Sabi Sabi Little Bush Camp

The luxury safari suites at Sabi Sabi Little Bush Camp are elegant and full of vivid colour. Soft furnishings and curtains are juxtaposed by bright authentic colours and African patterns, as well as a zig-zag mural on one wall of the suite, creating a colourful and contemporary original safari suite. Exposed thatch ceilings add traditional safari character and dimension to the rooms.

A large comfortable bed sits in the centre of the room, covered in soft white bed linens and complete with mosquito netting which can be let down to enshroud the bed for a bug-free night. Opposite the bed are sliding doors which open out onto the vast bushveld, offering sweeping views of the luscious trees. A comfortable sofa sits close by the bed, where guests can unwind and enjoy a drink after their long days exploring.

All safari suites come with an ensuite bathroom, which includes double hand basins on a wooden vanity area, a spacious walk-in rainfall shower, and a flush toilet. The bathroom also comes complete with a deep freestanding egg bathtub sat next to doors which open out onto an outdoor shower area.

Every suite also comes with its own private viewing deck where guests can relax on the comfortable seating area whilst gazing into the dense and vivid trees looking to spot any colourful birds. An alluring heated spa bath is sunk into the decking, where guests can enjoy a warming dip whilst immersed in the heart of the bush.

The main dining area of the camp continues the authentic safari character seen throughout Sabi Sabi Little Bush Camp. A high vaulted thatch ceiling covers the space, with opulent chandeliers hanging over the dining tables, which all offer views over the luscious bush and blue skies whilst guests dine. The food is fresh and made by talented and professional chefs, and a large bar – with almost every drink any guest could want – is the perfect area for a pre or post-dinner drink.

Guests can also choose to have a romantic dining experience by dining on the banks of the riverbed surrounded by glowing lanterns and the wide starry sky. Dining around the boma is also available to guests, where you can enjoy group dining around a large crackling fire, tucking into delicious food while the sun sets and the bush goes to sleep around you.

Guests can head out in the morning and afternoons on game drives around the Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve. Each drive lasts three hours and gives guests the amazing opportunity to see some of the wildlife which inhabits this area. You may see a herd of elephants wandering in the distance, a giraffe bending down for a drink at a watering hole, or pride of lions relaxing on the side of the road. Halfway through the drive, you will stop for a brief break where you can enjoy a morning coffee or an evening sundowner drink in the heart of the bush.

Head out to explore the reserve on foot and find the smaller workings and micro-ecosystems of the bush which you may miss on a game drive. With a knowledgeable and friendly guide wander through the grasses, following tracks or looking for insect life. This is also a good time to look to the treetops with a pair of binoculars and try to see some of the many colourful bird species in this area, which your guide will be able to identify.

Take care of your mind, body, and soul while staying at Sabi Sabi Little Bush Camp with a relaxing afternoon spent in the Amani Spa. Make your way to the calming treatment room where you can enjoy a rejuvenating facial, stress-relieving massage, or refreshing aromatherapy treatment whilst surrounded by the bush.

For guests who wish to find out more about the area to which they’ve travelled a tour of the community can be pre-booked. The tour leaves after breakfast and can take guests to the villages of Lillydale, Huntington, and Justicia, where guests can meet and speak to members of these communities and find out more about their day to day lives. All funds from these community tours go back into the community and their development projects.

Sabi Sabi is an example of how ecotourism can support and protect both the surrounding nature and communities. Sustainable benefits positively impact both the environment and the people, and ‘contribute substantially to the socio-economic development of the people living on the boundaries of the protected areas.’

There are two principles which guide the Sabi Sabi Foundation’s initiatives and projects, and these are the need to conserve wilderness areas and create a sanctuary for indigenous flora and fauna, and the second is the firmly held belief that Sabi Sabi ‘must be a true example of eco-tourism effectively linking tourism with conservation and the community.’

Conservation, ecotourism, and community are all linked together in the foundation’s work, and this is a prime example of how respect for the local surroundings and working with local communities and groups can create immeasurable benefits for future generations.

Many of the staff at Sabi Sabi lodges are employed from the surrounding local rural Shangaan villages of Justicia, Huntington and Lillydale. Each employee has their own dependents who rely on their wage so the employment benefits, not just the worker but also their family, creating more financially stable family institutions and allowing younger children to afford schooling.

Each team member is encouraged to explore and gain skills whilst working at Sabi Sabi, with ‘ongoing training in all areas’ of the business which empowers the employees and helps them improve on their skills. Many aspects of the running of Sabi Sabi lodges are outsourced from the surrounding communities, such as gardening, thatching and washing businesses helping to further support the local people and small businesses.

All Sabi Sabi properties offer guests a community tour, led by Clerence Mkansi, who is a second-generation Sabi Sabi family member, his father being ‘one of Sabi Sabi’s long-standing stalwart trackers.’ As well as allowing guests an insight into the local way of life these tours are also vital for the Sabi Sabi Foundation as the fees from the tour are sent straight to the Sabi Sabi Foundation, which then uses the money to fund their many community projects.

