Sabi Sands
 

Which of these would you recommend?
Lion Sands, Selati Camp or Earth Lodge.
And are they all ok to drive to from JNB?
We are going in mid-Jan. so might be wet!

Hi mfleming,

We need to know what you are looking for in a camp, as what I prefer is pretty useless to you unless we are after the same thing!

Kind regards

Kaye

Looking for nice safari experience for inexperienced mother & daughter (21 yrs.) It's for Jan so green season. Just wondering if anyone knew these places and can recommend one over an other or would any of them be fine? It will be for 3-4 nights,then we move onto Capetown. thanks

I know all three and would rate them in this order.

1) Earth.
2) Selati.
3) Lion Sands.

Earth is the most avant guarde of the three and is frankly one of those places where you want for nothing. Food is outstanding, hospitality is world class and the safari, well just fabulous. I was there three weeks ago and had daily encounters with 8 wild dogs on the hunt and then was rewarded to their pups denning.(14 of them). Plus leopards & cub, kill up a tree, mating leopard and mating lion, too mention a couple of the highlights.

I visited Selati for tea, as it is an old haunt and favourite of mine. The expansion of the decking has made the viewing areas quite spactacular and of course the old styled antiquated rooms have always had a romantic appeal for me.

Lion Sands, sadly has rooms that pale by comparison, small and a tad dingy. Their other lodge, which name escapes me for now does not appeal as I found the oriental feel decor a little too chic and out of touch for the environment. Service at the main lodge was iffy at best, however I was last there over 2 years ago and it might have been uplifted since then.

I did meet two ex LS rangers at Sabi, who were only to happy to have crossed the road.

That said I did enjoy LS game drives as they have a good section of the sabi river to explore. Sadly though when I was at Tinga earlier I noticed that they were building another lodge on the river, so I guess they do not value its pristine nature as much as I.

Of these camps, i have only been to Lion Sands. That was a long time ago- 2003! From memory, i had no problem with the lodge- rooms, food, service, staff all very good. The game drives were very good too, however they did pack the jeeps full with too many people! We were a group of 5 and they still had 3 or 4 more people in our jeep.....

Hari

Lion Sands
Has 2 Lodges, River Lodge and the more and very upmarket Ivory Lodge which has fantastic accommodation built right on the
river, with plunge pools & spotting scopes. My wife and I were there in '04 not long after it opened. They are both VERY different, I found Lion Sands (Ivory Lodge) to have great game viewing (only 4 in each vehicle) but not quite as friendly as Leopard Hills where we spent 5 nights there for our Wedding & Honeymoon. I can recommend L.Hills even more ;-)
Cheers
Marc

Hi mfleming

I have stayed at Lion Sands Ivory Lodge, and while not my favourite Sabi Sands lodge, it was certainly a wonderful experience. The accomodation is modern and quite luxurious, and it does have a lovely view over the Sabie River and looking into Kruger across the river. The gameviewing was fine, the food was very good and overall a good first experience.

I think Selati and Earth are both owned by Sabi Sabi, and while I have never stayed there, my niece and I during our stay at Ivory Lodge Lion Sands, were amazed at how many people were in their vehicles. One had 14! I usually go Dec/Jan, and yes, storms do come through and you get soaked, but all part of the wonderful experience of being on safari in South Africa!

I have never driven there, and do not wish to drive there, but many do so I guess it is OK!

Kind regards

Kaye

SabiSabi has specials that include flights from JNB to/from the lodge. Their website includes rack rates.
We are going january for 4 nites at Little Bush camp and 3 nites at Selati.

For Lion Sands, its the River Lodge I am looking at not the more upscale one.
The Sabi Sabi lodges sound very nice!
thank you

Hi,

My husband and I were at Lion Sands River Lodge last September. It was an amazing and unforgettable experience! The lodging, unbelievable food, personable staff and fantastic game drives left us with memories that will stay with us for a lifetime. We would return in a heartbeat.

Deanna

You might also consider other lodges in the area, such as Mala Mala, Kirkman's or even Elephant Plains.