Pumba Water Lodge

The 8 spacious Impala Chalets are positioned along the waterfront, enjoying amazing views of Lake Cariega and the surrounding greenery. Each of the chalets includes a luxurious yet understated bedroom with king-size beds (twin options are available) and elegant surroundings.

The light and airy chalets feature floor to ceiling windows that offer incredible panoramic views, and glass sliding doors that allow access to your very own private viewing deck and refreshing plunge pool. Each room also has an en-suite bathroom with a large freestanding bathtub, heated towel rails and separate showers. An additional shower is provided outdoors, offering the perfect place to escape the heat of summer afternoons. In the cooler seasons, guests can snuggle up beside the earthenware fireplace and enjoy a steaming mug of tea or coffee while admiring the breathtaking scenery.

The Gemsbok Chalets are larger than the Impala Chalets and include a spacious lounge area where guests can unwind and relax to the soothing sounds of the wilderness. The lounge includes a comfortable sofa and two armchairs, perfect for curling up with a book, or sitting back and watching the birds that frequent the water’s edge.

The bedrooms are each furnished with a king-size bed (twin options are available), and include floor to ceiling windows and glass sliding doors that allow access to your very own private viewing deck and refreshing plunge pool. Each room also has an en-suite bathroom with a large freestanding bathtub, heated towel rails and separate showers. An additional shower is provided outdoors, offering the perfect place to escape the heat of summer afternoons. In the cooler seasons, guests can snuggle up beside the earthenware fireplace and enjoy a steaming mug of tea or coffee while admiring the breathtaking scenery.

The Kudu Suite is a stylish and comfortable 2-bedroom chalet with an expansive lounge area and wraparound deck where guests will find their own private plunge pool and steam room. The luxurious suite is ideal for couples travelling together or families, with two generous bedrooms, both with king-size beds and their own private bathrooms.

Enjoy the incredible views over the lake from the refreshing plunge pool, and lie back and relax on the comfortable sun loungers, taking in the breathtaking scenery. The lounge offers a large space for relaxing in the cooler evenings, and guests can gather around the earthenware fireplace and enjoy some quality time together, sharing amazing stories from their safari adventures.

Guests can look forward to three delicious meals each day at Pumba Water Lodge, all freshly prepared by the lodge’s culinary team using high-quality ingredients. Dishes can be served either in the on-site restaurant or enjoyed outside on the timber deck, overlooking the tranquil lake waters as the last streaks of colour fade from the sky.

Guests can also enjoy a selection of fine South African wines or fancy cocktails from the lodge’s fully stocked bar.

Enjoy daily game drives and explore Pumba Private Game Reserve from the comfort of a specialised safari vehicle. Guests can look out for incredible animals including giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, cheetahs, rhinos, elephants, buffalo, leopards and both tawny and white lions. Game drives in the morning allow visitors to see predators returning from hunts while the other animals graze in the cooler climate before the heat of the day. The late afternoon and evening drives focus on the wildlife travelling down to the river to quench their thirst before nocturnal species such as aardvark, bat-eared foxes and porcupines begin to emerge.

Guests can also venture out after dinner on a nocturnal drive to look for elusive species that can only be found at night. Pumba’s safari vehicles are equipped with spotlights to scan the bush for signs of life.

Guests will be briefed and given a demonstration before they can take to the target range and enjoy the precise sport of archery. Test your abilities and practise shooting the targets under the guidance of a trained field guide. Buttresses are positioned over a range of distances to offer guests more of a challenge.

Sit out under a clear night sky and admire the dazzling stars and a field guide shares the constellations of the southern hemisphere with you, and describes the mythology of the starscape. Learn about using the stars as a form of navigation by following the Southern Cross or Orion’s Belt.

Guests staying at Pumba Water Lodge can borrow fishing rods for both fly fishing and bay casting, enabling you to enjoy a tranquil afternoon beside the gentle waters of Lake Cariega, reeling in bass. A professional ranger will accompany you at all times to offer guidance and protect you from the surrounding wildlife.

