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The Sabi Sand offers exceptional game viewing and a variety of luxurious lodges in the Greater Kruger National Park. We offer expert advice on the best lodge choices and fly-in safari packages. This reserve also features in a number of our pre-designed luxury tour, safari, and honeymoon packages that explore the treasures of Southern Africa.
Need Advice?Traveling to the Sabi Sand is all about wildlife and wilderness. Exceptional game viewing, luxurious lodges, and impeccable service are what you can expect during your stay in the Sabi Sand. It is a privately owned wildlife oasis unrivaled in the quality of lodgings and the diversity of animals in their natural environment.
The primary safari activity in the Sabi Sand is close encounters with the fauna and flora of this part of Africa from the back of open 4X4 vehicles.
Bush walks offer a harmonious way of experiencing the African wild and the animals that grace it. Armed rangers ensure your safety throughout.
Sabi Sand is a year-round birding destination with more than 300 identified bird species. Opportunities for bird watching abound on game drives and while in camp.
Sabi Sand is a premier safari destination in the Greater Kruger region and boasts top-end lodges and exclusive wildlife sightings. Additionally, it is ideally located near other popular destinations in Southern Africa.
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The Sabi Sand is home to some of the world's finest safari lodges. With over 24 years of experience in booking packages to the reserve, these are our favorites.
Ivory Lodge is one of the world's most luxurious safari getaways. It is one of only a handful of lodges set on the banks of the Sabie River, the primary watercourse in this part of Kruger.
Perched at the side of a hill with sweeping views of the surrounding bush and a waterhole below, Leopard Hills provides luxury safaris in the south-central part of the Sabi Sand.
On the banks of the episodic Mabrak River lies one of the area's most intimate and authentic lodges. It provides excellent safaris and an exceptional ambiance.
The sister lodge of Ivory lodge shares the same exceptional concession in the southern part of Sabi Sand with an outstanding location in prime Big Five country not far from Skukuza Airport.
Idube is one of the best choices for a more affordable safari in South Africa's premier private reserve. It is a recently refurbished personal lodge with excellent amenities and superb game viewing.
Located in the northern part of the reserve, Arathusa overlooks a waterhole that attracts many animals during the dry season. This personal property should be considered by those who do not wish to break the bank.
Sabi Sand Game Reserve in South Africa is one of the crown jewels of safari destinations for viewing leopards in the wild. The region’s blend of savanna, riverine thickets, woodland, and rocky outcrops creates an ideal habitat for leopards, while the dense trees along the Sabie and Sand Rivers offer perfect shelter and seclusion for these elusive cats. Private reserves tend to attract higher concentrations of leopards and their prey, largely because they are restricted to the general public and remain much quieter.
Decades of consistent conservation efforts have helped maintain healthy leopard populations, and many rangers are familiar with individual leopards by name — often able to recount their lineage and histories.
The Sabi Sand consists of individual private reserves of varying sizes. We offer a brief description of each and have classified these reserves according to the Sabi Sand access gate via which you can reach them.
Kirkman's is one of the most southerly reserves in the Sabi Sand - it used to form part of Mala Mala. This magnificent tract of land is home to only one camp, &Beyond Kirkman's Camp. It is the beautifully restored homestead of Harry Kirkman, one of the original game rangers in the area.
Owned by the More family since 1933, the Lion Sands Reserve today boasts four luxurious lodges (two in Sabi Sand, two across the river in a private Kruger concession). It is the only private game reserve with lodges built on the banks of the Sabie River - the largest of the two primary rivers that flow through the area.
One of the original pioneers of the Sabi Sand, Londolozi Private Game Reserve is home to several world-renowned lodges offering fine safari experiences for many decades. The Varty Family owns the reserve and, after Mala Mala, is the largest tract of privately owned Big Five land in the Greater Kruger Park.
The pioneer of ecotourism in South Africa, Mala Mala still occupies the largest tract of privately owned Big Five land in the Greater Kruger National Park. Mr. Michael Rattray, a legend in conservation circles, built up the reserve over his long lifetime. It was sold in 2013 to a local tribe after a land restitution claim.
The Sabi Sabi Reserve has been synonymous with luxury safaris in South Africa for over thirty years. From its flagship Earth Lodge to its more moderately priced Selati and Bush lodges, many guests have enjoyed unforgettable safaris at Sabi Sabi over a period that exceeds three decades.
Notten's Bush Camp shares traversing rights with Sabi Sabi. This family-owned camp is one of the few family-friendly camps within the Sabi Sand, as children over six years old are welcome. A unique feature of the camp is that, while still sumptuously luxurious, it is entirely electricity-free, which makes it wondrously tranquil.
