Earth Lodge of Sabi Sabi in the Sabi Sands, one of the best safari lodges in Africa

Earth Lodge at Sabi Sabi in South Africa

This post is about Earth Lodge of Sabi Sabi, one of the best safari lodges in Africa.

Earth Lodge at Sabi Sabi in the Sabi Sands of South Africa
The Earth Lodge of the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve was exactly as I remembered it from my first visit two-and-a-half years ago, living a #Travelife.

There are many truly beautiful safari lodges all over Africa, including some jaw-dropping luxury camps in remote places and some authentically retro camps that instantly take you back in time over 100 years ago.

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EARTH LODGE OF SABI SABI:ONE OF THE BEST SAFARI LODGES IN AFRICA

But perhaps none are as innovative and record-breaking in terms of design and style as Earth Lodge, which has a futuristic theme and is all about modern and yet earth glamour. Earth Lodge of Sabi Sabi is truly one of the best safari lodges in Africa.

This is the pet project of the owners of the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve.

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Sabi Sabi has three other camps.

While Earth Lodge is all about “tomorrow,” Selati Camp is about “yesterday,” and Little Bush Camp and Bush Lodge, which is the family-friendly accommodations, is themed as “today.”

Earth Lodge at Sabi Sabi in South Africa

REMEMBERING EVERYTHINGIN “TOMORROW”AS IF IT WAS YESTERDAY

Bush Lodge is contemporary in feel while making use of local materials and natural materials for an atmosphere that is both stylish and yet warm.

Walking into Earth Lodge again a few days ago made me recall one of my funniest memories from my first stay there.

Earth Lodge at Sabi Sabi in South Africa

THE STANDARD QUESTIONSBEFORE A GAME DRIVE

The Travel Companion and I were going out on our first game drive with a very nice and lovely girl named Moira, one of the rangers from Earth Lodge.

At Selati Camp, where we’d stayed prior to moving to Bush Camp, we’d had a different team of rangers and trackers to take us out on game drives.

As always, we were asked the standard question posed by proper safari rangers when taking guests out on a game drive for the first time.

DEPRESSION IN AFRICA,STILL LIVING A #TRAVELIFE

Earth Lodge at Sabi Sabi in South Africa

I remember that we were already seated in the jeep when she turned around to us before driving and asked brightly: “Any serious physical conditions I need to be aware of? High blood pressure? Any major surgeries or illnesses?“

I then pointed to the Travel Companion and said with a sober face: “Depression.“

She burst out laughing so hard, thus breaking the ice, on just another wonderful trip on my never-ending, and never-endingly eventful #Travelife.

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“Wow, nothing’s changed,” I said to Grant, the manager of Selati Lodge, on the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve, when we arrived, in Africa, living a #Travelife.

It was mid-afternoon when we finally reached Selati, and most of the guests were already on game drives because we were heading into winter and the days were shorter.

That’s Grant, manager of Selati Lodge

Yes, Selati was exactly as I remembered it. 

This is the intimate nostalgia lodge of Sabi Sabi, themed upon “Yesterday,” and it’s done so beautifully in the vintage style.

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A ROOM STRAIGHT OUT OF AFRICA

I stayed in Ivory Lodge, which is the best suite in the lodge, if not in the entire Sabi Sabi Game Reserve, and it’s a room straight “Out of Africa.”

Happily, it was exactly as I remembered it, with its palatial bathroom and its ever so picturesque bedroom with a pool that hippos occasionally visited on one side and a private terrace on the other.

I have so many happy memories of my first stay here over two years ago, so it was nice to be back again.

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SOME THINGS ARE NOT THE SAME

When I got to the lounge area for tea, however, I was nicely surprised to see that Selati did undergo some major renovations of its common areas — and I’m happy to report that everything is for the better.

They’ve opened up their lounge so that it is now twice the former space, and the decor is lighter and sleeker but still very much in keeping with the vintage theme.

A NEW DINING ROOM AT SELATI LODGE

ON THE SABI SABI GAME RESERVE

The boma area, too, now opens up to a new vintage dining room, giving guests a third dining option.

It’s got one long table for all the guests to sit in, as Selati is a very social lodge compared to most safari lodges, and everyone talks to each other, and the walls are lined with copper pans and memorabilia.

