Londolozi Pioneer Camp
Sabi Sand Game Reserve,
South Africa
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LONDOLOZI PIONEER CAMP RATES: Londolozi Pioneer Camp Rates
LONDOLOZI
PIONEER CAMP - SABI SAND GAME RESERVE
Londolozi
Private Game Reserve is unashamedly the most
exclusive and luxurious south African safari
destination. This South African safari covers
14,000 hectares (34,580 acres) in the heart of
the game-rich 56,000 hectare Sabi Sand Game
Reserve. Londolozi is a Zulu word meaning "protector
of all living things" - an ambitious conservation
ethic that Londolozi embraces in its sensitivity
to the natural world and in this African wildlife
safari.
Londolozi has
at its core, a sense of universal responsibility,
not just to the animals and the land that sustains
them, but also to the people who call South Africa
home and to those who are drawn there from far
off lands.
Londolozi, the ultimate in South African
Safaris, offers four small, elegant camps (Varty
Camp - previously known as Bateleur Camp, Tree
Camp, Pioneer Camp, and Founders
Camp) and a very private Granite Suite
camp, all nestled on the banks of the Sand
River, but hidden from view in the dense riverine
forest.
The dream of escaping the bell-jar of everyday existence,
of shifting into a full appreciation of the moment,
awakening the senses and the experiencing balm of
solitude – this dream is made real at Londolozi.
This is the true and cherished value of time spent
at Londolozi.
It waits, unchanging,
endlessly offering its wondrous powers of rejuvenation
to all who venture in. Here anything is possible;
experience the sense of energy, spiritual and
emotional upliftment, renewal and revitalization – in
a journey of discovery in the wildlands of southern
Africa.
“The Protector of All Living Things”
Each camp is totally
private and self-contained. The central reception and
curio shop are at Varty Camp.
Accolades
• Voted by readers
of Condé Nast
Traveller onto the magazine's 2001 annual gold list
of the
world's best travel destinations.
• Londolozi Private Game Reserve was named Top Safari
Resort in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2000
Readers’ Choice Awards.
• Voted #1 by Travel + Leisure magazine’s
(USA) annual reader survey on the World’s Best
Values, 2000.
• Featured as #1 in the Top 10 Hotels for Service
in Africa and the Middle East in Travel + Leisure
magazine,
June 2000.
• The first game reserve in the world to be
awarded Relais & Chateaux membership.
• Voted #1 in the Top 10 Hotels for Service in Africa
and the Middle East in Condé Nast Traveler,
July 2000.
Accommodation For
images of Pioneer Camp, click Pioneer
Images
Chalets
and Suites: Pioneer Camp is situated
upstream of Founders Camp and consists of three
suites and three chalets. The exclusive suites
are all air-conditioned and feature a hearth, en
suite bathroom with indoor and outdoor shower plus
a romantic sala (intimate covered deck). The three
river-front chalets are air-conditioned and have
an en suite bathroom and an outdoor shower.
Interiors: The chalets are
a sand color with mudcloth bed spreads and raffia
inset cupboard doors with linen curtains, slate floors
and largely West African artefacts. The decor of the
chalets presently mirrors that of Founders Camp's chalets,
but there are plans for renovating these rooms to reflect
the pioneer spirit of the suites at Pioneer Camp, which
display fascinating old fashioned pioneer pictures
reflecting the Varty family heritage. An interesting
feature of the suites are their chandeliers. There
are heavy wooded beds, bay windows and seating built
out from the fire place.
Living Spaces: The
intimate guest area at Pioneer Camp provides a unique
interactive experience - the lounge, kitchen and dining
areas are all open-plan. The swimming pool is a welcoming
treat on warmer days. Pioneer Camp is completely self-contained.
Guests are welcome to visit Londolozi Varty Camp's
curio shop and orientation centre.
Cuisine
At mealtimes, you can savour Pan-African cuisine
- truly food for the soul. This melange of traditional
African recipes is enhanced by Africa's famous spices
- saffron, vanilla, cumin and nutmeg. The dining
area and kitchen are open plan, offering an airy,
expansive feel, enhancing your enjoyment of delicious
African dishes. Evening meals may also be enjoyed
under the stars in the boma (reeded enclosure).
Bush Banquets: At Pioneer
Camp, you can indulge in moonlit bush dinners and
private
bush
breakfasts.
Dinners
are served in a clearing in the bush under a star-studded
sky. The incredible effort, the surprise, the spectacular
settings, visual impact and fairytale-like atmosphere
of dining under the stars are an unforgettable African
bush experience.
