South African Lodges

At the South African National Parks annual Kudu Awards event held in Pretoria a few weeks ago, the luxurious JOCK SAFARI LODGE which is located in the Kruger National Park in South Africa, won the prestigious CEO’S award for BEST PRIVATE BUSINESS PARTNER.

The event was attended by the Minster of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk who addressed the 500 guests.

2 new Landcruisers arrived at the end of May at the Jock Safari Game Lodge and were welcomed by the professional game rangers at Jock.

The Lodge is in the process of upgrading the roads on their concession and all is going well and according to plan.

The rooms at Main Jock Lodge are in the process of going through a soft refurb – they are painting, replacing mosquito nets, putting in fly screen doors, as well as replacing carpets, bed covers and softs. There will be no disturbance to guests as there is no buildingwork taking place.

Weddings at the Big Five Shamwari Game Reserve, South Africa

The exclusive game lodges at the game rich Shamwari Game Reserve have become a popular wedding venue with overseas guests who would like to tie the knot in proper African style.

Tracy Lancaster, the dedicated wedding planner at Shamwari, will look after all the guests’ needs and requirements. A standard wedding package as well as tailor made wedding packages are on offer to suit every couples needs for their special day;

The Shamwari Health and Beauty Spa, South Africa

To be found at Longlee Manor, Lobengula Lodge and Eagles Crag Lodges at the Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, are excellent alternatives for relaxation and rejuvenating mind, body and soul. The Health and Beauty Spa at this exclusive game reserve awaits its guests for a relaxing and welcoming experience.

Guests leaving the Shamwari Lodge, feel pampered, relaxed and fully rejuvenated, not only from their back to nature wildlife experience, but also by being afforded the opportunity to kick back and totally relax and unwind in one of the game lodges’ exclusive wellness spa facilities.

Quotes from satisfied guests who stayed at the Shamwari Game Reserve

“To the staff of Eagles Crag, We do not ordinarily leave a note of thanks, but then again, we do not ordinarily have a stay as magical as our one here. Everything about Shamwari was perfectly executed. Our Eagles Crag lodge and room were beautiful, the food wonderful, the game drives got better and better, and most importantly – we loved all the smiles and laughs from everyone. Truly a staff that made us feel like this was our home, and that we were blessed with a large happy family. We shall never forget you” – David and Tina Williams, USA.

“24 hours immersed in nature at its best. Not to mention the food and accommodation.” – Mara and Pier Paulo, Milano Italy.

“It was a rare experience to see the secret of Africa that Shamwari has to offer, well done” – Gary Marriot, Cape Town, South Africa.

“Thank you for sharing your magical country, people and the environment – All touched our hearts – our dreams come true and our respect is unending” – Peter & Gill Fillgate, Mississippi USA.

“This is a magnificent reserve with incredible people. Thank you for your commitment to your guests, your animals and the environment, see you all again soon” – Nicholas Lakas, Canada.

“As a travel writer and TV producer of Talkintravel, I have stayed in nearly 1000 hotels and resorts – This brings new meaning to rest and relaxation” – Rich Carlson, California

“The public/private partnership pioneered by Sahmwari and Alicedale is our hope for the future. Invest in the future of wildlife” – Will Travers, Born Free Foundation, UK.

“From the very first moment, an amazing life time experience. Words could not do it justice – Many thanks to all. Eddie Jordan” Founder of Jordan F1 racing team

“The people as fantastic as the animals majestic. Enjoyed the food chain – Many thanks” – Brad Pit”

“The kids liked it better than even the beach scene, Even after hours on safari, we couldn’t get the kids off the jeep! It was awesome!” – John Travolta

Wildlife at the Big Five Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa

2007 has produced some remarkable leopard viewing at the Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, with the most relaxed female starting to bring her cub, born in December last year, out into the open more often. The cub is in an adventurous mood, exploring the environment still foreign to it. Guests staying at Shamwari have been privileged to see mother and cub on a daily basis and are becoming entranced in watching the development of the newest feline member to the Shamwari family.

Over and above the resident leopards there has been an increase in vagrant activity with at least two other leopard traversing Shamwari and hopefully will settle on the reserve. One of these vagrant males was witnessed killing a new born kudu calf.

The leopard population on Shamwari is maturing and as such providing phenomenal viewing opportunities.

The Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa features different accommodation options to its guests all of which provide luxury and exclusivity in the untamed African bush.

Long Lee Manor

The softs of all the Palm Court rooms are to be upgraded in June.This is where the Family interleading rooms are based that are proving to be very popular with families. The Long Lee Kiddies Club is to be launched in July where the existing childrens program will be expanded upon.Watch this space for more details.

Riverdene Lodge

The upgrades of all bathrooms & warm new colours of this lodge have been very well received and the lodge is to receive a further boost with the upgrading of the dining room in July. The boma has been a favourite viewing point for excellent leopard sightings recently.