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MEMORIES OF A PERI PERI CHICKEN LUNCH

Aside from the beautiful Ivory Suite, the other place that didn’t change at all is the terrace where Selati guests have breakfasts and lunches in a very private atmosphere.

This terrace was exactly as I remembered it, and nice memories of my very first lunch here in what seems a lifetime ago, having peri peri chicken upon arrival, full of excitement for Africa, came flooding back.

But that’s a never-ending #Travelife for you.

There’s no such thing as goodbye when you depart a destination you’ve come to love. Just see you later. Or, actually, see you again and again.

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At the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve in Sabi Sands, South Africa

Ice cream on safari at Sabi Sabi in the Sabi Sands, South Africa
So the other day, in Africa, living a #Travelife, we set out with our ranger Michael for an afternoon game drive at the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve, one of the top game reserves in the world and winner of the highest accolade among safari game reserves for 2014.

The weather was just right, neither too hot nor too cold, and the foliage was still green enough to be attractive.

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The previous day, we’d had a truly amazing game drive of a day.

When Michael picked us up at the Sabi Sabi airstrip, we’d actually seen four out of the Big Five in the first 15 minutes, just driving out of the airstrip and towards our lodge.

How wonderful was that?

At the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve in Sabi Sands, South Africa

So of course we did all the game drives with him, even if we’d seen so much already just on Day One at Sabi Sabi.

The Sabi Sabi Game Reserve in South Africa

But that afternoon, Michael turned to us as he was driving out of the lodge and said: “I’ve got a surprise for you guys.“

At first, I thought it was a cheetah. Or a black mamba.

I’ve seen cheetah before but I’m always happy to see cheetah again. As for the black mamba, which is a deadly snake, by the way, I’ve not seen one yet.

But Michael said: “It’s something sweet.“

Earth Lodge at Sabi Sabi

And sure enough, within a few minutes, we were driving up to an honest-to-goodness ice cream stand right in the middle of the bush.

There were rangers manning the stand and handing out vanilla ice cream in colourful cones.

That certainly sweetened things up, on just another wonderful afternoon in Africa, living a never-ending. and never-endingly eventful #Travelife.

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Breakfast on the terrace of the Westcliff in Johannesburg

After a short but wonderful stay in Johannesburg, living a TRAVELIFE at the iconic Westcliff Hotel, we went on to the second part of our trip around South Africa — to the Sabi Sands in Greater Kruger National Park.

Here we’d booked a stay at the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve, one of the most luxurious safari experiences in the world.

Federal Air pilots and crew loading the luggage

At first, it was tussle trying to decide how to get there from Joburg.

But in the end we decided to take the small charter plane from a private hangar just off Joburg’s international airport. This took us straight to Sabi Sabi’s private airstrip in about 75 minutes.

After a lovely breakfast on the terrace of the Westcliff Hotel, the hotel car took us straight to the hangar.

The entrance of the Federal Air hangar

I was surprised at how pretty and comfortable the hangar was.

It made me feel like I was already on a safari, as it had authentic safari decor and even a boutique selling safari-type clothes in case you didn’t bring white shirts and khakis and then you suddenly felt in an Out of Africa mood.

The hangar at Joburg looks more like someone’s garden

We sat in the lounge for a few minutes checking emails and drinking Roobois tea, while they loaded the bags on board the Federal Air plane.

And soon, we were off on our amazing Travelife adventure.

This was our pretty small plane

I’m not good with any kind of small and enclosed space.

But somehow, I was calm and happy on the flight even if I was slightly anxious at first. I think it helped that the crew was nice and the pilots certainly looked very professional.

The pilots at work

I worked on my blog for most of the flight, but every so often I looked out the window in wonder and amazement at the vast expanse of nature below me.

We weren’t flying very high so it was possible to literally see a lot of Africa from the sky.

Sabi Sabi, as viewed from above

Finally we reached Sabi Sabi, and it was really a painless flight.

And when we got off the plane, our ranger Neil was there in a safari jeep to greet us and take us to the Selati Lodge, which was one of the two lodges we were going to stay at.

We weren’t even 10 minutes into the drive when already our safari began — or rather, literally got jumpstarted.

We saw a group of springbok on the field, jumping and playing around.

A herd of springbok

And then a little further afield, on a large plain, a wondrous sight greeted us.

