Dulini Lodge

The 6 thatched suites at Dulini Lodge perch along the riverbank, overlooking the riverbed. The spacious rooms feature elegant four-poster beds, draped with mosquito nets and adorned with soft linen and plush pillows. Each room also includes a stylish writing desk and pattern rugs that create a homely feel. Your en-suite bathroom features twin basins and a large relaxing window-side bathtub. Enjoy the sweeping views from the comfort of your lounge, where the sliding glass doors provide a window to the vast wilderness and seasonal river. On your private deck, enjoy a shower under the dazzling stars, or escape to your own plunge pool during the hot summer afternoons.

Guests at Dulini Lodge can look forward to three delicious meals each day, crafted with traditional flavours and local twists. Dulini’s team of talented chefs work to bring lavish and exquisite flavours to each imaginative dish.

During the dry season, guests can experience incredible fine dining on the dry riverbed, with the gentle glow of dozens of lanterns. Guests can also dine sat around the boma fire and enjoy a tasty meal under a canopy of bright stars, where various tales and safari stories are shared. Meals are more than just a time to eat, but an opportunity to experience the African bush with your new acquaintances and old friends.

Dulini Lodge is also home to a wide selection of incredible South African wines from 17 different regions. Choose from a variety of wines, whiskeys and brandys, each of which is designed to cater for educated palettes.

Sabi Sand Game Reserve is home to an abundance of incredible wildlife, including their famous leopard populations. Guests are likely to spot these amazing big cats as they rest after a night of hunting and exploration. Journey across the wilderness from the comfort of a specially designed 4×4 safari vehicle, along with a professional ranger and tracker team, who will help you find your favourite animals, including the legendary Big 5. The guides also know the spots where each species frequents, helping to improve the odds of finding the game you would most like to see.

Learn about the local flora and fauna, as well as how the ecosystem supports itself, and enjoy delicious refreshments in a scenic location, right in the heart of the South African bush. Get a sense of the sheer size of elephants and giraffes, and experience the thrill of chasing wild dogs across the plains as they work together to take down their prey.

Take the thrilling and unique opportunity to track some of the Big 5 animals on foot. Without the sound of the engines, visitors can sneak up to animals and watch them acting naturally in their habitat. Enjoy exploring the wilderness at a pace where every detail, track, plant and insect can be admired.

Look out for the smaller species that often go unnoticed during drives, and listen to the gentle songs of Sabi Sands 500 different species of bird without the distracting noise of an engine. An armed ranger and specialist tracking team will accompany you for your protection, and help you get up close to amazing animals such as elephants, buffalo, giraffes and zebras.

Take some time to enjoy a soothing and restorative treatment or massage, and unwind in the beautiful setting of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve. Listen to the local wildlife as animals gather and the river’s edge, and watch herds of elephants as they wander through the trees. Guests can enjoy treatments with essential oils and extracts made from Africa’s spectacular flora while surrounded by the South African bush.

The esiDulini Community Trust is a non-profit organisation that aims to empower the communities closest to the Sabi Sand Game Reserve. Many of Dulini’s staff are people who come from neighbouring communities, which rank as some of the ‘most impoverished in the country’. Dulini work to ‘extend our hand to our neighbours who live rural lifestyles far from the reach of government spending and service provision’ through offering educational resources and aid that helps young people to thrive and build upon their existing skills.

Project Dignity aims to support girls during puberty, preventing them from dropping out of school during their menstruation by providing appropriate sanitary and feminine hygiene products. Up to 60% of girls from rural African communities drop out of school because they do not have access to pads and tampons. In the 11 villages that surround Sabi Sand Game Reserve, there are approximately 4000 young girls who require these products and by being offered washable sanitary towels, they are able to continue to receive an uninterrupted education.

Partnering with the Good Work Foundation, The Dumphries Digital Learning Campus is one of 6 centres that offer digital education and training to around 400 school children each week, as well as a number of adults from the local area. This enables students of all ages to expand their skills and become more employable. As the world moves into a more digital work model, digital learning centres allow those from rural communities to stay up to date on the essential skills they need to work and provide an income.

The Hlayisekani Nursing Home is a residential and care facility that offers support for the elderly and vulnerable people from Mpumalanga’s rural villages. The team provides 24-hour care for 120 permanent residents and a professional nurse is available at all times to provide instant help when needed. Hlayisekani aims to provide a high standard of care and offer residents a comfortable and dignified setting where they can be supported, and their needs can be met.