Kubu Metsi

Kubu Metsi is the perfect 2-hour, 30-minute getaway from Johannesburg. Situated in the private Black Rhino Game Reserve, this sole-use villa can accommodate up to 12 guests (8 adults and 4 children). This family-run, self-catering home allows you to enjoy a wonderful escape in the African bush with your closest friends and family.

The villa is just a short 35-minute drive from Sun City and 2-hours from Lanseria Airport. Located in a Big 5 malaria-free reserve which forms part of the 55,000-hectare Pilanesberg National Park means you are in store for a once in a lifetime experience.

Kubu Metsi was formally known as Tambotie Forest Lodge and has now been completely revamped boasting a fully equipped gym and a separate office for working remotely (opening March 2022).

Other facilities include a boma area, full kitchen, swimming pool, private viewing deck and more.

Game drives are included in your stay and conducted with a professional guide in your private 4 x 4 Safari Vehicle on the exclusive Black Rhino Game Reserve and the Pilanesberg National Park. Kubu Metsi is privileged to have traversing rights to the whole Pilanesberg National Park, as well as their restricted Wilderness Area, established for the protection of the endangered Black Rhino.

About the Black Rhino Game Reserve

The Black Rhino Game Reserve is a private concession situated within the malaria-free greater Pilanesberg National Park (55 000ha). The park, encircled by the hills of a volcanic ring-dyke complex and containing both Kalahari and Lowveld biomes, is a wilderness, Eden. Nearly all animal species endemic to Southern Africa are to be found here.

The development of the park is considered one of the most ambitious projects of its kind anywhere in the world. It began with Operation Genesis in 1979, which game-fenced the area and reintroduced long-vanished wildlife. Today, Pilanesberg is home to over 7 000 animals – including all of the Big Five, 25 other mammal species, 350-plus kinds of birds, and innumerable reptile and insect species.

As a guest of Kubu Metsi, you have assured a private – and unique – safari experience, with the rare opportunity to possibly see the unique black rhino. The lodge has traversing access to the entire Pilanesberg National Park, including the Black Rhino Game Reserve and the park’s limited-access Wilderness Area – established for the protection and breeding of this critically endangered animal, threatened by poaching.

Other successful park conservation initiatives are the Brown Hyena Project and Cheetah Project. The brown hyena is classified as threatened and is at risk due to the mistaken belief that they are harmful to livestock. The cheetah is currently classified vulnerable – though there is a call for its reclassification as endangered – and is under threat from poaching, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflict.