Jaci’s Sabi House, a lodge at Sabi Sand Game Reserve
Yes! I am going to start to write about everything we lived in South Africa, writing about this lodge, that were our first stop to make my dream come true and make all the Safáris I always wanted. The brand Jaci’s has more lodge all over South Africa, but I will write the one we knew, that stays at Sabi Sand Game Reserve and is called Jaci’s Sabi House. This reserve is beautiful and so wild. Stays very next to Kruger National Park. The landscapes are perfect. Impossible to don’t fall love.
Before starts to write about the lodge, I wanna write a few letters (just some few, for sure, because I wanna write a huge one about everything of this reserve, with all your differences) about the wonderful Sabi Sand Game Reserve. This is a private reserve that makes border with the National Park Kruger. Inside this reserve, we can find some lodges (most part are very luxy) and the animals can walk around the reserves, Kruger, because there is no fence to stop them. So you can find the animals walking from reserve to reserve. And the distances are huge. For sure we can find all the animals from The Big Five and more. We find The Big Five in our first day of game drives there. The reserve is so beautiful, with lakes, rivers, but we were at winter session, and this is a dry time for them.
Now, talking about Jaci’s Sabi House. I need to define what is a lodge for you. Well, what is this type of hotel that everybody always keep on talking about? A lodge is an luxury hotel that stays inside a private reserve (or don’t), with a lot of animals and nature around. Generally, they have full service including breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes, it is included the game drives and some drinks. The lodge can be like an hotel or a luxury camping. The experience is unique.
This is exactly the way we felt at Jaci’s Sabi House. It was our very first time knowing everything there and it was wonderful. The lodge is right in middle of the Sabi Sand Reserve, with only three suites and an estructure very good, with great views to the savanna. During the day we could see the elephants walking while we had breakfast and during the night we could hear the hienas singing right next to our room. Well, the lodge has full fence in every place, the animals can’t go inside.
At Jaci’s Sabi House, everything is included, except the drinks. The game drives, the breakfast, the dinner. How these people treated us. So nice. The game drives (that’s the name osf the safaris) happen twice a day. We woke up at 5:30, eat something small, and we leave at 6h. and after, we can make another one, leaving at 15:30. The game drives can work like for 3 hours or more.
During the safaris, we can stay very close from the animals sometimes. As Sabi Sand is a private reserve, their car can go everywhere we want. On the National Parks as Kruger, you can just drive on the road, it is not allowed to drive outside the road. If some animal is far from the road, you can’t go to check closer. Advantage to stay at a private reserve. Some many times we went with that big car outside the road to see the animals closer. It was really really wonderful. Such wonderful experience.
We saw the animals of The Big Five in our first day. Elephant, Rhino, African Bull, Lions and the Leopard. In this sequence. The most difficult to see is the leopard and the easier to see is the elephant, because there is hundreds of them there. Of course we saw soo many animals more than these. Giraffes, zebras, thousands of antelopes, hienas, hippos, so many birds, wild porks, wild dogs, small animals and more. It was incredible experience to be there and be part of that huge nature. Once you are there, you are part of that. This is an unique sensation in life and I admit that this is so addictive.
Our ranger was a man called Andrew. He knows everything (I mean, everything) about animals, plants, paths, even the stones on that reserve. He is a tall guy, calm with a wisdom so special. We felt so safe with him being our ranger. We discover a lot of things that we wanted to know and things that we never imagined. He is a lovely person and for sure, he made our journey better than it was already.
Well, now talking about Jaci’s Sabi House lodge. As I said up there, they have 3 big suites, all with beautiful bathrooms, all with the view to the savanna, and we could see all the animals close to the fence of the lodge. I swear that in our first night, that was an hyena singing right next to our door (hahahaha). There, we can find such good products for our beauty, body lotions and local shampoos that made my hair shinning. The team was so nice and polite.
Use everything they leave for you. Use all the products of the bathroom (you won’t find this so easy), bathtub with your rooms has one, take a good shower looking at the savanna with no rush. Use the safe box for your importants things as passport, money and jewels (we never know), make the meals with no rush too. At the game reserve, the only rush we can have, is to see more and more animals.
The dinners are a show apart at the lodges. At Jaci’s Sabi House, they make a fire pit and organize all the tables around the fire, and we stayed in front of that, where the dinner was being prepared. A classic African barbecue that Princess (a sweet chef that works at Jaci’s Sabi House) was making for us. She present the menu, explain everything about the food and served for us. Usually, they use a lot of tipical elements. Vegetables is what they use more, as potatos, pepper, and everything. For meat, they use beef, fish and pork. Nothing about strange meats, as everybody is afraid. Relax, for sure you will eat veeeery well inside the lodges. Everything as wonderful! Very special. Dinner with fire, listening the animals, looking at the stars… So special.
Summing up, it was wonderful to have all these experiences at Jaci’s Sabi House and at the Sabi Sand Reserve. All the moments were unique. At the lodge, with all the animals, people we knew. We were so happy there, even with some unpleasant issues that happended, we didn’t let the good vibe fall and we kept our journey around South Africa. We will keep only the good moments at Jaci’s Sabi House. I recommend you, to have an experience at the safaris, be part of the African nature. I let my lioness go out to play and she loved (hahahaha).
Jaci’s Sabi House
Acess their website www.jacissabihouse.co.za to see the map to get there, as to make reserve and check the rates.
