Tandweni Villa is an exclusive-use, ultra-luxurious private villa in the Pongola Game Reserve on the banks of Jozini Dam, in the Pongola Biosphere Reserve of northern KwaZulu-Natal. A bush setting with a breathtaking view of the dam and the Ubombo mountains from every room, it is a place to relax and breathe in the fresh air away from busy, stressful lives. Game viewing in the reserve offers sightings of four of the Big 5, and the camp is very much a birder's setting: around 300 bird species have been recorded in the area, with resident hornbills, bushshrikes, swallows and francolins in the garden and the forest below the house, and a bird hide overlooking a small dam.

The large villa offers expansive open spaces with large glass doors and windows welcoming the outside in: five bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms sleeping 10 adults, a well-stocked private gym, a large pool with outdoor living area, a boma for fires under the stars, and endless views over the dam and up the Jozini Gorge from the veranda. With its own grass airstrip, access by small plane is convenient. The villa is child friendly, with a jungle gym in the fenced garden, kids' bush scavenger hunts and, on hot summer days, a slip-and-slide on the lawn.

A fully catered package includes all meals and activities; on a self-catering basis activities are booked at an extra cost. Tandweni offers some of the best tiger fishing in South Africa: the villa comes with a skipper and guide and a fully equipped boat seating 10 for full or half-day trips, and a highlight is finding the large herd of elephant frolicking in the water on hot summer days. Game drives and guided bush walks run with the resident guides, whose knowledge of how indigenous plants play a role in Zulu culture and beliefs makes every outing richer, and afternoon sundowners with barbel fishing on the banks of the dam are a favourite for the whole family.

The villa is 20 km from Mkuze Game Reserve in Northern Zululand, world renowned for its birding. Boat cruises run at sunrise and sunset and to the river mouth, and the property also hosts weddings.