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Our luxury chalets are largely inspired by nature, but with a designer's passion for elegance, simplicity and bespoke touches. Locally crafted intricate reed weaving, individually carved jacaranda headboards, luxurious cotton bedding and a mini bar have all been carefully chosen for your comfort and enjoyment. Each chalet has its own private balcony offering spectacular views and the opportunity for you to relax, watching the multitude of river visitors, including our resident elephants, crocodiles and hippos. The self-catering camp Nhambo provides guests with the option to be more independent whilst taking advantage of comfortable accommodation, panoramic views and access to the expertise, game drives and activities that we offer. Nhambo comprises four twin/double lodges, each sleeping 2 people. Each lodge has an en-suite bathroom (with shower and bath) and its own, private balcony. The lodges share an outside kitchen with covered dining and barbeque area. There is also a plunge pool. For larger groups of friends and family, you may take all 4 lodges and enjoy the camp on an exclusive basis. The Family Lodge is spacious and private (with its own kitchen, garden and two bathrooms). It sleeps up to 6 people.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Family
Romantic
Languages Spoken
English
Location
Chiredzi Zimbabwe
Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge
4.8 reviews
Reviews
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This lodge is built in the traditional safari style, with thatched roof and fabulous stone work everywhere. The rooms are large and well-appointed, with great views of the river. The staff is very welcoming and friendly. Great food, great service. The best thing about this destination, however, is the quality of the guiding. Our guide Thomas has an encyclopedic knowledge and deep love of his country and its wildlife. We also did the fly camp experience and loved it too. We drove out to the Chilojo Cliffs, truly a wonder of the world! Then camped on the banks of the Runde River for two nights. The lodge had the campground completely set up with a kitchen and tents for us, with views of the cliffs. This was a wonderful experience and highly recommended.
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Date of stay: August 2024
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Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My family consisting of myself, my wife and my 18 year old daughter visited Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe on a 7 night trip organized by Chilo Gorge Lodge. We spent two nights at the lodge and 5 nights camping in the park, three nights at Mahove, and two nights at Chivilila. It was a wonderful experience. Chilo Gorge Lodge is incredibly beautiful, situated in a stunning location at the top of a bluff overlooking the Save River on the park's border. The Lodge chalet's are extremely spacious, with beautiful views overlooking the gorge and river. The food and service at the lodge were excellent. The atmosphere at the lodge was relaxed and unpretentious. The manager Dave, and our very knowledgable guide Thomas went out of their way to be accommodating to our interests.
Our time in the park and our five nights camping were unique experiences that we remember forever. Essentially we had our own private safari in Gonarezhou, the second largest national park in Zimbabwe, with its wild and varied landscapes. Gonarezhou is known as a stronghold for wild dogs and we were fortunate to have multiple extended sightings of them. Our scenic campsites were set up and managed by a very hard working and gracious staff from Chilo Gorge Lodge and Zim parks. For those looking for an intimate yet comfortable trip into the African wilderness a Gonarezhou adventure organized by Chilo Gorge Lodge is the perfect answer.
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Date of stay: July 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My husband and I stayed in the self-catering area of Chilo, which was great. The accommodation was very comfortable and clean with a great view out over the Save River. The kitchen/seating area for self catering is spread over two levels and is kept immaculately clean and well organised by staff. The safaris on offer are great and we very much recommended the full-day tour to the cliffs at Chilo Gorge in the Gonarezhou National Park - it’s outstanding and we saw so much game! The visit to a local village is also very well worthwhile. The safari staff and all others are very knowledgeable, friendly and a pleasure to spend time with. This area of Zimbabwe is perhaps less travelled than other more frequented safari destinations, but so worth a visit. We highly recommend Chilo and will return.
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Date of stay: June 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Just go, you will not regret it!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Pros The Chilo gorge safari lodge is very beautiful! Communication with Loreen was great, she provided clear driving directions for us. Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed to the lodge by Loreen and the rest of the team. In addition, the team was very helpful to us when we had car issues.
The waiters were amazing, and the food was good. The Safari tour driver was very knowledgeable about the animals, birds and trees. We loved our safari tour of the Gonarezhou National park!
Cons The lodges do not have air conditioners but there are big fans which are helpful when there is electricity. However, electricity was not available during the day from 9am to 12 noon, 2pm to 5pm and 11pm to 5am. While we were visiting the temperatures were really high (37 degrees Celsius) and being in the rooms without AC/ fans was excruciating. It was so bad that we had to take multiple showers during the day (4 times) and night (2 times) to cool ourselves. I was hoping that the Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge was going to be the highlight of our Zimbabwe trip but it was a disappointment.
The hotel should be transparent with customers about electricity shut down before customers arrive so that they can make plans ahead of time. If we had known about the electricity shut down, we would have bought hand-held battery powered fans.
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Date of stay: January 2025
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Ask staff if electricity will be shut down during your stay.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The Lodge is an African gem in service of a great cause.
Chilo Gorge Lodge is perched high on a hillside above the Save River, just below the gorge proper. The views upstream and down are sweeping and magnificent. They come with daily parades of elephant, buffalo and antelope making crossings. The river is the (unfenced) border with Gonarezhou, Zimbabwe's second largest and definitely most remote and unspoiled national park. The hills reverberate at night - sometimes during the day - with the roars, grunts, howls and cries of lions, leopards, hyena, hippo and fish eagles. We had great sightings of a pair of elusive Pels Fishing Owls and out-of-season Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters.
The Lodge facilities, rooms, food and service are all superb, and the whole Lodge concept contributes towards community conservation. For those 4x4 travellers camping in the park but wanting a luxury break, Chilo offers self-catering units as well. Drive in or fly in courtesy of the adjacent air strip (ex-Harare).
We were guided by the hugely knowledgeable Thomas Mutombeni, who also led us on walking trails in the park itself while we were based in Zimparks' well-equipped and beautifully positioned Mahove trails camp.
What to say about Chilo and Gonarezhou? If you want African vistas and a wildlife experience unsullied by crowds, this is a top destination. We visited at peak holiday time (July) and yet saw perhaps a dozen other vehicles during the entire week we were there, traversing far and wide in an ecozone laced with riverine forests and Baobab-rich hills and savannahs.
When we arrived at the lookout point at the apex of the stunning Chilojo Cliffs, a sedimentary formation laid down over the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods more than a 100 million years ago, we had the place to ourselves. When we enjoyed a lunch at the prime picnic spot below the Cliffs, again we had the run of the place - except for a pair of bull elephant.
This be ancient Africa. See it and add to its viability.
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Date of stay: July 2024
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Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wonderful stay at Chilo Gorge - stunning location, really well looked after by Dave and Lorene and the team. Great drives with Dumi who kept us safe from rowdy elephants and gave us some great sightings of wild dogs and elephant and buffalo as well as plains game and birds. Lovely hearty food and great wine selection for all inclusive. We stayed in rooms but also had a night in the self catering cottage which is charming. Had excellent service from Felix and Lawrence especially but all the staff. Local chilli sauce was also an experience! If you want to stay in Gonarezhou and have a lodge experience for a sensible price it’s got to be the place you go
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Date of stay: July 2023Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I went to this lodge, for the third time in the past 10 years. It is really good. Great animal viewing from the lodge (I was in the self catering, No.2) as well as in the park. Excellent administration staff, and a superb guide, John, who gave us a great 6 hour tour around the park. Also had a pleasant walk to the falls. Management staff also friendly and well organised. We flew our own light aircraft into the well maintained airstrip, and were picked up immediately. One small complaint is the the cooking, dining, food storage area is not very well organised, with a bit of thought, this could also be great.
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Date of stay: June 2021
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Get room 2 or 4 in the self-catering for best view, or in the most westerly rooms in the main...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Pam Roberts, Guest Services / Front Office at Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge
Responded 6 Jul 2021
Good Morning andrewmH2710XM. Thank you for your review and lovely comments about the lodge, Park and our staff. Very much appreciated. Your comments about the kitchen / dining area are also appreciated.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Nicely located with beautiful views of the Save River. Accommodation comfortable and spacious with balcony to enjoy surrounding ambience. Staff were professional, friendly, accommodating of our requests, and alert to any preferences or dislikes without prompting or reminding. Very professional and friendly, courteous. Meals substantial and lot of thought given to varying the menu daily, always well presented. Facilities well maintained and any problems quickly rectified. Game drives were interesting and led by experienced guides, and informative. certainly a place to be recommended without being over the top expensive and unnecessarily luxurious but offering everything one would expect from a luxury safari.
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Date of stay: September 2024
Value
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Location
Cleanliness
Service
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Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We spent 5 nights at Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge, our lodge was very clean and comfortable, the staff were very conscious of social distancing. Laureen on the front desk was excellent very attentive, our guide Thomas was beyond excellent he is such a knowledgeable, obliging man and we enjoyed every minute with him cannot praise them highly enough. We would most definitely go back again.
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Date of stay: October 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Our stay at Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge was as close to perfect as you can get on a safari holiday. Chilo is a marvel of Gonarezhou National Park, an unparalleled gift for anyone who loves nature and animals. A high-end safari, intertwined and connected to the local Mahenye community and intricately embedded in the local culture.
The day trip to the Chilojo Cliffs with the inimitable mukoma Thomas Mutombeni, was the pinnacle of our holiday. His encyclopedic knowledge brought Gonarezhou's secrets to light, unraveling the mysteries of the local flora and fauna. He brought us as close to nature as one could ever get. Thomas's engaging, funny, and informative storytelling skills greatly enriched our trip, notably his profound understanding of Zimbabwe's natural world.
The amazing staff, Loreen, Forget, Felix and the whole team, ably led by Dave, gave us an experience of home away from home in this untouched wilderness. It was so good, we couldn't help but stay an extra night!!!
Highly recommended.
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Date of stay: October 2024
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:We had the pool all to ourselves. Internet's strongest nearer the reception.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Good afternoon. Please be good enough to email us on the email address on our website, or call us on 263.774999059 and we will be only too happy to assist.
Thank you
Hi Hillary,
As discussed on the phone long range weather forecasts are difficult and not that reliable, but that there is likely to be mixed wet and dry spells for the next few months. However when we get into Gonarezhou our guests are enjoying wonderful animal sightings.
Regards,
The Chilo Team
There are more places to choose from in the Chiredzi area.
LOCATION
ZimbabweMasvingo ProvinceChiredzi
NUMBER OF ROOMS
14
Prices are provided by our partners for one room, with variable occupancy rules as provided by the property, and reflect nightly room rates, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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