Sabi Sand
Private Game Reserve

The Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve is South Africa’s crown jewel for wildlife and exclusivity.  It is arguably the best place to go on safari in the whole country!  The reserve is teeming with a magnificent diversity of wildlife and is probably the best place in all of Africa to spot leopards (no pun intended) because of the high density of these cats in this area.  The Big 5 is also extremely abundant here, and since the Sabi Sands shares a fenceless border with the Kruger National Park, animals can come and go as they please, bringing a rich variety of wildlife to the area. 

When I was planning my first trip to Africa, I was primarily traveling there to go cage diving with Great White Sharks near Cape Town.  During planning, I decided, “well, since we’ll be there, we might as well go on safari.”  My ignorance at the time is obvious in that statement.  I was completely oblivious to what was in store for me.  Once I arrived in the Sabi Sands I was stunned by what I was witnessing.  On my very first game drive, I saw a leopard in a tree with an impala kill and a hyena lurking below!  On another drive, hyena cubs squealing and squabbling over mom’s milk, a hippo charging into the water and an elephant trumpeting.  Another time, a dominant male leopard making a territorial call that sounded like sawing, a plethora of different animals coming for an afternoon drink at the water hole across from our lodge, lions chasing down a meal; I could go on and on.  Looking back on that statement, “we might as well go on safari…” might as well?  Are you kidding me?!?  Going on safari in the Sabi Sands changed me forever.  It was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life, and the wonder of this place will stay with me forever.

The coveted Sabi Sands is home to 20+ safari lodges, many of them luxury but also some very affordable ones featuring beautiful suites, excellent dining, spa services and daily bush walks, in addition to morning and evening game drives.  Because it is a private game reserve, guests staying here have exclusive access to the private land, meaning no day visitors to Kruger are allowed into the reserve.  Lodges are not just limited to game drives on their own land.  Each lodge has traversing agreements with neighboring lodges so that they can drive their vehicles on other properties as well, increasing wildlife viewing opportunities for guests.