Rafiki Lodge Sipi

If you are traveling to Sipi Falls, or even if you haven’t even considered such, I would highly recommend staying at the scenic Rafiki Lodge. The lodge sits above the beautiful gorge into which the falls drain into. We chose the honeymoon suite, which is right at the edge of the gorge, and has spectacular views of the waterfalls. The food was very good, the staff was exceptionally helpful and courteous,, and the rooms were clean, large, and the honeymoon suite itself had full windows so that you could sit in bed and look out over the gorge. Highly recommended.

We unfortunately ran into a number of issues when we had booked at Rafiki Lodge in December. 1. the payment link wasn't working. 2. the family unit we had booked had been given to a couple instead 3. we were put in a double room where the toilet wasn't working and the rooms were poorly maintained 4. wifi wasn't available as it hadn't been reloaded 5. food was a hand written menu with 3-4 very basic options 6. card machine wasn't working and with prices of 200USD per night it was impossible to withdraw enough money at an ATM for a stay of 3-4 nights 6. there were renovations happening on top of the restaurant and for sunset constructors and people from the village would hang out on top of the restaurant which certainly diminished the experience of dining on the deck with views of the fall. Ultimately, and unfortunately, this made us take the difficult decision of ending our stay before it had started and find a different lodge, where we could get a proper room and be able to pay for it with a credit card. It seemed like Rafiki lodge had an absent manager - poor response on email - and the intermediate manager at the lodge was trying to solve more issues than he was able to.

The food was horrible if you are not a fish eater you could go with out food. Warning the chicken curry is full of bones broken and sharp. Our complementary breakfast never came. they have 3 items on there dinner menu and you still have to wait 1.5 to 2 hours for it to arrive. When you go to check out they had no credit card machine so that added a layer of difficulty to the stay.

The location of this lodge is superb - right on the escarpment overlooking the falls, walking distance into the little town. We had a double room with ensuite bathroom and a nice shared balcony that had a gorgeous view of the falls. You could also see the falls from inside the room because it had two walls of windows. It was a bit of a hike down steep stairs to access the room though. The hot water in the shower did not work, so we had cold showers, which was disappointing. We booked full board and the food was excellent and plentiful. They were able to accommodate dietary restrictions. The pillows on the bed were terrible, but the mattress itself was reasonably comfortable. The staff were helpful, pleasant and professional. The wifi connection is only available in the restaurant - it works, but the signal is not very strong.