Savanna is situated near the Newington Gate entrance, in the famous Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve, and offers the ambience of a romantic bygone era. The luxury tented suites combine the romance of a tented roof and draped inner ceiling, and ensure the utmost privacy.

With only 14 guests, the staff have the time and dedication to attend to your every need. In addition, the excellent food and world class Big 5 game viewing with knowledgeable and enthusiastic rangers, will make your stay here totally memorable.

There is an attractive outdoor swimming pool, ideal for cooling off after your morning game drive, and a comfortable upstairs lounge and library area, all overlooking the waterhole, which is floodlit at night, and where some of Africa’s most impressive wildlife comes down to drink.

And if this hasn’t persuaded you … maybe these pictures will ….

One of the main advantages of going on safari in the Kruger area just after the January / February rains is that many animals will give birth during this period.

Lucky safari goers recently to the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, who have been staying at Savanna Game Lodge, will have enjoyed, I am sure, seeing these little fellows – aren’t they just cute beyond belief !

The cubs belong to the Ximungwe pride, and seem to have plenty of character and personality ! It won’t be long before they will be old enough to join in the hunting with their mother, although it will be a few more years before they are ready to leave the pride and venture out on their own.

Small leopard cubs are equally as adorable – this little one is about 3.5 months old and is already totally at ease with the Land Rovers being in close proximity so that guests can get some fantastic photos :

And then, you round off a perfect day with a sunset like this …. Now … you tell me if you can think of a better way to spend a few days !!

Savanna tented lodge in the Sabi Sands has always been a favourite of ours here at Travel Butlers – in fact it was the first place that Tracey & I ever went on safari all those years ago!  You should have seen her face when I said we were staying in a tent….and then again when she saw this was a tent like no other she had ever seen!

Anyway, the good news from Paddy and the team at Savanna is that they are running a special offer from 1st December to the end of March (excluding 10 days around Christmas) where guests can  Stay 4 nights for the price of 3 at Savanna.

This is a great opportunity to experience a fantastic safari in the world-famous Sabi Sands Game Reserve, and we are sure this offer will prove to be very popular.

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 …. !!

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!

For most people the idea of spending the night under canvas surrounded by the sounds of the African bush brings to mind the romance of a bygone age of adventure.

Fortunately there are dozens of tented safari camps all across South Africa where it is possible to recapture this magic.

From Bayethe Lodge (Shamwari), Lalibela Tree Tops Lodge, and Gorah Elephant Camp in the Malaria Free Eastern Cape, up to Savanna and Hamilton’s in the Greater Kruger Park there is some outstanding 5* tented accommodation available with many ‘tents’ boasting air conditioning, luxury bathrooms, and even private plunge pools!

For guests travelling on a more modest budget, lodges such as Gomo Gomo and Kwa-Mbili offer less extravagant accommodation, however the large tents all still have proper double or twin beds and ensuite bathrooms…it’s still along way from most peoples idea of roughing it!

Our top 10 tented camps in South Africa are:

1 ) Bayethe Lodge
2 ) Tree Tops Lodge
3 ) Mkuze Falls Tented Lodge
4 ) Gorah Elephant Camp
5 ) Gomo Gomo Game Lodge
6 ) Savanna Private Game Reserve
7 ) Hamilton’s Tented Camp
8 ) Chapungu Luxury Tented Camp
9 ) Kwa-Mbili Game Lodge
10 ) Entabeni Wildside Tented Camp

This listing is ranked on the number of nights guests have spent at each lodge based on recent bookings made by Travel Butlers.

Following on from last weeks listing of top lodges for families in malaria free areas, today we are having a look at our most popular lodges for families in the Greater Kruger area.

The first point to bear in mind when looking at family lodges in the Kruger area is that the average age of children staying at lodges in this area tends to be higher than for lodges in malaria free areas.  There are two reasons for this: firstly, many parents are reluctant to take younger children to a low risk malaria area,  and secondly many of the lodges will have a minimum age of  8 or so and do not tend to run the sort of children’s progams that are offered by many lodges in the Eastern Cape and Madikwe.

The Greater Kruger area is South Africa’s leading safari destination, and for those parents travelling with slightly older children and who are happy to visit an area where it is necessary to take anti-malaria precautions, these lodges all offer an excellent safari experience. The full listing is: 

1 ) Notten’s Bush Camp
2 ) Chitwa Chitwa Game Lodge
3 ) Inyati Private Game Reserve
4 ) Exeter Dulini Private Game Lodge
5 ) Jock Safari Lodge
6 ) Bongani Mountain Camp
7 ) MalaMala Main Camp
8 ) Savanna Private Game Reserve
9 ) Jackalberry Lodge
10 ) Elephant Plains Game Lodge

This listing is ranked on the number of nights children under 12 have spent at each lodge based on recent bookings made by Travel Butlers.