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Raising the Safari Lodge Standard

South Africa’s Sabi Sabi

By Joyce Dalton

Exoticism aside, safari lodges and camps from Kenya to South Africa, Tanzania to Namibia operate on a certain sameness of routine: early morning coffee followed by a game run; breakfast; time to rest, read, swim or chat with an international range of guests; lunch; more free time; afternoon tea; late afternoon game run culminating with a sundowner cocktail in the wild; dinner; coffee around the campfire; early to bed. Routine of a superior kind would be hard to come by, considering the amazing beauty of the scene and the sense of awestruck humility that overcomes most visitors when experiencing the vast array of nature’s creatures going about their lives unencumbered by the confines of even the most well-intended zoos and wildlife parks.

It’s the rare African game park that doesn’t provide close-up encounters with a goodly percentage of the Big Five (lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and cheetah or rhino, depending on whose list one uses), plus multiple antelope species, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, warthogs, birds sporting an array of plumage and perhaps hippos. So what distinguishes one site from another often comes down to the accommodations.

Budget camps aside, lodges and permanent tented camps range from quite comfortable to downright luxurious, while all the time maintaining that “part of the natural environment” ambience. On the luxury end of the scale, it’s hard to top South Africa’s Sabi Sabi.

Situated within the southern section of Kruger National Park, this private game reserve comprises three lodges – Earth Lodge, Bush Lodge and Selati Camp -  spaced a few miles from one another. Each is complete onto itself with its own lounge, dining veranda, boma (circular open-sided hut set with long tables), pool, bar, boutique, manager, housekeeping and restaurant staff, safari drivers and trackers. Two of the facilities also claim art galleries, conference halls, spas and vaulted wine cellars with dining areas. Every unit of this all-suite property features air conditioning, ceiling fan, a separate dressing room, en suite bath, interior and exterior (but with closed sides for privacy) showers, a safe, a hairdryer, high quality linens and a telephone. Each Earth Lodge suite boasts its own butler and plunge pool. Guests may don Hemingway-era safari garb and live smack in the bush, but clearly, nobody’s roughing it.

Among Sabi Sabi’s lengthy list of awards for both tourism and protection of the environment, Travel and Leisure’s Top 10 Hotels in Africa and Asia, ASATA/Diners’ Club Travel Award for best game lodge in South Africa, AA Travel Guides’ Hall of Fame and Gold List, Conde Nast Traveller’s Gold List, EWT’s (Endangered Wildlife Trust) Cheetah Award and Africa Travel Association’s Responsible Tourism on the African Continent award might be mentioned.

What makes this property so special? The quality of its trackers, or rangers, for one important thing. Perched on a small chair at the front of the vehicle, the tracker’s knowledge and skill determine your chances of impressive wildlife sightings, as well as how much information you acquire. Since a small number of guests stay with one tracker – even for meals – for the duration of their stay, his ability to relate and to respond pleasantly and with enthusiasm to the same questions he’s, no doubt, heard a hundred times before takes on a certain magnitude.

Sabi Sabi’s philosophy is that the “Big Five” aren’t all there is to a safari, so there’s no “rushing around from lion to buffalo,” as our ranger put it. Instead, a “holistic view of the environment” takes precedence and we learned to appreciate Earth’s smaller creatures as well as the tough guys. This is not to say the Big Five aren’t present. During my stay, only leopards went unseen, keeping in tact my leopardless record after safaris in some 20 African game reserves. The elusive felines were around, however, as the “sightings” journal, a feature of most safari lodges, verified.

Meals assume a significance when traveling that they seldom do at home. Sabi Sabi doesn’t disappoint here, either. Evenings find guests, trackers and management gathered in the boma sampling such tasty treats as roasted duck, grilled trout, pecan pie and high quality South African wines. Other offerings include continental fare (African continent, that is) as kudu, impala and eland. Those staying in Earth Lodge can opt for meals in the boma, the indoor-outdoor dining room, the 6,000-bottle wine cellar or in their own suite.

While some travelers insist a room is just a place to sleep, most of us prefer to settle in among fine furnishings and innovative décor. Sabi Sabi’s newest and most unique lodging, Earth Lodge, appears to be sculpted directly from the earth since its 13 suites and public facilities have been excavated into a slope. Furnishings, all southern African in design and materials, have been carved from trees washed away by floods or pushed over by elephants. In one room, a thick trunk and branches loom in a freeform sculpture behind the king-sized bed. In another, a huge, circular natural stone bowl forms a bathtub, positioned by a window for a secluded view of the vast savannah. In fact, all rooms feature panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, so that the natural world seems a continuous flow from without to within. One conservationist termed it the “most ecologically sensitively designed lodge in Africa.”

In addition to the luxury amenities all guests enjoy at Earth Lodge, the Amber Presidential Suite provides full bar facilities, a kitchenette, a steam room, a king-size bed and the use of a private Land Rover.

The main swimming pool incorporates natural stone, driftwood, flowing water and plants; a nearby Zen garden captures the meditative mood. In the dining room, chair legs resemble twigs and tables reflect open water lilies. The three-legged bar chairs remind guests of rhino horns while the boma’s walls are sculpted from roots. Throughout, raffia curtains woven in Swaziland blend with the surroundings.

