Londolozi Private Game Reserve is an unashamedly exclusive and luxurious safari destination covering 14,000 hectares (34,580 acres) in the heart of the game-rich 56,000 hectare Sabi Sands Game Reserve. Londolozi is a Zulu word meaning "protector of all living things" - an ambitious conservation ethic that Londolozi embraces in its sensitivity to the natural world. This is why the Londolozi Model is the blueprint of CC Africa's founding principles: "Care of the land, care of the wildlife and care of the people."
Londolozi offers four private camps and one lodge - Bateleur Camp (previously known as Main Camp), Tree Camp, Safari Lodge and two Bush Camps: Founders and Pioneer. Each has a riverside location.
The four exclusive camps of Bateleur, Tree and the Bush camps (Pioneer and Founders) are secluded in dense riverine forest on the banks of the Sand River, in the northern section of the private reserve. In the early dawn, you will hear the haunting calls of Fish Eagles, and the booming snorts of Hippo.
Safari Lodge is located in a secluded spot along the Usutu River in the southern section of Sabi Sands Game Reserve.
Each camp is totally private and self-contained. The central reception and curio shop are at Bateleur Camp, although Safari Lodge has its own reception and a limited supply of curios.
Awards
• Voted by readers of Condé Nast Traveller onto the magazine's 2001 annual gold list of the world's best travel destinations.
• Londolozi Private Game Reserve was named Top Safari Resort in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2000 Readers’ Choice Awards.
• Voted #1 by Travel + Leisure magazine’s (USA) annual reader survey on the World’s Best Values, 2000.
• Featured as #1 in the Top 10 Hotels for Service in Africa and the Middle East in Travel + Leisure magazine, June 2000.
• The first game reserve in the world to be awarded Relais & Chateaux membership.
• Voted #1 in the Top 10 Hotels for Service in Africa and the Middle East in Condé Nast Traveler, July 2000.
Accommodation
Suites: Safari Lodge has six intimate luxury chalets in dense riverine vegetation. Each chalet has air-conditioning and a ceiling fan. The en-suite bathrooms feature a large bath and indoor shower plus a private outdoor shower. Each chalet has a wooden teak deck.
Interiors: Safari Lodge embraces simplicity and closeness to nature, while remaining elegant and true to Londolozi's world-renowned magical style.
Living Spaces: The main guest area consists of a lounge, outdoor deck and swimming pool, all surrounded by lush vegetation. A limited supply of curios is available at Safari Lodge.
Guests are welcome to visit the well stocked curio shop at Londolozi Bateleur Camp.
Safari Lodge is known as the "Best Kept Secret" of the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. The lodge is nestled in a secluded and remote location along the Usutu River in the south of the private reserve. The intimate and private nature of the lodge is ideal for exclusive use by a family or a special group.
Safari Lodge is also perfect for honeymooners.
Cuisine
In the dining area and boma (enclosed reeded area), you may savor Pan-African cuisine - truly food for the soul. This melange of traditional African recipes is enhanced by Africa's famous spices - saffron, vanilla, cumin and nutmeg.
Bush Banquets: At Safari Lodge, you can indulge in moonlit bush dinners and private bush breakfasts. Dinners are served in a clearing in the bush under a star-studded sky. The incredible effort, the surprise, the spectacular settings, visual impact and fairytale-like atmosphere of dining under the stars are an unforgettable African bush experience.
Activities
Game Drives: Activities at Londolozi center around game viewing drives in open vehicles that traverse an area of some 14,000 hectares (34,580 acres) in search of wildlife, including nocturnal species viewed after sunset. You may request the sole use of a Land Rover for game viewing (subject to availability).
Interpretive Walks: Armed rangers will lead you on bush walks - the quintessential wilderness experience. The Shangaan are renowned trackers of wildlife - a skill honed to perfection among the many CC Africa trackers and rangers. Shangaan people are in the majority in the southern Lowveld and most of the staff at Londolozi come from this cultural group.
Adventures: Your game viewing experience is complemented by many other memorable activities such as:
• moonlit bush dinners
• private bush breakfasts
• guided stargazing trips
• bird-watching
• port served on the airstrip - usually after dinner on a clear night*
• fishing with bamboo rods and "magic bush boxes" for children
• visits to the staff village encompassing the crèche, school, adult learning centre, clinic and craft center (available to guests at Tree, Founders, Pioneer and Bateleur Camp)
• bush presentations in orientation centre (available to guests at Tree, Founders, Pioneer and Bateleur Camp)
*If you are wondering why we would invite you to sip port on our airstrip - all will become clear when you are driven there on a cloudless night. What you will see is a panorama of breathtaking proportions. Since the airstrip is on a slope, the ground seems to slip away from you into a massive sky full of shimmering constellations.
Library: For those cozy winter nights - a collection of wildlife books, magazines and videos are available for you to enhance your enjoyment of Africa.
Wildlife
The Sabi Sands Game Reserve is a mostly flat landscape of undulating crests with some rocky outcrops, bisected by the Sand River.
Londolozi is a prime wildlife haven and has been rated the best game experience in Southern Africa. The characteristic species of the Sabi Sands are impala, greater kudu, giraffe, buffalo, lion and leopard. Lions are the only truly social members of the cat family, and sightings of lion prides are the order of the day at Londolozi.
Open water channels and pools are favoured by hippo. Reedbeds are favoured by buffalo and elephant. Riverine forest along the river is green all year round, and is the haunt of leopard, greater bush baby (galago) and bushbuck.
The dainty-hoofed klipspringer and rock dassie (hyrax) are the only larger mammals restricted to rocky outcrops in the Sabi Sand. Chacma baboons use the outcrops as vantage points.
Bird diversity is high, with over 40 species of raptor including Hooded Vulture, Secretary Bird, African Fish Eagle,Bateleur, Brown Snake Eagle, Dark Chanting Goshawk and Giant Eagle Owl. Cuckoos, Rollers, Kingfishers, Hornbills, Shrikes, Starlings and Weavers are well represented. Some common birds along the Sand River are the Paradise Flycatcher, Heuglin's Robin, Collared Sunbird and Green Pigeon.
Open water channels and pools are favoured by Pied Kingfisher and African Black Duck. Reedbeds are populated by Burchell's Coucal, Redfaced Cisticola and various Weavers. Some common savannah birds are the Green Spotted Dove (formerly called the Emerald Spotted Wood Dove), Woodland Kingfisher, Blue Waxbill, White Helmetshrike, Lizard Buzzard, Yellow-billed Hornbill and Lilac-breasted Roller.
