A pink dawn, birds stirring and a chance to see the wildlife begin their day – welcome to a morning drive at Thornybush. You’ll need to be up before the sun and in the vehicle after a quick snack to see the best sightings. This is when the land is cool and the animals are most active, when anything is possible and sightings come quickly. After a couple hours of roaming the reserve you’ll stop at a special spot for a coffee break before heading back for a delicious late breakfast.

Following a morning game drive, our guests can be treated to breakfast in a beautiful bush setting. While the savannah stirs to life, we serve a wide variety of breakfast dishes that our guests enjoy surrounded by the untouched African wilderness.

A walking safari offers something quite different to a game drive: the thrill of being on foot in a Big 5 reserve and a chance to engage with the smaller things. You learn about tracking, insects and flowers. It’s a chance to have an immersive experience where you get down and touch and smell what’s out there while at the same time you never quite know what you’ll encounter around the next corner, and there’s little that compares to the experience when you do.

Thornybush runs a non-profit organisation that aims to uplift the surrounding local communities that many of our staff members come from. Exciting initiatives such as community owned agricultural businesses, food security, youth focused conservation awareness, sustainable procurement and infrastructure upgrades are all major focus area’s of ours.

Following a lazy afternoon, most likely spent by the pool or on your deck, we’ll meet for afternoon tea before climbing into the game vehicle for a three-hour drive that leads into the evening. The sundowner stop at one of our favourite viewpoints will take in one of the iconic sights – a sunset casting golden light across an African savanna. As night sets in, new animals stir adding another level of excitement to the end of the drive.

Dinners at Thornybush are roaming affairs – locations can range from lantern-lit bomas to starry riverbeds, but the most memorable meals are often enjoyed in the privacy of your own deck. While the night sounds of the African bush ring through the air and mysterious eyes watch you from afar, you get to enjoy superbly prepared meals accompanied by South Africa’s finest wines.