andBeyond Savute Under Canvas

Five tented suites are available, each with twin or double beds. The tents are spacious and comfortable, with soft beds and crisp bedding and their own shaded veranda area where guests can relax into the surroundings with a cup of tea or coffee and feel at one with nature. All tented suites have their own ensuite bathrooms with a flushing toilet and an authentic, al fresco hot bucket shower where guests can have a refreshing morning shower, with hot water delivered on request.

Guests eat dinner communally in the comfortable dining tent, complete with authentic and rustic deck chairs. Alfresco dining under the stars is also offered to guests, with all traditional meals cooked fresh and over an open fire. The dining tent includes a mobile bar, served by a friendly butler. Guests can enjoy a pre or post dinner drink, toasting the breathtaking open plains of Africa.

Guests have the opportunity to experience game drives with professionally trained guides, in vehicles which are designed for comfort and safety. Track wildlife, see animals in their natural environment and understand their behaviour. In this area elephant sightings are a regular occurrence and there is opportunities to see the Big Five, as well as hippos, zebras, tsessebe and rare wild dogs. Birdwatching is also outstanding in this area with over 500 species of bird.

Not only does it make for a more authentic and traditional safari experience, but having no electricity, solar lights, bucket showers and meals cooked over coals also means this camp has a “feather-light sustainability footprint.”

Since 1991, andBeyond’s company ethos has been “Care of the Land. Care of the Wildlife. Care of the People”. Always looking for ways to contribute to wildlife spaces and local communities and reducing their environmental impact, without compromising guest experience. Each of their lodges have a “sustainability champion” who looks for ideas “to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, recycling initiatives, conservation awareness drives, water efficiency … addressing erosion and re-greening.”

Exclusive experiences are created for guests whilst showing lasting benefits which are meaningful for the communities around their camps and the natural environment. Currently andBeyond have 59 awards recognising their sustainability impact.

andBeyond understands that to protect the land they operate on they need to implement eco and sustainable initiatives. One of the aims is to reduce their direct carbon footprint by 8%, so far all of andBeyond lodges have been audited with an average sustainability score of 88%. Another way they are caring for the land is by resourcing and using their water sustainably, 96% of lodges use water sourced from water bottling plants and they are currently 85 litres/head better than their target of 500 l/head. A target for anBeyond is zero plastic water bottles through their camps and so far 740,000 plastic water bottles have been eliminated per year.

andBeyond protects endangered land and marine species in the areas they operate and they focus on at least 3 endangered species in each area. In Botswana they support the Rhinos Without Borders initiative which so far has translocated 87 rhinos from South Africa to Botswana to keep them safe from poachers. They also help maintain biodiversity by actively managing the wildlife populations in the areas they operate. To help care for the wildlife andBeyond educate local communities in conservation, over 18,000 lessons on conservation have been taught.

andBeyond maximise their “localised shared value opportunities through economic benefit, capacity building and social service infrastructure.” They have created 101 jobs in the communities they operate within, offering life changing opportunities to local people. Through social service infrastructure initiatives 56,000 people from local communities now have access to clean water through water access sites and 4724 Hippo Water Rollers, which assist in the transportation of water. 532 school students have been provided with an opportunity for higher education in 285 new or renovated classrooms.

Recognising the profoundly negative ecological effects that plastics pose to the ecosystems of Southern Africa, andBeyond have implemented ambitious measures prohibiting the use and importation of plastic bottles to all its properties – derived from the original target of installing water bottling plants at 100% of their lodges. A target of reducing plastic water bottle usage by 90% was set for 2020, yet this figure was surpassed in 2019 with a collective reduction of up to 99% spanning all andBeyond properties.

In Southern Africa, all lodges utilise glass water bottles as opposed to plastic, reaping the many ecological and environmental benefits inherent to the change. Glass is 100% recyclable and has an unlimited recyclable life span, making it the most sustainable alternative, posing an inherently smaller carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Efforts to combat the peril of ocean degradation have inspired a partnership with fellow bastion of ecological awareness, Africa Foundation. In addition to the over 3.6 million hectares of protected wildlife sustained through the Care of the Wild initiative, andBeyond’s footprint now covers an additional 2000 km of African coastline, striving to conserve and enlarge Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

andBeyond seek to apply their trilogy philosophy to their marine operations in order to better care for/impart a positive ecological effect on the areas of ocean under their jurisdiction. This philosophy comprises Protecting Reefs, Protecting Marine Species and Community Empowerment, which have thus far, through the facilitation of partnerships with like minded institutions, has proven initial levels of success and sets optimistic targets for future projects.

In line with andBeyond’s stance on ecological sustainability and streamlined efficiency mandate, there currently exists a wealth of initiatives and protocols designed to mediate the ecological impact on areas built upon and utilised for means of ecotourism. For instance, careful site selection ensures that the areas chosen for the construction of all andBeyond properties are compatible with the surrounding landscapes, ecosystems and wildlife.

The implementation of repurposed and recycled construction materials greatly benefits the ecology of the land, negating the need to source and haul industrial quantities of lumber and other construction materials across vast distances through otherwise undisturbed ecosystems. Minimal foundations and excavations are achieved using steel frame structures atop the designated areas of construction, minimising the imprint on the immediate environment.