A group of giraffes were literally having a lazy stroll in the park. I clicked away with my camera, admiring the elegance and gracefulness of the giraffes.

A giraffe in the wild

Sure, you can see them in a zoo. But it really was wonderful to see them in the wild, in their most natural habitat.

I said to Neil, our ranger for our stay at Selati Lodge: “Not bad, for our first 10 minutes.”

And Neil replied, with lots of confidence: “Don’t worry. A great adventure awaits.“

That’s Neil, our ranger at Sabi Sabi’s Selati Lodge

Indeed, we were so lucky.

We saw the Big Five we had come from so far to see, and much more, over six hours of game drives every day, for four wonderful and wondrous days in a never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife.

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Champagne cocktails right in the bush after our afternoon safari drive at the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve

The other day, on safari in Sabi Sabi, one of South Africa’s top private game reserves offering one of the best safari luxury experiences in the world, a ranger asked us an interesting question while we were having champagne cocktails out in the wilderness, after an afternoon safari drive.

We’d just driven around the game reserve for about 90 minutes, and in that short span of time, we’d seen an amazing diversity of wild animals including giraffes, rhinos and springbok.

Then, our ranger found a nice spot to park and he and our tracker took out tablecloths, champagne glasses and a bottle of bubbly for a sunset drink right in the wilderness.

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Neil, who was one of our two rangers, during our stay, asked the Boss and myself: “Why did you choose Sabi Sabi?”

I guess what he meant was that, being experienced travelers with a yen for adventure and not very many constraints except time, we could have gone anywhere in the world for a luxury safari experience.

There are a couple of great safari experiences around the world, and Sabi Sabi is definitely one of them.

I answered for us as I had been in charge of choosing the best places to stay in South Africa, while the Boss had been in charge of all domestic logistics, restaurants, and sightseeing.

I replied: “I heard you have great animal sightings and excellent service.“

Our great animal tracking team from Sabi Sabi’s Selati Lodge. We went out everyday at 530 AM and 430 PM for about three hours each time.

I also liked the fact that Sabi Sabi has four different kinds of lodges, catering to all preferences, and each has a specific theme that is carried out beautifully. I stayed in the presidential lodge of the Selati Camp and that was simply an amazing Out of Africa experience.


More on this in a later blog entry.

The Sabi Sabi is part of the Greater Kruger National Park in a land area called the Sabi Sands.

This is where all the great safari lodges in this part of South Africa are, and they’re all next to each other, usually simply marked by a dirt road.

Among the top safari camps in Sabi Sands, there’s quite a bit of competition so jeeps from one safari camp don’t cross over into each other’s territories, and everyone knows where the borders are, even if we guests don’t.

So as long as you’re in Sabi Sands, the playing field is pretty even in terms of animal sightings and the animals you see will be pretty much the same.

It’s all a matter of luck, timing, and the talents of the rangers and trackers.

On the former, a lion may be on one game reserve today, but he may be in the next game reserve tomorrow.

On the latter, the talents and dedication of your ranger and tracker make all the difference in the world.

Here’s a view of Sabi Sabi from the air, by the way…

The Boss and I had two wonderful rangers and two excellent trackers, one pair each for each of the two Sabi Sabi lodges we stayed in.

Neil was our ranger during our stay at the Selati Lodge, Sabi Sabi’s intimate and nostalgic 1920s themed lodge.

He was the one who picked us up from Sabi Sabi’s private airstrip when we flew in on a small charter plane from Johannesburg.

I still remember clearly that mixture of amazement and excitement, and anticipation over a wonderful and new adventure, that I had when we flew in from Johannesburg.

Our pilot took us low and advised us to look out our windows in case we saw rhinos or giraffes running around on the game reserve — and beneath me I saw the vast expanse of beautiful Africa.

That’s our ranger Morah,  and our tracker who accompanied us throughout our stay at Sabi Sabi’s Earth Lodge.

Then Morah was our ranger during our stay at Earth Lodge, Sabi Sabi’s futuristic but environmental-friendly lodge with a wow factor.

She took us back to the airstrip on our last day, for our flight back to Johannesburg. That was done in a ten-seater plane, by the way, and we only had one pilot.

The Boss was worried that the really tiny plane would freak me out as I don’t like small enclosed spaces, but I took out my Mac for the one-hour flight and I was fine for the trip.

