SANParks.org Forums

Frankel Guest House in Satara

This is happening as we speak!

18th September 2012

10:50pm
5 Lions on buffalo kill which hyenas killed
next to satara fence, can see them from camp opposite frankel guest house in cement dam
Tinged by Nelmari
Reported: 3

21:35pm
5 Lions on buffalo kill which hyenas killed
next to satara fence, can see them from camp opposite frankel guest house in cement dam
Tinged by Nelmari
Reported: 2

21:00 pm
Lions on buffalo kill which hyenas killed
next to satara fence, can see them from camp opposite frankel guest house in cement dam
Tinged by Nelmari

A view of it in the Morning

We have just spent 4 days at the Frankel House. it is the first time being there that not a single animal came to the waterhole to drink. Is it as a result of the buffalo carcass still being there from the kill last week ?
We often stay at the Frankel house and the waterhole always as abundant game coming to drink.

We stayed at Rhino , waterkant1 and the one at LS. Best view was LS but best over all was waterkant. We booked olifants geust house Nshawu in April for 4 nights , then 4 nights at Frankel at Satara, 4 nights at Absa and 3 nights at Dohethy house. Cant wait.

You are sooo lucky!!

Enjoy and let us know!

Please do let us know, Rubicon

Has anyone stayed at the Doherty Bryant house in Pretoriuskop? Is it similar as for example Waterkant1 in Skukuza where the rooms are also separate? Thanks .

Dear Grantmissy,
it might be very possible that you will be disappointed. Please have a look on the official pictures from SanPark. The Video you will also find there will give you a real idea of what to expect.

http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/camps/pretoriuskop/tourism/availability.php

To my opinion you can`t compare it with Waterkant 1 (Skukuza).

Hope that helps, Brigitte

We are regular visitors to Kruger (approx 3x a year) and love to stay in the bigger Guest houses like Waterkant, Monis, Frankel, Keartland and Fisheagel.
These houses are very difficult to get and I have noticed in the last few years that they are severely run down. I have complained about Waterkant to the Customer Service, and my complaint was answered and I was assured that they would rectify the issues.
6 months later when I went back there, the exact same issues were worse than they had been 6 months prior. NOTHING had been done.
This shows a severe lack of management.
And I have no doubt that when I go back to Waterkant, nothing will have changed.
Secondly, I cannot understand why Kruger management has not realised that these bigger houses are so popular and taken some of the smaller bungalows that are always available and converted 4 of them into a bigger house, as these would clearly be as booked up as the few bigger houses that they have.
I know that these bigger houses were "Donor Houses" in the past and I have no doubt that there would be hordes of people prepared to build these donor houses again.
I would be the first in the queue!!

We have also stayed in guesthouses, Stanley in Satara and ABSA in Skukuza.
We took our children and grandchildren to Kruger (all 10 of us) in May 2012 and they were gob-smacked by these two guesthouses.

ABSA had incredible views of Sabie River with many sightings of Hippos, Crocodiles, Buffaloes and Elephants.
We were entertained by Banded Mongooses and countless birds.
Although there were a few maintenance problems, the majority of the facilities were to die for.
Our housekeeper Veronica was very special and assisted in every way she could.

Stanley was very, very special and our family was even more delighted with it.
The fittings were magnificent, with carved wooden doors and remnants of the Stanley Family's presence.
It had views of a nearby waterhole with a constant parade of animals.
We even had a Honey Badger in our garden.
We had no problems with maintenance and were well looked after by our helper Betty.

Our biggest regret is that we don't have anybody to justify booking these guesthouses in the future.
If anybody would like to volunteer to share them with us, we would be absolutely delighted.

How about some Forum members developing such a system?

In 2010 we stayed at Wells Guest House in Satara.
The house had a brand new lounge suite, dining room table and chairs and a new TV set.
The rest of the fitting although old looking, were in perfect nik.

One day while everyone took a mid afternoon siesta, I read through the guest book.
There were many complaints about the condition of the house.
Then 2 entries before what would be ours, we saw an entry by the camp manager that went along the lines of; thanks for the feedback, in response new furniture and some repairs.

So, it might take a while, but some camp managers do pay attention to feedback.

Thanks for the info! I haven't stayed in ABSA, Wells or Stanley for at least 10 years as these were the older houses and I figured that if the newer ones are in such a state of disrepair then the older ones can only be worse!
I will definitely give them a try in the future!
Most of the guest houses have fabulous locations - either on the River or at Waterholes - this is just another reason why they are our favourite spots!
And Roodewal is very special - as you hire the whole camp for yourself and there is nobody else there.
I think it sleeps 16 and it's on a dry riverbed.
We didn't see any animals pass the camp, but it was my favourite camp ever.
Only downfall - no electricity so in the summer heat you will die of heat up there as there are no air-cons.
But highly recommend the camp in the cooler months!

I splashed out in December so we could have the Fish Eagle Cottage at Letaba - a HUGE expense for so few people.
It was worth every cent.
Our own private hide and we had that incredible area all to ourselves.
Owls, bushbabies, dwarf mongoose, an albino squirrel that we called Flash, all sorts of other things and right at the fence so you felt as if you were IN the park.
Sadly will not be able to justify that expense again

Hi All

We will be staying at Nshawu Guest House and Frankel shortly and would like to know if anyone has been there recently? What is the general condition of these houses and please share your experience?

thank you

Hi - has anyone stayed at either or both of these guesthouses?
Am planning an extended family holiday with young kids and grandparents and wanted to see opinions on which might be the better option. Many thanks.