Journey across the verdant plains on foot and experience the thrill of tracking some of Pumba’s incredible game such as rhinos, elephants and buffalos while enjoying a leisurely exploration of the beautiful landscape. Guests will be accompanied by a well-trained trail guide who will teach you how to recognise tracks and follow clues that lead to exciting game viewing.

Bush Walks allow guests to take a gentle stroll through the wilderness at their own 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 birds without the distracting noise of an engine.

Search for the elusive species of bird who frequent Pumba Private Game Reserve, and spend an afternoon learning about South Africa’s prolific birdlife, while scanning the treetops with a pair of binoculars for one of the 300 species of bird that can be found as the reserve.

Binoculars will be provided for you and guests can enjoy a trip to Pumba’s bird hide on the edge of Lake Cariega, where a selection of water birds can be found, as well as a breeding pair of African Fish-Eagles.

Pumba’s Soul Spa is designed to immerse guests in the natural surroundings of the bushveld and offers a full range of treatments. Guests can relax in the refreshing splash pool and enjoy sitting back in the warm steam room, feeling the stresses of everyday life slowly fade away.

You can choose to enjoy a rejuvenating treatment in either one of the secluded treatment rooms or outside under the shade of a wild olive tree. The spa also features a fully equipped gym with 180-degree views of the beautiful bushveld.

Guests can develop their photography skills with an exciting safari alongside a qualified Ranger and accredited photo guide. The experience begins with an hour-long lecture on wildlife photography, and then participants can take this knowledge out into the wilderness and enjoy a 3-hour excursion with a DSLR camera and telephoto lens. Fill up an 8GB SD card with incredible and unique images and receive helpful tips on creative composition, lighting and camera settings to help you capture the best images possible, immortalising your amazing safari memories.

The Pumba Private Game Reserve has been supporting its surrounding community since it opened in 2004 through the Pumba Social Responsibility and Conservation Foundation. Guests can pay a voluntary levy of R250 per room, per night which goes directly towards conservation initiatives and projects identified by the local community.

‘As one of the main employers of the Seven Fountains area, Pumba is committed to responsible tourism, conservation, education, community and social upliftment. The initial focus on conservation programs has steadily grown to support projects specifically designed to bring cooperation and support to the entire area.’

The Pumba Foundation run workshops that help local people to develop skills such as leadership, service skills, public speaking, and educational assistance. This training will allow members from the community to gain more qualifications and opens up a range of new employment options and opportunities.

The community around Pumba Private Game Reserve is creative and celebrates local culture through the creation and expression of art. The Pumba Foundation has set up a cooperative space that ‘allows for the development of crafting and an outlet for goods and services produced by the community.’

Crafts and creative work which is sold allows community members to be self-employed and offers the chance of earning an income in a sustainable and independent manner. Any proceeds that go back into the foundation are directed to further uplift the community and its youth.

There are a number of local soccer clubs in the Seven Fountains area, but it is still lacking an active school sports program. The Pumba Foundation aims to establish a sports program at the Seven Fountains School, as well as supply essentials such as equipment, facilities, coach development and transport for local soccer and netball teams. This will allow local children to continue to develop and improve through sport and will open more opportunities for them.

The Pumba Foundation offer a variety of projects targeting young people so that they are able to discover their hidden talents and find out which skills they would like to develop.

‘Sports, culture and further education are all developed within the community through training programs that can enable them to further their own involvement and studies. This is done through the use of focus-oriented projects in the form of sports coach training, cultural projects such as tour guide training, activities such as dancing and singing and the formation of a bursary scheme that will allow for excelling students to further their education at other educational facilities.’

By providing training and exercises, Pumba is helping young people to unlock their potential and develop into roles that may not be available to them at the moment. Pumba provides mentors in and around the community, helping youth to seek advice for careers and aspirations. This gives them a role model in their chosen field and someone who can give guidance to help them achieve their goals.