We took this pretty cool Pilatus plane from Johannesburg direct to Sabi Sabi’s private airstrip

We were so impressed with our rangers and trackers.

They all love animals with a passion. You can tell if the rangers love what they’re doing or whether they just think it’s a job by the way they keep photos of recent animal sightings on their mobile phones.

You just know you’re in the company of real animal lovers if they’re showing you photos of baby impalahs or colorful birds on their phone.

The table setting at Selati Lodge in Sabi Sabi in South Africa

The rangers, like almost everyone we met in the staff during our stay, paid keen attention to the quirks and preferences of each guest.

And in our case, we stayed at the smaller and more personalized Sabi Sabi lodges so we really got to know our rangers, and they got to know us.

The Boss and I both like Rooibos tea with no sugar or milk for breakfast, for instance, and just about whenever tea is offered; and I think we were only asked once about how we liked our tea, and from then on it was always served the way we liked it — one pot to share, with no milk or sugar.

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Of course, perhaps the most important reason for having excellent, top-notch rangers is the safety factor.


Your life depends on the instincts, discipline and courage of your ranger when you’re out in the bush; and both our rangers were just amazingly dedicated and professional.

A four-course dinner by lamplight at Sabi Sabi’s Selati Lodge

One night at Selati Lodge, for instance, we were all having dinner on the terrace on a long and beautifully set-up table, just like a fancy dinner table.

The Boss and I were seated across Neil — your ranger usually joins you for dinner — and we were having a wonderful meal when suddenly a lion roared in the distance.

Neil immediately ssaid: “Ssshh. Can you hear the lion roar? That’s 300 meters away.”

What a sound it made.

It also made our hearts beat faster as up till then, we were 36 hours into the Sabi Sabi safari experience and we’d already seen the Big 4 plus so much more.

This is very unusual, by the way, and we were extremely lucky. It had been a dry spell for lions recently and two couples from Selati Lodge had gone home without seeing the lion.

But if you know the Boss and I, we both don’t stop at just “okay.”

We wanted to see the Big 5 — and we wanted to see the lion.

Neil quietly got up from dinner.

Then while we were enjoying simple but lovely dishes like duck confit and steak, he’d jumped on his jeep and headed straight out into the darkness and the cold to hunt down that lion.

Dinner at Selati Lodge of Sabi Sabi

The Boss and I saw the headlights of his jeep in the distance, from the dining table.

I said to The Boss: “Look at Neil. He didn’t have to do this. He could have said, ‘Right. We’re having dinner, but let’s try and wake up early to see that lion tomorrow.”

Instead Neil came back, all flushed and excited.

He said to us: “If you’d like to see that lion, we can do so so now after the main course and you can have your dessert afterwards.”

We’re big on dessert, and on that menu that night was Malva pudding, a local specialty that had been on the wishlist of The Boss ever since David Higgs, one of South Africa’s top chefs and right at the helm of the new restaurant Five Hundred in Johannesburg, had served us malva pudding topped with foie gras for dinner in Johannesburg, a few days before our safari.

The Boss then said: “Let’s have our malva pudding before going out to see the lion.”

Yeah. Of course the lion would be willing to wait for us outside while we had dessert.

I replied: “Are we on safari to eat malva pudding or to see a lion?“

That’s a photo of our tracker and Neil at the wheel, and we’re seated at the back of the jeep. And we’re racing after a lion in the dark!

That kind of put things into perspective for him.

So we jumped into the jeep, bundled up, and had a good half hour up close and personal with a beautiful lion.

If Neil hadn’t been so dedicated — I’m sure he’d had a very long day and was dead tired ––  we might not have seen the lion at all during our Sabi Sabi stay.

Selati Lodge of Sabi Sabi in South Africa

Needless to say, the Boss and I returned to Selati Lodge feeling on top of the world. We were so happy.

What an exhilarating feeling it is to have completed seeing all the wild animals on your wish-list, in their natural habitat.

The Boss then said to me: “I can now understand why some people get addicted to the safari experience.”

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Wow. This was a terribly big statement from a guy who almost never ever admits to being floored by anything. 

But, of course, he’s on a Travelife so that makes all the difference in the world. Indeed, no one travels quite like us. Or writes like us. And that’s why we’re always going to be #1.

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