Monwana, and what coming home actually means

In short: Monwana is a seven-suite lodge in the Thornybush Game Reserve, part of the Greater Kruger. It calls itself a place of coming home. We spent the weekend there and tested that claim against the rooms, the drives, the afternoons and the staff. The verdict, in short: the lodge means it. The wildlife is comparable to the Sabi Sand, the vehicle traffic is meaningfully lower, and the lodge feels more like a private house than a polished safari hotel. Best for couples, repeat safari travellers, and families.

What was our first impression of Monwana?

Vikki, from the vehicle, on day one.

The first morning, we were on the vehicle before the light came up. Puffer on, a cap that was barely doing its job, a takeaway coffee with the Monwana name written across it. The bush was still waking up. Then we saw the rustling of a tree, and an elephant walked out of the mist less than ten metres from us. He wasn't going anywhere in particular. He had a tree he was interested in. We had the coffee. We sat in silence as it was the first time we had ever seen an elephant's breath.

Monwana calls itself a place of coming home. That phrase is on their website, embroidered on the caps the guides wear, etched into the side of the flask in my hand, printed on the welcome card by the bed. I had read it long before this visit, and every time I come back, the line earns itself a little more. Most lodges in this price band reach for something in that key. Monwana is one of the few where the words and the experience are on the same level.

Then a bull elephant walked out of the mist. No audience. No urgency. He took his time crossing in front of us, and I thought, there it is again.

By the third morning, the hashtag made complete sense. #cominghome. They were not asking us to feel it. They were just letting it happen.

What are the rooms like at Monwana?

Sian, on the test that decides every lodge.

The suite. A sofa that looks like a sofa.

A morning coffee stop in the bush.

I want to start with the suite, because that is where my opinion of a lodge gets decided faster than anywhere else.

Ours had a sofa that looked like a sofa. A bench at the end of it carried a single stripe that wasn't trying to match anything else in the room. Two ink drawings of trees hung above, framed simply. The rug underneath was patterned in a way that took a second look to read. Lamps that didn't announce themselves. A bowl of books on the ottoman with cracked spines and dog-eared corners, the kind that had actually been read by somebody on holiday.

This sounds like nothing. It is not nothing.

Most lodges in this price band buy the same eight things from the same five suppliers, and arrange them the way the catalogue suggests. You can usually walk into a Big Lodge suite and date the refurb to the year and name the designer from the doorway. Monwana is not that. Monwana looks like the owners chose the cushions themselves, and the cushions stayed.

Every suite has its own temperature-controlled plunge pool on the deck, which sounds like a small detail and stops feeling small the third time you slip into it without thinking. It is the thing a house has that a hotel pretends to have.

The tagline says coming home. The room actually feels like one.

What are the game drives like at Monwana?

Both of us, on the wildlife and the way it gets shown to you.

The rains had been heavy and late, the bush was thick, and the animals had no reason to come out of it. Any honest review of game viewing in the Thornybush in late May has to start there. What you get in a green season at Monwana is not a parade. You get a few quiet, close encounters and a lot of time to actually look at where you are. Which, as it turned out, was the better trip anyway.

Four lionesses walked straight in front of the vehicle, occasionally turning to swat at one another the way sisters do. We were one of only two vehicles at the sighting. Alex turned the engine off, and we sat. The lead lioness looked at us, then through us the way they do, and walked past close enough to make genuinely uncomfortable eye contact. Lucas, our tracker, sat up front on the vehicle and waited it out with us, which is its own kind of patience.

Alex stopped the vehicle a couple of times to show us plants. Not because there was an animal nearby. Because there was a plant he wanted us to see, and he gave us a full ten minutes on it without apologising for the lack of fur. He had a small earpiece in to stay in contact with the other guides, which read as professional rather than distracted. He is one of the young ones, and the young ones at Monwana have stopped pretending to be old ones. Alex is just himself. It makes a difference.

By our final morning, the coffee stop had quietly become the best one we have had anywhere this year. Alex pulled into a clearing, the rains had turned a colour green isn't supposed to go. The flask was hot, and the coffee was strong, the kind that makes you think you might need a second one. There were homemade rusks still warm from the oven at the lodge, and the Amarula bottle that everyone pretends not to be tempted by so early in the morning. We stood around the table the way you do at someone's house when the kettle has just boiled.

What are the afternoons like at Monwana?

Sian, on the bit most lodges treat as filler.

We came back from the morning drive, ate, slept, and then ended up at the bar earlier than we should have.

The afternoon is the bit most lodges treat as filler. Monwana does not. The bar is a real bar with chairs at it. The light comes in sideways through the windows and lands on the prints of the African harrier-hawks behind the counter. We sat there for two hours with a glass of rosé each, laughing about nothing important, and nobody came over to ask if we wanted to do an activity.

That is the difference between a lodge that gets it and a lodge that doesn't. You should be allowed to do nothing. At home, you are allowed to do nothing.

Breakfast the next morning came on a small tray on the deck. Croissants in a fabric basket. Yoghurt with seeds. Raw honey. The view across the water to the bush. We took our time over it. Nobody chased us away.

Who is Monwana for, and who is it not for?

Vikki, on the people we would and would not send here.

It is for people who think they want a polished safari lodge and then realise, on the second night, that they actually wanted somewhere that felt like staying with friends who happen to own land.

It is for couples who are tired and want the lodge to take the pressure off, not add to it.

It is for repeat safari travellers who have done the famous big-name reserves and are quietly looking for somewhere that lets them breathe.

It is not for first-timers who need their hand held through the whole experience, although the team would do a fine job of that too if you asked. It is not for anyone who needs Instagram to confirm that the safari was good. The photos are quieter than the ones you take in the Sabi Sand. The week is louder.

"The coming home line had stopped sounding like marketing. It had started sounding like a description."

– Vikki, the last morning

By the last morning, when we stood next to the Land Cruiser before the airport transfer, the coming home line on the back of it had stopped sounding like marketing. It had started sounding like a description.

That, in the end, is the highest compliment you can pay a lodge. They told us what they were before we arrived. They turned out to be it.

Frequently asked questions about Monwana

How many suites does Monwana have?

Seven in total. Four standard Suites for two guests each, two Family Suites that take two adults plus two children aged 12 to 16, and the Monwana Residence which has two en-suite bedrooms, a private lounge with a fireplace, an outdoor dining terrace and a firepit. Every suite has its own temperature-controlled plunge pool on the deck. The lodge caps total occupancy at sixteen guests.

Where is Monwana located?

Monwana is in the Thornybush Game Reserve, part of the Greater Kruger ecosystem in Limpopo, South Africa. It is roughly five hours by road from Johannesburg, or a short flight to Hoedspruit, followed by a 45-minute road transfer to the lodge.

Is Monwana suitable for families?

Yes, with caveats. The minimum age is ten, and the two Family Suites are designed for children aged twelve to sixteen who share with their parents. If you want a younger family or sole use of the lodge, the Monwana Residence is the route to take.

How does Monwana compare to a Sabi Sand lodge?

The wildlife is comparable, particularly for the Big Five. The pace is slower, and the vehicle traffic is significantly lower because Thornybush has more space per bed and Monwana caps its own occupancy at sixteen guests. Expect equivalent quality of guiding and food, with a more residential feel to the lodge itself.

What is included in the Monwana rate?

All meals, two daily game drives, guided bush walks, complimentary wifi, mini bar and laundry. The Monwana Spa is on the property. Hot air ballooning is the one activity that sits outside the rate.