Kwandwe Ecca Lodge

Kwandwe Private Game Reserve is situated in the heart of the Eastern Cape, within easy reach to South Africa's awe-inspiring coastline. It is a reserve that offers a perfect beginning or ending of a South African safari along the famous Garden Route. The area's history is told in the wide open spaces and tranquil scenery through all the battles fought on and around Kwandwe Private Game Reserve. This area was the heart of the frontier wars in the 1800's and 1900's. This land has been desired by many men and cultures and now people live in and around the reserve in peace and harmony.

The reserve consists of 22,000 hectares (54,400 acres) of an incredibly beautiful but previously neglected part of the African continent where all the natural wildlife has been reintroduced and the land restored to its previous glory. 30km of uninterrupted river frontage along the Great Fish River offers a welcome source of water for all the game species. Thousands of animals roam this reserve including the famous Big 5, Lion, Buffalo, Leopard, Rhino and Elephant. The reserve is also home to a group of endangered birds which the reserve is aptly named after, the "Blue Crane". Kwandwe is the Xhosa word for "Place of the Blue Crane".

When guests arrive at Kwandwe they are welcomed at Heatherton Towers which in fact is an old Frontier War-era fortified homestead that is now the reserve reception building. It still has the dramatic gun turrets and private chapel and is situated a short drive from the popular Ecca Lodge.

Ecca Lodge on Kwandwe Private Reserve is a seriously modern and trendy lodge that if you did not know where you were you would be mistaken for being in a cosmopolitan city penthouse, except for the African bush sounds of jackals and frogs in the reed beds. Ecca Lodge is fantastic for families with the large spacious bedrooms and fold out couches for children. It has been designed to be an open plan lodge where the inside of the lodge flows easily into the open bushveld. Stone gabion walls and corrugated iron roofs still give guests a feeling of being safe in the lodge. The fun and funky décor of the lodge is fantastic, as you walk through and see life like pictures of animals with a slight artistic touch to them and the wrap around decks of each suite with private plunge pools, guests are pleasantly surprised with a hint of the traditional safari style when they enjoy an outdoor shower with a tin bath under them. Ecca Lodge is the funky and fun lodge at Kwandwe and guests are sure to have a fantastic time here.