Activities
Game
Drives: Activities
at Londolozi center around game viewing drives in
open vehicles
that traverse an area of some 14,000 hectares (34,580
acres) in search of wildlife, including nocturnal
species viewed after sunset. You may request the
sole use of a Land Rover for game viewing (subject
to availability).
Interpretive Walks: Armed
rangers will lead you on bush walks - the quintessential
wilderness experience. The
Shangaan are renowned trackers of wildlife - a skill
honed to perfection among the many CC Africa
trackers and rangers. Shangaan people are in the
majority in the southern Lowveld and most of the
staff at Londolozi come from this cultural group.
Adventures: Your
game viewing experience is complemented by many other
memorable activities such as:
moonlit
bush dinners
private bush breakfasts
guided stargazing trips
bird-watching
port served on the airstrip - usually after dinner
on a clear night*
fishing with bamboo rods and "magic bush boxes" for
children
visits to the staff village encompassing the
crèche,
school, adult learning centre, clinic and craft center
bush presentations in orientation centre
*If you are wondering why we would invite you
to sip port on our airstrip - all will become clear
when you are driven there on a cloudless night. What
you will see is a panorama of breathtaking proportions.
Since the airstrip is on a slope, the ground seems
to slip away from you into a massive sky full of
shimmering constellations.
Library: For
those cozy winter nights - a collection of wildlife
books, magazines and videos are available for you
to enhance your enjoyment of Africa.
Wildlife
The Sabi Sand Game Reserve
is a mostly flat landscape of undulating crests
with some rocky outcrops, bisected
by the Sand River.
Londolozi is a prime wildlife
haven and has been rated the best game experience
in Southern Africa.
The characteristic species of the Sabi Sand are
impala, greater kudu, giraffe, buffalo, lion and
leopard. Lions are the only truly social members
of the cat family, and sightings of lion prides
are the order of the day at Londolozi.
Open water channels and pools are favoured by hippo.
Reedbeds are favoured by buffalo and elephant. Riverine
forest along the river is green all year round, and
is the haunt of leopard, greater bush baby (galago)
and bushbuck.
The dainty-hoofed klipspringer and rock dassie (hyrax)
are the only larger mammals restricted to rocky outcrops
in the Sabi Sand. Chacma baboons use the outcrops
as vantage points.
Bird diversity is
high, with over 40 species of raptor including
Hooded Vulture, Secretary Bird, African Fish Eagle,
Bateleur, Brown Snake Eagle, Dark Chanting Goshawk
and Giant Eagle Owl. Cuckoos, Rollers, Kingfishers,
Hornbills, Shrikes, Starlings and Weavers are well
represented. Some common birds along the Sand River
are the Paradise Flycatcher, Heuglin's Robin, Collared
Sunbird and Green Pigeon.
Open water channels and pools are favoured by Pied
Kingfisher and African Black Duck. Reedbeds are populated
by Burchell's Coucal, Redfaced Cisticola and various
Weavers. Some common savannah birds are the Green
Spotted Dove (formerly called the Emerald Spotted
Wood Dove), Woodland Kingfisher, Blue Waxbill, White
Helmetshrike, Lizard Buzzard, Yellow-billed Hornbill
and Lilac-breasted Roller.
About Londolozi
The
history of the Varty and Taylor families – the
conservation dynasties who have dedicated their
lives to saving a small part of Africa’s
Eden – is the history of Londolozi. The
first stirrings of Londolozi were felt over eighty
years ago when two friends and the great grandfathers
of the Varty and Taylor clans, Charles Varty
and Frank Unger, stood for the first time on
the banks of the Sand River. The vision they
saw in the virgin bush turned out to be as solid
and enduring as the granite rocks anchored in
the river.
True to its
name Londolozi has become fertile ground for
enkindling aspirations for a better future for
all, for a planet abounding in open spaces, wild
animals and people living together in dignity
and harmony. Socially, economically and environmentally
responsible; Londolozi is a privately owned game
reserve built on solid foundations and almost
a century of family history; welcoming to all,
exploring new frontiers and exceeding all expectations.
The Varty family
values are everywhere in evidence; in the personalised
service, the ambience of simplicity and elegance,
and naturally in the welcome received on arrival.
Visiting a
Londolozi camp is an extraordinary experience,
pleasing to every sense and yet unfettered by
the materialism that can inhibit a deep interaction
with nature. Here guests bask in a sense of belonging
and intimacy, seduced by the serenity of the
bushveld and vistas of swaying grass, thorn trees,
grazing kudus and bright birds in the sky.
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