‘Consistent, long term involvement and investment will be the core goal to ensure the success of the youth of Seven Fountains and the surrounding area.’

The Pumba Foundation is working with Early Inspirations, a local educational outreach program, in order to support local children through the critical developmental stage when their young minds are capable of taking on a wealth of information.

Along with Early Inspirations, the Pumba Foundation has provided ‘assessments, needs analysis and workshops with the necessary schools, teachers and carers in the community. The focus on early childhood development is a testament to the long-term goals of the foundation as a whole, a focus on the future prosperity and upliftment of not only individuals, but also the whole community.’

The Pumba Foundation offers support to the Umzi Wethu Training Academy for Displaced Youth in Port Elizabeth, which offers certified vocational training, internships and mentoring to AIDS orphans and vulnerable youth, helping them to achieve the necessary qualifications for a job in the ecotourism sector.

‘Umzi Wethu (meaning “Homestead” in isiXhosa) has over a four-year period, placed 84 young people – vulnerable without parents and income, in touch with experienced mentors using the healing power of nature and training to create successful employment.’

This helps to support the countless orphans and vulnerable young people who are facing hardship due to unfortunate circumstances rather than a lack of skill. There are currently over 800,000 orphans and vulnerable youth in South Africa who are in this terrible position. Through this program, youth are able to train in a safe environment and graduate into careers that support the conservation of South Africa’s stunning natural world.

The Makana area features a large proportion of alien vegetation including black wattle trees and eucalyptus. These invasive trees can harm biodiversity and spread, taking over the landscape and causing damage to the soil. Alien vegetation can also consume more water than the indigenous plants which are better suited to South Africa’s climate.

To combat this, Pumba has partnered with Working For Water, a government-funded project that removes the alien vegetation in order to ‘free up water flow in designated areas. For almost 15 years, this partnership has cleared large swathes of land throughout the reserve and continues to play an important role in returning the environment to its natural state.’

Pumba Private Game Reserve has hosted a number of school visits and community groups in order to educate local people about the importance of conservation. Visitors have been able to learn about the work that Pumba have been doing both for the environment and to conserve the natural biodiversity of the area, and also within the community, highlighting how ecotourism is beneficial both for the natural world and for the people who live alongside it.

Pumba’s White Lion Project began in 2007, starting with a single white male lion and 2 tawny lions carrying the recessive white gene. After introducing a white female to the pride, Pumba received 4 litters of white lions from the original lioness and her oldest daughter. One of Pumba’s main focuses was to maintain a healthy gene pool by not limiting the genetics of the lion cubs to the white gene, but ensuring genetic diversity to prevent passing on illness or health conditions from inbreeding.

Through their association with the Global White Lion Protection Trust, based in the Timbavati area, ‘we are dedicated to ensuring not only the existence of white lions in the wild, but also the healthy diversity of the species.’

After the tragic loss of 6 white rhinos in 2014, Pumba has been increasingly involved in efforts to protect rhinos throughout the Eastern Cape.

‘The resulting effort of a combined security force of the private game reserves in the area has limited the Eastern Cape to some of its smallest losses in recent history. However, as poaching in the northern reaches of the country comes to a head, poaching activity slowly shifts south, leaving all of the private reserves at risk. The combined efforts of INDALO, the independent board of private game reserves, as well as internal Anti-Poaching Units, is a large focus of the continued efforts of Pumba towards the conservation of this highly threatened species.’

In order to better their understanding of the best way to conserve the wildlife and indigenous flora of Pumba Private Game Reserve, a number of research projects have been carried out, focusing on several aspects of the natural environment. Researchers, both on-site and from Rhodes University, have been studying various topics, including ‘the impact of large mammals on the vegetation in our area, veld burning as a management tool, the abundance of reptile species in the reserve and the cataloguing of tree, flower and insect species to track the diversity that Pumba carries.’

By giving its support, the Pumba Foundation is enabling additional research to be conducted which will help both them and external groups to learn more about the natural environment and the best methods for supporting it.