The Sabi Sands... An Eternal Love Letter to Africa.
It’s 5am and almost like clockwork I am woken up by the usual chattering of the family of vervet monkeys, squabbling over this and that. So much so that has this become part of my morning routine, that I almost welcome it… almost. Nonetheless, I get ready for the day of adventure ahead and after a much needed dose of caffeine, we head on out into the bushveld, but perhaps a bushveld like no other, in search of our great adventure…
As we head out (filled with excitement and anticipation, ready to discover the story that certainly unfolded the night before) the crisp morning air takes a predictable nibble right before the dawn peaks over the horizon and begins to warm my soul. Like make times before, this all feels familiar, yet different at the same time; it feels unchanged, yet brand new; visceral yet benevolent. Here, in this special place, even something as commonplace as the cool morning air intoxicates, and so, like many times before, I have to remind myself, to cherish every second, to treat each one like a complete atom, each one a unique moment in time, wild and untethered from everything else… I am in the Sabi Sands, and there is nowhere else in the world I would rather be.
In the heart of Southern Africa there lies an oasis, a natural wonder, perhaps one of our planet’s greatest wildernesses, and surely one of humanity’s greatest conservation success stories… The Sabi Sands Game Reserve.
An iconic tract of wilderness, that’s uniquely African in every essence. A place fittingly ruled by lions, shaped by elephants, and undoubtedly watched over by the leopards that own its canopy. It’s a place where the indomitable spirit of Africa continues to thrive as it has for eons.
“As the great wild spaces of our incredible planet continue to disappear at an alarming rate, may this little track of land at the bottom of the great continent of Africa serve as our lighthouse, and our beacon, reminding us what can be achieved when we protect these last wildernesses.”
This unbelievable tract of land shaped by its two predominant arteries the Sabi, and Sand rivers, is the romantic story of Africa we dream about when we close our eyes and picture an Africa from a bygone era. Here, in this wonderous wild place, Africa’s spirit is as it has always meant to be, wild, free and unconquerable. It is here where nature’s great calabash of life is allowed to play out in an unrivaled kaleidoscope of beauty, that can only be described as transcendent. If there was a picture-perfect Africa, if there was a place where heaven met the dusty earth, it could very well be this incredible place.
Every year, people from all over the world travel to the Sabi Sands, for a chance to see Africa’s incredible big 5 up close, and they are not disappointed, because the Sabi Sands delivers a safari experience perhaps like nowhere else on the planet.
“We desperately need places like the Sabi Sands. Places that are wild, but accessible; places that serve as sanctuaries for both wildlife and the human spirit.”
However, this iconic wilderness is so much more just an incredible safari destination. It also serves as a beacon to what can be accomplished through conservation, tourism, visionary land management, and a love for the great continent of Africa. That’s really what the Sabi Sands has always been… a product of love, and stewardship for the land we share with wildlife. And what started out as an idea, and a common goal between landowners bordering the world-famous Kruger National Park, now serves as a blueprint for the African safari as we know it today, and reminds us just how much can be accomplished by the right choices of just a few.
Stone age artifacts and even bushman paintings remind us that man’s history with the Sabi Sands can be traced back for eons, even before the time of King Shaka and the unconquerable Shangaan tribes that called this area home for generations upon generations. However, the true conservation fairytale of this incredible place only began in the 1800s when visionary landowners in the area, with what can only be described as divine foresight, decided to make the shift away from hunting and cattle farming, and dedicate these lands to the wildlife that belonged here… the outcome of that decision can only be described as remarkable.
Those few landowners, in creating what would become known as the Sabi Wildtuin, not only provided the blueprint that shaped the African safari experience forever, but also showed us how important and beneficial it was to create vast conservation areas dedicated to wildlife viewing. The benefits of these protected wildernesses were far reaching, and extended vastly beyond the wildlife that called these reserves home. Reserves like the Sabi Sands are now scattered across the great continent of Africa, and provide essential jobs and revenue that sustain local communities that have through the generations shared the lands with the wildlife.
In 1948 landowners dropped their fences between the properties to create a larger region for the animals within the Sabi Sands to roam. In 1993, after the threat of foot and mouth disease was eradicated, the fences between Sabi Sands and the Kruger National Park were taken down, allowing wildlife to once again naturally migrate freely across this vast wilderness.
As the great wild spaces of our incredible planet continue to disappear at an alarming rate, may this little track of land at the bottom of the great continent of Africa serve as our lighthouse, and our beacon, reminding us what can be achieved when we protect these last wildernesses. Places like the Sabi Sands, teach us a valuable lesson, when we allow wild spaces to thrive, we thrive, thus making the preservation of those very wild spaces paramount.
The Sabi Sands has shown us that we don’t have to don’t have to tame Africa to live with her, and that we can benefit from and enjoy her bounty by simply embracing that beautiful wild part of her spirit that is so intricately connected to ours.
The South Africa of today, with its sprawling cities, mega shopping malls, vast interconnected highways, and highly developed infrastructure, may not be as wild and untamable as it was when the great Shangaan tribes ruled. However, even in a modern Africa, there are still places that remain true to her unconquerable heart… places like the Sands.
Some may challenge that the Sabi Sands of today… with its luxury lodges, and the constant comings and goings of eager photographers and tourists looking to get a glimpse behind the veil of this wild part of Africa, is a little less wild than the Sabi Sands of yesterday… However, perhaps, one may also argue that the Sabi Sands is one of those few parts of Africa that has remained true to itself, a little refined, but completely unchanged at its heart, and that it is still the Africa that it always has been… wild, indomitable, and eternally unconquerable.
We desperately need places like the Sabi Sands. Places that are wild, but accessible; places that serve as sanctuaries for both wildlife and the human spirit. We need those places that allow our souls to reconnect with this beautiful planet, and give us a chance to emancipate ourselves from the shackles that bind us in a chaotic developing world. We need places like the Sabi Sands, were leopards still rule the canopies, and the great lion prides still battle for territory. Where great herds of elephants and buffalo assert their dominance at the water hole, and the call of the fish eagle echoes through the sky. We need places, where people can come together and share their love for our planet and all things wild. We need these places to remind us that adventure still exists and that we are better off for seeking it.
So, perhaps in the great story of Africa, we will find a chapter about the Sabi Sands, and we will remember it as man’s eternal love letter to Africa…