Bayethe Tented Lodge

The 3 newly renovated tents at Bayethe, known as Bayethe Hills, have been well received by our guests. Please go to our website www.shamwari.com to see pictures of these amazing 5 star luxury tents!!

The Shamwari Game Reserve which is located in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, has won the Africa Travel Awards

The game rich SHAMWARI GAME RESERVE has won Africa’s Leading Safari & South Africa’s Leading Safari and Game Reserve at the 14th Annual World Travel Awards Middle East & Africa awards. This decision on being voted “The Best” was reached by travel professionals worldwide . The Middle East & Africa voting campaign reached a total of 167,000 travel professionals worldwide, including more than 110,000 travel agents.

Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as the “Travel industry’s equivalent to the Oscars”, the World Travel Awards are the most comprehensive and most prestigious awards program in global travel industry today. Attended by the captains of industry, the World Travel Awards ceremonies are highly regarded as the calendar event and forum that serves to acknowledge, reward and celebrate the enormous achievements found in all sectors of the global travel industry.

The Shibula Lodge and Bush Spa, which is a five star game lodge in the Welgevonden Game Reserve in Limpopo Province, South Africa, offers the discerning visitor Africa in all its untamed magnificence, along with truly superb standards of hospitality.

The Shibula Game Lodge & Bush Spa has been rated by Marie Claire and also by ELLE as one of the “Pick of the Best” Bush Lodges, and voted by Getaway as one of the top 10 most romantic destinations in South Africa.

Beautifully situated close to the best game viewing areas of the 36 000 hectare private Welgevonden Game Reserve, the Shibula Lodge hugs the banks of a scenic river and has magnificent views of the overhanging cliffs, where the antics of the resident baboon troop entertain guests.

This malaria-free reserve, where the big five (Lion, Rhino, Buffalo, Elephant and Leopard) roam freely, is home to an extraordinary diversity of plant and animal wildlife, as well as more than 350 species of birds. The Shibula Game Lodge has access to the entire 36 000 ha reserve which forms part of a bigger 100 000 ha game reserve.

Bushmans Kloof , South Africa, lies at the northern, arid end of the winter rainfall fynbos biome. In certain areas where there are clay-types soils, a unique veld occurs, called renosterveld. Bushmans Kloof has its own special patch of renosterveld, about four square km in area, tucked away at the eastern boundary of the reserve.The origin of the name renosterveld, which translates to “rhinoceros field”, could be that the drab, grayish colour of the veld resembles a rhino hide, but no-one really knows. The prevailing plant is the renosterbos (rhinoceros bush), a type of daisy with small and papery, brown flowers. Since animals find it unpalatable, it dominates the veld.Due to its clayey, nutrient-rich soils, renosterveld terrain is ideal for growing wheat and vineyards. In the Western Cape more than 95% of natural renosterveld has been lost to the plough. Indeed, past owners of the farms that today are Bushmans Kloof, used part of their renosterveld area for growing crops. Small wonder that much of this vegetation type is considered a Critically Endangered ecosystem.

Renosterveld is renowned for its large numbers of bulbous plants, also called “geophytes” (earth plants) which have underground bulbs, corms and tubers. Some of these special geophytes include “wild irises” such as aandblomme (evening flowers), moraeas, tulpe, and bobbejaantjies (baboon bulbs); “wild hyacinths” such as chinkerinchees and viooltjies (littleviolins); “wild lilies” like katsterte (cats tails); and even small orchids.Renosterveld’s nutrient-rich soils favour an abundant growth of highly palatable grasses and shrubs.

Grazing and browsing game use these pastures in preference to the neighbouring low-nutrient fynbos plants. This tends to result in over-utilisation of renosterveld such that unpalatable plants take over. Bushmans Kloof keeps this under close surveillance. Bushmans Kloof is proud and privileged to have in its custodianship a patch of rare renosterveld with its associated high conservation value.

Rare Ceremonial Rock Art Site Discovery at Bushmans Kloof

Siyakha Mguni, resident archaeologist and curator at Bushmans Kloof, can still barely contain his exhilaration at having discovered an extremely rare ceremonial rock art site on the south-western edge of the reserve. Globally renowned for its exceptional rock art legacy of an estimated 130 documented Bushman rock art sites, Bushmans Kloof has, since its inception, shown a zealous dedication to preserving this precious heritage.Remarkably, this new rock art site is the first at Bushmans Kloof to depict Bushman “rain-making” imagery – a strikingly real rendition of a religious ceremony undertaken by the San people to appeal for rain.

This “Rainbeast” site was found on the walls of a large exposed shelter, which is nearly 50 metres long and 12 metres high. It is noteworthy for a shelter of this size that it seems never to have been inhabited. The style of the paintings is also a point of interest, as it corresponds more to the Bushman art found in the Drakensberg, than that found in the South-Western Cape.