The flotilla of Land Cruiser game-viewing vehicles lined up outside reception tells you all you need to know about Qwabi Private Game Reserve in Limpopo’s Waterberg region: they’re brand spanking new and top-of-the-range.
Pristine.
The 11 000-hectare reserve, acquired some years back by the Dubai royal family as their private African bushveld retreat, recently joined the Newmark Hotel and Reserves* portfolio after undergoing a R120 million phased renovation.
Qwabi derives its name from the Sesotho word for the southern African wildcat (Felis silvestris cafra).
The first of three lodges – Letamo – opened its doors at the end of last year. The others are set to follow suit in the coming months to provide accommodation types ranging from family to adults-only and group bookings. You need not worry about noisy neighbours lowering the tone of the place.
Our group noticed a particularly fine herd of buffalo across the plain from us and were told they belonged to President Cyril Ramaphosa. Yes, Phala Phala is just a game fence away. It’s not just the facilities that are experiencing an upgrade says reserve manager and head of conservation Dr André Uys.
“The owners have already invested a huge amount of money and effort re-introducing the Big Five [lion, leopard, elephant, white rhino and buffalo] and they have some tremendously exciting plans for the future. “This includes the introduction of black rhino and, because the Waterberg has everything the species needs to thrive, I know we can support a healthy population.
“This year will also see the reintroduction of spotted hyena to complement our outstanding population of brown hyena.”
The lushness of the vegetation means there is already an abundance of herbivores. This, coupled with the size of the reserve, allows for larger predator populations that will not pose a threat to one another. There are cheetah on the property and Uys is confident “we’ll have our first offspring available for repatriation to improve cheetah genetics elsewhere”.
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He is a firm believer in “bigger is better” in the cross-over worlds of conservation and eco-tourism. “By lowering fences by mutual agreement between adjacent properties, you can create massive conservation areas, yet leave a lot of business management autonomy at landowner level provided everyone harmonises on the bigger picture.
“The larger the area, the less intensive the wildlife management and the more natural the system becomes,” he says.
“Say, for instance, we had a neighbour that offered a ‘wildlife experience’ based solely on ownership of a small herd of effectively captive elephants.
“Were they to drop fences with us in the rest of the area, they could be offering that experience on the basis that animals migrate and they might be able to show guests a normal population of hundreds of elephants as well as all other species.
“We are very fortunate we have a lot of like-minded neighbours who have already dropped fences between themselves or who are open to the idea of doing so.”
Qwabi, he says, would like to be a catalyst in the process of creating a contiguous conservation area on the Waterberg Plateau “that will stand the province as well as the country in good stead for years and years and years”.
The reserve is on the southern side of the massive plateau, which means it is only three hours by road from Johannesburg and thus the most accessible part of the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve for travellers on a road trip. Sixty kilometres from Bela-Bela, my group of guests was ferried there in a convoy of MercedesBenz Vitos, so you shouldn’t have problems getting there in an SUV or sedan unless rain turns the final stretch of road into a glutinous quagmire. If you’re self-driving in the summer months, best you contact the reserve before setting out.
I’ve been to a lot of “protected areas” – ie game reserves – in southern Africa and find the Waterberg to be among the most scenically spectacular in terms of its biodiversity. One minute you’ll traverse plains filled with antelope and giraffe, the next you’ll be heading into the mountains. Blink and you’re descending through afromontane forests, alive with birds and baboons, to perennial rivers (where the only thing missing are crocodiles) winding through rock gorges.
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The scenery is often overwhelming in its wild gorgeousness. The floral diversity ensures Qwabi Private Game Reserve is a birdwatcher’s paradise. Indeed, it was one of the more arresting bird species that caught my eye and ear on our mid-afternoon arrival at Letamo.
One of the features of the lodge is a large rim flow swimming pool overlooking a water hole, abounding with hippos and where elephants regularly come to drink Next to the pool are a couple of Senegalia trees (recently renamed but still commonly known as acacias, despite Australia having laid claim to the name) and on one, a lone woodland kingfisher heralded an oncoming Highveld thunderstorm.
It’s one of the most lyrical and exultant calls of the bush and it rang out over the manicured gardens of the lodge. As the storm drew closer, swifts and swallows swooped lower and lower till, when the rain arrived, they disappeared into their nests under the eaves of the buildings.
There are 58 Afri-chic rooms at Letamo in a range of categories; deluxe, premium, suite and luxury suite. There are also inter-leading family as well as wheelchair-access rooms. An intriguing feature of each room – no doubt reflecting the heritage of the owners – is a discreet floor plaque in Arabic and English pointing to Qibla.
The Qibla indicates the direction of the Kaaba at the centre of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, towards which Muslims bow in prayer.
Flip through this gallery for some images from the reserves
*The Newmark Hotels and Reserves “bush” portfolio in South Africa includes Mount Camdeboo Private Game Reserve near GraaffReinet in the Eastern Cape as well as Motswari Private Game Reserve in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve and the Nkomazi Private Game Reserve, both in Mpumalanga.
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