Dwyka Tented Lodge
Nine tents under canvas in the bend of a dry ravine, concealed by rock formations, each with a private deck and plunge pool. The most atmospheric of the three, and the one that feels furthest from anywhere.
The Little Karoo, Western Cape
Fifty-four thousand hectares of private wilderness, three hours from Cape Town, with no town, no road and no farm light within sight of it.
Most safaris in South Africa are five hours away by air. This one is three hours by road, and it does not feel like a compromise.
Sanbona lies on Route 62 between Montagu and Barrydale, at the foot of the Warmwaterberg, in country that almost no visitor troubles to stop in. Red earth, thorn trees, folded mountains and enormous space. It is one of the largest privately owned reserves in the country and, being arid, it is the opposite of the lowveld: open, pale and wide, with animals visible at distance rather than glimpsed through bush.
It is also malaria-free, which matters more than people expect on a journey with children, or older travellers, or anyone who would rather not take tablets for three weeks.
Each stands apart from the others, far enough that a party at one never sees a party at another.
Nine tents under canvas in the bend of a dry ravine, concealed by rock formations, each with a private deck and plunge pool. The most atmospheric of the three, and the one that feels furthest from anywhere.
A Cape Georgian homestead of 1898, restored, with six open-plan suites around a courtyard and a rim-flow pool looking over the plains. Gardens, shade and a porch, in the middle of a desert.
A thatched Karoo homestead above the Bellair Dam, with twelve suites and a programme for children. Where a group travelling with families goes.
For those who would rather walk than drive. A guided walking safari, on foot, in Big Five country.
The Big Five are all present, but the arid country and the sheer size of the reserve mean sightings are earned rather than guaranteed. That is the honest position, and it is also the point: nothing here is arranged for you.
Sanbona is home to the only free-roaming pride of white lions in the world. Not an enclosure, not a project — a pride living wild across fifty-four thousand hectares.
Country flat enough and clear enough that a cheetah can be watched running, which is rare almost everywhere else.
Seven recorded sites on the reserve, some of the paintings more than three thousand years old, made by people who lived in this valley long before any boundary was drawn around it.
One of the most endangered mammals on earth, and it lives here. Most visitors will never see one. Knowing it is out there is part of the place.
No town, no road and no farm light within sight of the reserve. On a moonless night the Milky Way comes down to the horizon on every side, and we bring an astronomer out with his own instruments.
No tablets, no precautions, no conversation about it at all.
Two nights, private vehicles, and our own pace. A dawn drive with breakfast laid out in the veld, the long heat of the middle of the day given over to the pool and the shade, then out again as the light turns, with a table set on open ground for sundowners.
Dinner in the boma, and afterwards the sky. Sutherland, an hour or two north, has the largest telescope in the southern hemisphere but does not admit visitors at night. So we bring the astronomer here instead, which is better: no queue, no visitor centre, and nobody else’s children asking questions.
Private vehicles are taken for the party so that nobody shares a drive with strangers, and so that the morning belongs to whatever your guests want to follow.
Three hours by road from Cape Town, over the Tradouw Pass from the coast, or forty minutes by helicopter from Hermanus. We have used both, and the pass is the better arrival: the land changes completely at the top, and everyone in the vehicle goes quiet.
Visitors to Africa
The proposal
Not tours. Living chapters.February · The Cape
The Cape, three waysThe Cape, PrivatelyThe Cape, HostedThe Cape, EssentialApril · For the Families
For the FamiliesApril · Lesotho
Lesotho and the High CountrySeptember · The whales
The Whales, and Deep TimeWhere they stay
21 NettletonTintswalo AtlanticRadisson CollectionLanzeracGrootbosThe MarineHarbour HouseThe Shark BaySanbonaNambiti HillsEsiweni Luxury Safari LodgeCleopatra Mountain FarmhouseWhere they eat
Café CapriceStellenrustTwo Oceans RestaurantLa ColombeBeau ConstantiaCreationAlong the way
Table MountainThe Bo-KaapThe Castle of Good HopeThe Company’s GardenHout BayBoulders BeachGroot ConstantiaKlein ConstantiaBuitenverwachtingStellenboschRustenbergHermanus and Walker BayRiding at Pearly BeachThe Art of the BlendFranschhoekChapman’s PeakCape of Good HopeSnorkelling with SealsGreat White Shark DivingThe whales: the trailerTalk to me
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