Since its opening in 2002, the Mazinyane Pre-School has gone from strength to strength with the help of both the Sabi Sabi Foundation and Reservations Africa. As a pre-school their aim is to prepare children for the school years ahead, and also has a strong focus on supplying healthy school meals to the children. With a joint belief that children represent the future, Reservations Africa and the Sabi Sabi Foundation have helped Mazinyane Pre-School go from 85 children to 450 children, ‘with 5 classrooms and a total of 18 staff.’

Another project the Sabi Sabi Foundation is involved in is the Lilydale Digital Learning Centre. They have understood the growing gap between rural life and the ever-growing need to know and understand digital skills in today’s economy. Partnered with the Good Work Foundation, Sabi Sabi Foundation have helped reach over 400 students who wished to ‘improve their knowledge in this technological age and determine career paths to which they are suited and well prepared’ through the Lilydale Digital Learning Centre. Programmes are also run by the Sabi Sabi Foundation to train teachers, with over 120 teachers from neighbouring communities being trained to this date.

The Swa Vana Care Centre is another initiative which the Sabi Sabi Foundation supports. This centre provides meals and care to vulnerable children and youth, as well as looking after orphans, creating a safe space for children after school and distributing ‘clothing donations and hygiene items.’ When this project began there were only six children and now they can support up to 390 children.

Over 30 staff members help with the running of the care centre and help to organise the games the children play, as well as counselling and home visits. The overarching aim of the Swa Vana Care Centre is to give the children involved a sense of self-worth, purpose and ‘becoming employable, self-sustainable and valued members of their community.’

Partnering with Dreamfields in 2008 the Sabi Sabi Foundation has aimed to offer opportunities to local children through the sports of football and netball. To help the children develop strong characters and to stop them from being drawn into bad environments both a netball and football league were created in 2008. To make the games as professional and fair as possible this project also encompasses coach training and referee training. This initiative ‘is about building dreams, building relationships and fostering a healthy outlook on life.’

To aid with conservation efforts Sabi Sabi has a detailed guide and ranger training programme. Future guides are taken through a training camp before being involved in on-site training which helps them find their feet in the surrounding areas and habitats. The training is intensive to best prepare the guides for their role as ‘environmental educators’. The trackers also go through the same intensive training procedures, and many of them are local Shangaan people allowing for an ‘innate appreciation and deep knowledge of the bush.’

Beginning in 2015 the Sabi Sabi Chef Mentorship Programme has been implemented by the head chef at Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge. Creating a fully functional training school which provides students with housing, transport and uniforms, successful students are registered with the South African Chefs Association before taking part in ‘week long kitchen courses.’ After these courses students then complete internships at Sabi Sabi lodges, giving them first-hand experience in a working kitchen. At the end of the course, students can either find employment at a Sabi Sabi lodge or are in a much better position to be able to find skilled employment elsewhere.

For many of the local communities, there is no easy access to fresh water. Sabi Sabi’s not-for-profit company ‘Innovation: Africa’ has created the technology to be able to ‘supply sustainable portable water to a sizeable part of the Huntington community.’ When the water pumps are constructed local empowerment companies are used, which employ 5 local men and women for the project. These employees remain after the completion of the pumps and help to ensure that any issues are resolved quickly to maintain the water supply for the community.

Sabi Sabi has their own habitat management team, which help to develop and implement a ‘competent management programme’ with help from ‘qualified ecological consultants.’ The programme is continually assessed to make sure that all the practices are working in a way that helps protect and preserve the local surroundings.

One practice is the controlled burning of sections of the reserve. This burning helps to promote the growth of new, fresh grass and to help nutrient recycling when the native herbivores come to the new open areas. Another practice is the rotation of manmade waterholes and water resources. To stop vegetation from being impacted in one area of the reserve the waterholes are rotated meaning the animals have to travel on different routes, allowing the vegetation to grow back in the areas where it has recently been in the path of the animals.

If any roads need to be placed within the reserve, the habitat management programme helps to make sure that they are placed in a way that ‘minimises water run-off’ and erosion. All roads are sensitively placed so as not to disrupt the animals and to follow the natural drainage lines. Erosion is not just managed by the placement of roads, but by planting shrubs on highly grazed areas to maintain a high level of biodiversity within the reserve. The habitat management team also work to remove harmful alien plants which threaten the indigenous species of the reserve.

All Sabi Sabi properties work to separate and recycle as much of their solid waste as they can. All their lodges have ‘specially constructed wetland systems’ which mean they can recycle wastewater and sewage which is then purified, finishing the recycling process as clean water. Any plastic that is used at the lodges are returned to the suppliers and they use all wet waste as compost.

To protect the wildlife within the reserve Sabi Sabi have their own specialised anti-poaching unit. There are specialised conservation units as part of this APU that help to enhance the programme and the anti-poaching activities.