Travel + Leisure Magazine USA has just completed its 2009 Worlds Best Service Awards, asking its readers to nominate destinations around the globe that “really deliver”.

The results were published in the magazine’s June edition, and Sabi Sabi is honoured to have been voted as 7th best hotel overall in the world, the only South African establishment in the World’s Top Ten category. Sabi Sabi’s Earth Lodge has also made the 2009 Conde Nast Traveller Gold List for Best in Ambience and Design.

In its 30 years of existence, Sabi Sabi has become renowned for succesfully balancing luxury and world class safaris, with genuine African warmth and hospitality – inviting guests to enjoy a personalised home in the bush experience. The caring management and staff play an integral part in the overall Sabi Sabi experience, offering superb service that complements the 5-Star accommodation, exciting Big 5 open Land Rover safaris and superb cuisine.

Marketing director, Jacques Smit attributes this international recognition to several factors: “People form the heart of our business. The majority of our team hail from nearby villages and they have an inherent connection with the reserve. They bring a special brand of African hospitality to our lodges that make guests feel instantly at home”.

Ask Sabi Sabi’s returning guests why they come back again and again, and the answer will be, “for the unforgettable experience made all the more memorable by the warmth and hospitality of the staff.” How true !

Londolozi Private Game Reserve, situated in the exclusive Sabi Sand Game Reserve which adjoins the Kruger National Park, has a series of exciting guest activities lined up for the winter months at no extra cost.

These include breakfasts and bushveld picnics – including whisky porridge at dawn; winter wine tasting and campfire story telling; leopard tracking; astrology and geology lectures; yoga massage and all-night bush sleep-outs.

We get a monthly update from one of our favourite lodges in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Savanna – and this month’s newsletter has some very interesting wildlife stories !

The first one involves an unusual incident in the middle of the month when a leopard was confronted by a large male baboon. The baboon seemed to show no fear or respect and it was the leopard which showed the aggression and respect to the baboon. The baboon walked backwards and forwards, displaying itself to the leopard, no more than 4 or 5 metres away.

Finally the leopard, trying not to lose face, turned around and slunk off into the bush. This is an unusual incident, as many people believe that baboons are a favorite prey species of the leopard. This may be the case in areas where other species are not as prolific as they are in the Sabi Sands, but in this area it is very rare that a baboon will kill a leopard.

With all the recent rains in the area, the dams are full, and as a result there has been an influx of hippo into the Savanna area and at the nearby pan – at one point they had 8 hippos !

After the elephant, the hippo is the heaviest land animal, and a fully grown male adult can weigh up to 3,200 kg. During the day, a common sighting of hippos is of them half-submerged in lakes or rivers.

One female gave birth in the dam at the beginning of the month and guests at Savanna have had wonderful viewing of this little “blob” bobbing around its mother in the water. Even a baby hippo can look cute!

Adult hippos can submerge themselves completely under water for up to 5 minutes by closing their nostrils and ears, but on average surface every minute and a half. Young hippo calves can only stay submerged for 20 – 40 seconds.

A very rare bird has been discovered on the Savanna property: the striped crake.

This bird has only been recorded in South Africa a few times and it was discovered at a little pan where it had bred and had 2 chicks.

There has been great interest in this bird within the birding fraternity of South Africa and the lodge has also had a number of guests travel large distances just to come and see this nondescript little bird.

And finally, probably one of the most amazing stories for a while … there are 3 adult wild dogs that have Savanna as part of their territory.

One of these adults was caught by a lioness and feigned death while the lioness walked off with it in her mouth.

As soon as the lioness put the dog down and was distracted by the remaining 2 dogs, the 3rd dog got up and ran off, making good its escape.

And they say animals are dumb …. !!

We have just been passed the special offer for Notten’s Bush Camp in the Sabi Sands Reserve:

Reduced rate of only R2500 per person per night at Nottens for bookings made in March 2009 for travel in March 2009. The rate includes accommodation, meals, 2 game drives each day and an optional bush walk, and this represents a saving of R600 (19%) on the regular price.

Guests looking for a great safari experience in the sabi sands reserve should check out the special offer that we have just added where guests can stay 3 nights for the price of 2 at Chitwa Chitwa between 1 May and 15 July this year.

This is great value for money in one of Africa’s leading game reserves, and at current exchange rates a couple staying 3 nights for the price of 2 would save approximately £640 / Euro 690 / US$ 900.

This offer is due to be featured shortly on Southern Africa TV, so anyone thinking of going might want to get in touch now before all the rooms are booked!

We are delighted to be able to offer a special 20% discount for all new bookings made at Lion Sands River Lodge from travel between now and the end of February 2009.

Lion Sands is located on the banks of the Sabie River and is widely regarded as having one of the best locations in the Sabi Sands Reserve. 

The rooms have recently been refurbished, and with tempretures in Kruger reaching 30%, lots of new born animals at this time of year, and the Rand still remaining weak against sterling, the US Dollar and the Euro, this is a great opportunity to visit one of Africa’s great safari lodges.

A couple of days ago I mentioned that Savanna Private Game Reserve is one of our personal favourites, and today we just received their newsletter which included the picture below. 

The story behind this is that the Makubela female leopard has given birth and has produced two cubs that are now approximately 2½ weeks old.  She has them in a secluded den, which makes viewing of them fairly difficult, but Paddy and the team at Savanna are reporting getting fleeting glimpses of them on a regular basis.

We are sure that over time the viewings of these cubs will become more frequent and less fleeting as the Sabi Sands Reserve is probably the best place anywhere to see leopards in the wild.

This is why we love Savanna and the Sabi Sands!

Savanna is a beautiful tented camp in the Sabi Sand area of the Greater Kruger National Park, and has long been a favourite of both us here at Travel Butlers and our guests.  Savanna was the first place that owners Tracey & Paul Campbell went on safari many years ago and it was the amazing game viewing of the area along with the enthusiasm of Paddy and his team and wonderful tented suites that first got them hooked on safaris.

We are delighted to be able to offer substantial discounts at Savanna for anyone able to travel before the 15th March this year.  The discounted rates are nearly 20% off the normal rates for this time of year, and are available for both Savanna Luxury Suites and Savanna Executive Suites.