After bouncing around in a safari vehicle, a massage wouldn’t be amiss and the Earth Nature Spa’s four treatment rooms and highly trained therapists know just how to deal with those tired muscles and skin that wasn’t quite as protected as it should have been. Operated by Camelot International, South Africa’s premier private health and skin care group, the spa offers facials, manicures, pedicures, hydrotherapy, phytotherapy (plant and seaweed treatments featuring wraps and bath additives), aromatherapy, and various massage techniques including Swedish, Shiatsu and deep tissue.

Sabi Sabi’s other two lodges merit accolades, as well. Bush Lodge overlooks a water-hole, a guaranteed lure for wildlife, while its open courtyards set with carvings by renowned South African sculptors tempt safari-goers to linger as they relish the interwoven art of nature and man. With thatched roofs, ethnic décor and glass-fronted baths allowing views of the seemingly endless African landscape and skies, Bush’s 25 guest suites envelope guests in the continent they traveled so far to experience. The Mandleve Suite, popular with honeymooners as well as presidents and other notables, features a king size bed, a private pool, an in-room dining option, a personal attendant and use of a private Land Rover.

Like Earth Lodge, Bush Lodge has its own massage and treatment center, the Bush Nature Spa, offering facials and a variety of massages including Swedish, deep tissue, foot reflex, aromatherapy and aromareflex, the latter combining aromatherapy and reflexology.

In both name and ambience, Selati Camp remembers the late 19th century when gold was discovered west of present-day Sabi Sabi. To transport the precious metal, a railroad was constructed, crossing the region and continuing as far as Mozambique. One branch, the Selati Line, ran quite close to the site of today’s camp, so it’s not surprising that the proprietors chose to incorporate a railway theme in Selati’s eight suites and public facilities. The lounge décor includes such memorabilia as original steam engine name plates and signals, while the thatched suites house antiques from the railroad era. Although the camp has both air-conditioning and ceiling fans, shunters’ lamps light the way from the lounge and boma to each suite. A draped four-poster bed highlights Selati’s Ivory Presidential Suite, while a Persian carpet and an antique chaise-lounge add elegance to the spacious bath. In-room dining, exclusive use of a Land Rover and a private pool complete the Ivory Suite’s bow to the deluxe.

Our first game run proved that however luxurious our quarters, the Africa of coffee table books waited just outside. Within a very short time, we were eye to eye with zebras, buffaloes, various species of antelope and a number of smaller creatures. Soon after, we came upon a pride of lions resting in the tall grass or lazily lounging along tree branches. When darkness fell, our tracker illuminated the scene with a spotlight, lending heightened drama, if not great . As we headed out of the bush, we ran into (almost literally) yet more lions occupying the dirt track.

Only at a game park is a 5 a.m. wake-up knock welcome. After coffee, we set off and soon were following a giraffe down the track. A bit farther along, two lion cubs munched a breakfast of just-killed zebra. Her morning’s work finished, the mother lay nearby in the tall brush, her gaze never leaving her young.

To really do Sabi Sabi’s Observer Check List justice, a stay of several days is recommended. After all, the list identifies 45 mammal species, 46 reptiles (most of us weren’t too sorry to have given many of these a miss), 350 birds, 75 trees and even 14 varieties of grasses, all of which call the reserve home.

Although Sabi Sabi’s name traces its origins back to “tsave,” a word meaning “fear” or “danger” in the Tsonga dialect, fear is about the last association visitors would make. Try “wonder,” “incredulity,” or “beauty” instead.

If you go ….

Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve. www.sabisabi.com. For general information, e-mail [email protected]. In the U.S., telephone 800/524-7979 or 631/858-1270. Fully inclusive per person, per night rates run 4,400 South African rand at Bush Lodge, 4,950 at Selati and 5,600 at Earth Lodge. Presidential suites range from 5,700 to 11,200. Single supplement is 50%. As of August 2004, $1.00 US = 6.60 South African rand. A special honeymoon package includes a bottle of sparkling wine, a fruit basket, a private dinner with candlelight and a suite filled with flower petals and candlelight.

Getting there: Sabi Sabi has its own airfield suitable for planes, including jets, up to 45 seats. Those heading for the reserve enjoy a special departure lounge at Johannesburg International Airport and on arrival at the airfield, are welcomed with a cool drink. A daily shuttle flies from Johannesburg to Sabi Sabi. Other scheduled flights from Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town land at Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport from which it is a short hop by air to Sabi Sabi’s airfield. The reserve also can be reached via road from Nelspruit (two hours) or Johannesburg (five hours).

When departure time comes: To continue the luxurious lifestyle to which you’ve become accustomed, opt to take Rovos Rail from Komatipoort to Pretoria or Durban. Komatipoort is situated near Sabi Sabi and transfers can be arranged. On the overnight journey, passengers enjoy the elegant comfort of an all-suite train with a maximum of three suites per carriage. Rohan Vos, the creature of the rail line which bears his name, scoured South Africa for vintage carriages, all of which date to the early 1900s. Each has been painstakingly restored, as have the observation and dining cars. The crew of young suite attendants caters to passengers’ every whim, always with a cheery smile. Rovos Rail: www.rovos.co.za.

Animal and Rovos Rail images by Joyce Dalton.

Lodge images courtesy of Sabi Sabi.

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