Originally a corporate getaway, the Dulini Private Game Reserve is set on some of the finest game-viewing lands in the western part of the Sabi Sand. The reserve is home to one of the smallest and most romantic Sabi Sand lodges. It offers an authentic and personal luxury safari experience. In 2016, it extended to include Leadwood and River Lodge.
Inyati Private Game Reserve is the most northwesterly of all the properties in the Sabi Sand. The area borders the Sand River and offers good game viewing. The only lodge built on the property offers some of the best value for money in this prestigious wilderness area.
Leopard Hills shares traversing rights with the northwestern section of Sabi Sand, even though it is in the central part of the reserve. The reserve features one award-winning lodge perched on a granite outcrop. It offers visitors splendid views of the endless wooded savanna surrounding the lodge.
Idube Private Reserve is adjacent to Leopard Hills. The lodge built here offers some of the best value for money in Sabi Sand. In the author's opinion, it is the finest of all the personal lodges in the area and should be considered by those seeking an authentic safari at a reasonable price.
The largest of the private reserves in the central Sabi Sand, Singita is internationally renowned as an exceptional safari destination that offers the most luxurious accommodation and the best in service that money can buy. The reserve is home to three of Singita's five Lodges in Greater Kruger.
Savanna Private Game Reserve is one of the reserves that form the western boundary of the Sabi Sand, Ulusaba being the other. The lodge you will find here is a fine property that offers good service and a luxurious stay. It is better to choose a reserve, not on the western boundary of Sabi Sand.
Ulusaba is the property of legendary British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson. Two luxurious lodges provide accommodation to those visiting this family-friendly reserve, which plays a very active role in supporting local communities.
Arathusa reserve shares borders with Simbambili, Chitwa Chitwa, and Elephant Plains in the northeastern corner of the Sabi Sand. The reserve features only one lodge with the same name built on the banks of a permanent waterhole called Lake Arathusa.
The Chitwa Chitwa reserve is home to the largest body of water in the Sabi Sand. The area attracts significant animal concentrations during dry seasons when water sources become scarce. The reserve is home to the most luxurious lodge in the northeastern Sabi Sand.
When visiting Cheetah Plains, you experience incredible wildlife encounters in pristine bushveld on the border of the Kruger National Park. The property is home to a thatched-style lodge that offers some of the best value for money in Sabi Sand.
Djuma reserve has hosted international clients on quality safaris for a period that now exceeds twenty years. It is the most northerly of the Sabi Sand's properties. Djuma is bordered east by Kruger Park and to the north by the Manyeleti Reserve.
The land that Elephant Plains reserve occupies lies in the central part of the northeastern Sabi Sand. The lodge constructed here only opened its doors to the public in 1998, making it one of the newest lodges in Sabi Sand.
Nkorho reserve lies on the border of the Kruger National Park to the east, Chitwa Chitwa to the west, Cheetah Plains to the south, and Djuma to the north. It occupies prime game viewing land and is home to one of the most affordable lodges in the Sabi Sand.
Simbambili rounds out the private reserves that make up Sabi Sand. It is home to a luxurious lodge that offers accommodation in nine stylish rooms, each with its private plunge pool. The spa experiences on offer here are particularly noteworthy.
The Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve is the oldest privately-owned reserve in South Africa. The same families who originally came together to take down their internal fences to provide a more extensive range for the wild animals, for the most part, still own and operate the reserve today. Some are now in the third and fourth generation. The vision that their forefathers had of a sustainable reserve with sustainable ecotourism is still being driven and maintained by their descendants.
Conservation efforts started in the 1920s and culminated with the establishment of the Private Sabie Reserve in 1934. Today, the Sabi Sand forms part of the Greater Kruger National Park and, as such, also shares a portion of the largest conservation area in Southern Africa, namely the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park. This vast tract of wilderness has only ever been a wilderness area and is thus being preserved and maintained with as little interference by human hands as possible.
Sabi Sand is relatively flat, with changes in elevation ranging from 329m to 504m. A few hills lie scattered from the western section and the Ulusaba reserve to the central area, where Leopard Hills Lodge is on one of these elevations. Two major rivers are notable: the Sabie River, which forms the reserve's southern boundary, and the Sand River, which runs through the area from northwest to southeast. Most of the lodges in this wildlife refuge are on the banks of the Sand River.
Varying degrees of wooded savanna typify the vegetation in the area, with most trees, apart from a few species that line the water courses, being deciduous, an advantage during the winter months when this enhances the ability to spot animals at a greater distance from game drive vehicles.
The Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve is situated in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa and borders the fabled Kruger National Park. The area is a summer rainfall region and a malaria zone. Spring is from September to November, and during these times, temperatures range from 20°C - 31°C. (68°F - 87°F). Summer is from December to February, and temperatures range between 22°C - 35°C (71°F - 95°F). Autumn is from March to May, with average temperatures of between 19°C - 28°C (66°F - 82°F). Winter stretches from June to August, and temperatures drop to an average of 12°C - 25°C (53°F - 77°F).
The rain makes the bush dense and lush during spring and summer, which is also the birthing season. Some visitors find it difficult to spot wildlife under these conditions. Still, the rangers and guides of Sabi Sand have a lot of experience scoping out wildlife in any circumstances. In the wintertime, the bush dries out, and the animals converge around dams and rivers, which makes for excellent viewing opportunities from the many vantage points and hides.
The rhino poaching problem has become one of South Africa's most serious conservation issues. As a custodian of a part of the rhino's habitat in the Greater Kruger National Park, Sabi Sand plays an essential role in protecting one of Africa's iconic large mammal species.
Ntomeni Ranger services head up the anti-poaching team in the Sabi Sand. This professional anti-poaching organization has advised various African national parks on the security of their rhino populations. Since assuming the reins of anti-rhino poaching efforts in December 2013, rhino poaching incidents have declined somewhat. In 2014, rhino losses were reduced by 74%, and again by 85% in 2015. The struggle against poachers will continue in 2022.
Various individual lodges in the Sabi Sand contribute to this cause with community outreach and education projects that ensure the following generations understand the importance of conserving our natural heritage and that these conservation efforts have tangible economic benefits to surrounding communities.
Lodges conduct two game drives daily, one in the early morning and another during the late afternoon, extending into the first hour of darkness. A local ranger assisted by a tracker accompanies these 4x4 safaris. These professionals are there to ensure guest safety and to provide an interpretive nature experience through their knowledge of the fauna and flora of the Sabi Sand.
Following the morning game drive and breakfast, most lodges in the Sabi Sand offer guests a two to three-hour bush walk accompanied by an armed ranger. These walks provide a different perspective on the bush. Rangers can point out animal tracks, the droppings of various creatures, and other small nocturnal animals not generally encountered on game drives. Avid nature lovers are encouraged to participate in these daily walks to gain a deeper understanding of the ecosystem and the interdependence of all life in the area.
Occasionally, clients are surprised when their evening game drive ends in a lantern-lit part of the bush that seems almost magical. Chefs are busy preparing the evening meal under the star-studded African Sky. The experience brings new meaning to the words' exclusive dining'.
Almost all the lodges in the Sabi Sand offer spa treatments. Guests can choose between having these treatments in the spa itself or on the deck of their private room. The spa treatments range from manicures and pedicures to various massages and facials. Well-trained professionals provide treatments.
Stargazing in the company of a guide trained to highlight the galaxies and star systems of the Southern skies is an activity available at some of the lodges in the Sabi Sand. Suppose you are a keen amateur astronomer or simply interested in the night skies above the Southern Hemisphere. In that case, African Sky could propose a lodge with the necessary equipment and expertise to add stargazing as an activity to your safari in the Sabi Sand.
Take a hot air balloon flight from a launch site not far from the town of Hazyview. If you stay at a lodge with access to Newington or Shaw's gate, you can enjoy hot air ballooning over the Lowveld savanna. The flight departs shortly after dawn and lasts about one and a half hours, after which guests enjoy a champagne breakfast. Please remember that this activity relies on good weather and that you will have to leave your lodge just after four in the morning to reach the launch site before dawn.
Two nine-hole golf courses are available not far from the Sabi Sand. These are the Kruger Park Lodge and Skukuza golf courses. If you wish to play a round of golf on one of South Africa's finest courses, play at the Leopard Creek Golf Course near Malelaan - often referred to as 'the Augusta of Africa.' Depending on the specific lodge you are staying at, it will be about two and a half hours to Leopard Creek and again when returning.
Helicopter flights are available from Lion Sands Private Game Reserve. These flights explore the escarpment of the Drakensberg and the Blyde River Canyon, one of South Africa's most scenically impressive areas. The flight continues over the Berlin and Lisbon waterfalls before landing at a secluded spot with fantastic views to the east. Guests enjoy a picnic before embarking on the return flight that lands at the helicopter pad at Lion Sands.
The Shangana Cultural Village at Hazyview is accessible from most of the Sabi Sand lodges. Here trained guides immerse guests in the cultures and traditions of this proudly South African nation. The experience includes lunch and offers the opportunity to purchase hand-crafted curios created by community-based projects.
