expect, it was very different but equally good. The whole experience at Shamwari was magical. Many of the guests that we met had been on other safaris before arriving there and all said that Shamwari was their favorite.

Ian & Mandy Fisher, Solihull, UK - The two days we spent at Eagles Crag were out of this world. The staff were most charming and our ranger, Frans, was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his role, it made our stay even more enjoyable. Frans managed to locate all the big 5 and one of the highlights was when we came across a Cheetah who just seemed to 'pose' most gracefully for us on a termite hill.

Hilary and Brian Cunningham (UK). We stayed at Shamwari for three days and had a marvellous visit. We wanted to write to express our particular thanks to our ranger, Tarryn, at Long Lee, who was extremely dedicated in endeavouring to show us as much as possible, along with very well interesting information about all we saw. We saw all the Big 5, despite a day of extremely poor weather (when we actually saw the herd of buffalo and the leopard on our last drive). Tarryn has been with Shamwari for only 3 and a half months, but her knowledge and commitment were impressive and we would like you to pass on to her our sincere thanks. Due to the last game drive being a bit extended and carried out in poor weather, we did not have a chance to say goodbye to Tarryn, but we would like to rectify that now, and commend her commitment toher work and care for the environment and wildlife. Please treat this e-mail as a thank you to both Shamwari and Tarryn, and we must mention the very cheerful and charming cook who presides over the Braai explaining the different dishes to guests with such enthusiasm and friendliness. We only wish we had taken a photo of her as she epitomises the atmosphere at Shamwari. Thank you all for a lovely time.

Margo (North Carolina, USA).  I am writing you from Johannesburg, where we arrived safely this afternoon. Tomorrow, we will see just a little of the city and then board our overnight flight home. We'll get to our little town, Davidson, North Carolina, if the schedule holds, sometime on Wednesday afternoon.  I can see your beautiful faces clearly in my mind's eye, where all of you are burned into my memory. And you will reside in my heart, too. You know, the heart is a very tight muscle, even though it readily expands to embrace new people and new experiences. So you, my new friends, will be held closely there as long as it beats.  There is an old Broadway and movie musical from the 60s, called "Brigadoon." The story is of a town in the Scottish highlands, and what seems like a day there is actually a 100 years in the world below. So, it opens up once every 100 years and visitors who stumble on this magical place of peace and harmony can decide to stay or go back to the world they know. At the end of the one open day, the mist surrounds the mountains and Brigadoon disappears in the clouds, not to be seen for another 100 years.  That's how I felt today, leaving Shamwari and you. As we drove away from you and your unique place in the African bush, I imagined that the clouds closed up behind us before we even pulled out of the main gate. With hard work and vigilance, you have created a balance and unity of bush, animals, lodge, safari, and people - a mysterious and wondrous place.  I have dreamed of Africa since I was a little girl, and with your guidance, a window opened onto life here. Though only for a few days, nature played out before us in all its rhythm, grace and ferocity, after which we could return to the lodge and your warm kindnesses and reflect on our days out together. Thank you.

Kirsty Marmarellis from Travel Exclusively African.  Shamwari was wonderful – and the Born Free project and meeting the baby elephant were the absolute highlights. Riverdene as a family lodge is an absolute recipe for success – and the childminder there (sorry her name escapes me …) was just brilliant. Lea was hardly interested in me once they had met and spent time together.

Howard & Joyce Hart (Plettenberg Bay, SA). We have recently returned from our second visit to your incredible piece of Heaven - & once again not a disappointment in sight. Your Staff are so helpful, efficient & our Ranger Dave were so professional & nothing was too much for us. We had our Son & Grandson from the States visiting & shared this time with us - to say they loved it would be an understatement, as for us - we have had a rather stressful year & this was the best medicine in the world. We will return as often as is possible and thank you from our Hearts' for this wonderful piece of tranquillity on earth - please don't change it as there are few places in the world where one can find utter peace & the best people in the world. Our sincere best wishes to all & the Animals (especially the Elephants) & we hope to be back very soon.

Laura & Nick Belger (Liverpool, UK). Magical Shamwari holidays - All our dreams came true when we visited Shamwari, we fell in love with Africa. From the moment we arrived to the moment we left we were exhilarated, amazed and enthralled - so much so, that we returned the following year and hope to do so many times in the future. (Longlee in 2006 & Bayethe in 2007

Alan & Margaret Oxley - (Isle of Man) "We would like to thank all the staff at Eagles Crag for making my wife’s birthday so memorable, it could not of been better. The picture of the Shamwari Black Rhino is now hanging in our lounge to remind us of the good time we had. The Shamwari experience should not be missed by anyone who loves animals and are visiting South Africa, we enjoyed ourselves so much we will be back in the near future."

John Travolta - (Actor USA) “The kids liked it better than even the beach scene,” Travolta told Jay Leno, on his Tonight Show guest appearance to promote his latest movie. “Even after hours on safari, we couldn’t get them off the jeep!” “It was awesome!”

Brad Pitt. (Actor USA) - “The people as fantastic as the animals majestic. Enjoyed the food chain - Many thanks.”

David and Tina Williams, USA. – “To the staff of Eagles Crag, We do not ordinarily leave a note of thanks, but then again, we do not ordinarily have a stay as magical as our one here. Everything about Shamwari was perfectly executed. Our Eagles Crag lodge and room were beautiful, the food wonderful, the game drives got better and better, and most importantly - we loved all the smiles and laughs from everyone. Truly a staff that made us feel like this was our home, and that we were blessed with a large happy family. We shall never forget you.”

Mara and Pier Paulo, Milano, Italy. - “24 hours immersed in nature at its best. Not to mention the food and accommodation….”

Gary Marriot, Cape Town, South Africa. - “It was a rare experience to see the secret of Africa that Shamwari has to offer, well done”

Mississippi USA. - “Thank you for sharing your magical country, people and the environment - All touched our hearts - our dreams come true and our respect is unending”.

Nicholas Lakas, Canada. - “This is a magnificent reserve with incredible people. Thank you for your commitment to your guests, your animals and the environment, see you all again soon.”

Rich Carlson, California. -“As a travel writer and TV producer of Talkintravel, I have stayed in nearly 1000 hotels and resorts - This brings new meaning to rest and relaxation.”

Will Travers, Born Free Foundation, UK. - “The public/private partnership pioneered by Shamwari and Alicedale is our hope for the future. Invest in the future of wildlife.”

Eddie Jordan” Founder of Jordan F1 racing team. - “From the very first moment, an amazing life time experience. Words could not do it justice - Many thanks to all.”