Three elephants at a waterhole, the nearest facing the camera with tusks lowered, mud and water spraying around them under a pale sky

South Africa  ·  Northern KwaZulu-Natal

Thanda Safari

Thanda Safari: 14,000 hectares of Big Five bush in northern KwaZulu-Natal and four ways to stay: lodge, Villa iZulu, tented camp or the Royal Thanda Club.

Thanda Safari occupies 14,000 hectares of northern KwaZulu-Natal, a stretch of South Africa that is rich in wildlife and rather good at keeping quiet about it. It is a Big Five private game reserve with a shelf of awards to its name, and it is frequently described as one of Africa's most luxurious safari destinations. We prefer to let places prove that sort of thing, and Thanda does.

The interesting decision is where to sleep, because there are four answers. Thanda Safari Lodge, Villa iZulu, Thanda Tented Camp and The Royal Thanda Club by Thanda Safari each approach the same bush from a different angle: a lodge, a villa, canvas, and a club. Choosing between them is the first pleasant argument of the trip.

A two-track through tall golden grass at first light, a bare thorn tree in the foreground and umbrella acacias against misty hills
First light on the two-track
The awards are earned in the details, but the setting does most of the persuading.

What they share is the reserve itself. Fourteen thousand hectares is a generous amount of room for lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino to go about their business, and for guests to spend long mornings finding them. The awards are earned in the details, but the setting does most of the persuading.

01

The reserve

Aerial view of an open green game-drive vehicle on a red dirt track curving through dry winter grassland toward low hills
Out on the track
A lioness crosses a red dirt road directly in front of a game-drive vehicle, one paw raised, looking toward the camera
Right of way
A young lion sits upright among green shrubs and dry grass, looking off to the left
Young lion

02

Where to sleep

Aerial view of a villa with steep thatched roofs, rounded terracotta walls, a timber deck with loungers and a small plunge pool, reached by a raised boardwalk
Thatch and terracotta, from the air
Aerial view in golden light of thatched suites with pink-ochre walls, timber decks and round plunge pools strung along a bushy hillside by boardwalks
Suites along the hillside, late light
A lone giraffe stands in dry bush beneath a vast sky fading from lilac to peach at dusk
Giraffe at duskThanda Safari

Thanda Safari

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