The Best Safaris in Sabi Sands | Lodges & Game Drives

Sabi Sands Game Reserve is a place of superlatives and the highlight or high-end South Africa safaris, this 65,000 hectare reserve is the finest chuck of wildlife-filled wilderness in Southern Africa.

Sabi Sands is the choice safari destination in South Africa for the wealthy and famous, the reserve is actually a grouping of smaller private reserves rather than one single entity. These reserves restrict visitor numbers to the lucky few guests staying at a handful of small and intimate camps.

Sabi Sands Game Reserve is a very upmarket safari destination, and unless you are able to pay hundreds of US dollars a night on accommodation, you will need to look elsewhere as the reserve here are not open to outside visitors. The prices quoted by Sabi Sands lodges might appear astronomical, but keep in mind that they generally include all activities including guided safaris in state of the art vehicles, meals and most drinks, plus the conservation fees that help maintain such wilderness areas.

Did You Know? – The Sabis Sands reserves basically started the entire movement of private conservation in Africa and some of these reserves have been in operation in some form or another for approaching a hundred years.

But Sabi Sands has more than just history on its side, it is also home to some of the world’s most reliable leopard and other Big Five sightings.

Sabi Sands Wildlife

In additional to the glorious accommodation and gorgeous scenery, wildlife takes the cake, and a few places in Africa are as good for large mammals as Sabi Sands.

According to reviews from tour operators and safari goers, Sabi Sands is the best place on the continent to see all the Big Five in a short period of time. What is more, with visitor numbers restricted and rules on the number of jeeps allowed at any given sighting strictly enforced, it can often feel as if you have many of these animals all to yourself, and this is specially the case in the remoter northern parts of the reserve.

Lions and elephants are commonly seen in Sabi Sands as well as herds of buffaloes. Rhinos are also present, but are generally the hardest of the Big Five to track down. Less common, but still seen with some frequency are wild dogs. If they are denning in the area, then guides will know and you will have a good chance of seeing one of Africa’s most successful, but persecuted predators.

Similar to Kruger, Sabi Sands has a great birdlife, though with less habitat diversity the species count is lower.

When to Visit Sabi Sands

Best time for wildlife viewing in Sabi Sands are between June and September when the drier winter weather causes animals to congregate around water sources and the March to May rutting season.

Generally, June is probably the best month to visit as wildlife activity is intense, but with school holidays yet to begin, it is less busy and accommodation is cheaper.

Best Safari Camps and reserves in Sabi Sands

Sabi Sands is renowned for its luxurious safari camps and lodges, all reserves here are unfenced an co-join with Kruger which means that wildlife can slip effortlessly around the ecosystem, and world-class wildlife guides will ensure that you get the most out of this stunning wilderness.

The best safari camps and reserve in Sabi Sands are

Lion Sands Game Reserve

Hosting one of the highest concentrations of large mammals per hectare on the planet , Lion Sands Game Reserve is renowned for its incredible lion sightings , particularly there are three prides in particular that can everyone seems to get to meet up close. There are also leopards and cheetahs, but guides here are keen for guests to expand their horizons a little and look beyond the Big Five. So, they will fill you with information on the many giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, klipspringer, warthogs and waterbuck that are all daily encounters on game drives.

The focus here is on low-luxurious and beautiful accommodation and highly personalized service. Also, they actively encourage family safaris.

Sabi Sand Game Reserve

Sabi Sand Game Reserve is a collection of former rangelands and is a choice for safari goers. This stupendous reserve has all the wildlife drama and beauty that is to be expected of the Sabi Sands area, but the whole package is just that much more luxurious and exclusive than most of the other Sabi Sands area, but it is much more luxurious and exclusive than most of the other Sabi Sands reserves and camps.

Londolozi Game Reserve

Londolozi Game Reserve is one of the original private game reserves in South Africa and has been in existence in some form or another for nearly a century, and they have got the whole safari and conservation mantra to a fine art. They were one of the pioneers of leopard habituation, so you have them to thank for the ease with which these most graceful of cats are seen throughout the Sabi Sands area.

But like all the reserves in Sabi Sands area, Londolozi has the full bag of big African mammals in abundance as well as the normal faultless guiding and divine lodges. The reserve is situated in the heart of Sabi Sands on the Sand River, also it offers several community activities and involvement.

Mala Mala Game Reserve

Mala Mala is another one of South Africa’s original private game reserve and has operating since the 1920s. Although part of the Sabi Sands Reserve for some time, Mala Mala Game Reserve has gone its own way, but the visitors wouldn’t know the difference.

The wildlife is just as impressive as before the whole safari experience is just as polished.

The difference is that Mala Mala is marginally more affordable than most of the others and, at around 130 square kilometers, is much larger. Its size, and the act that guests of other reserves are not allowed means that you have this wonderful bushy savannah all to yourself.

In conclusion, Mala Mala Game Reserve is one the favorite safari reserves in all South Africa.

Ulusaba Game Reserve

 Owned by Richard Branson, the Ulusaba Game Reserve offers the best of Sabi Sands. Here there are gorgeous luxury lodges, superlative wildlife viewing and unusually for the Sabi Sands area, magical scenic backdrops.

Unsurprisingly, it attracts famous people but it is also a down-to-earth reserve and it welcomes children with innovate family-friendly activities. On the downside, the fact that it is one of the smaller reserves in the region and a number of outside lodges have traversing rights, means that it can get a bit busy with vehicles at times.