Graaff-Reinet Pods

The remote wilderness pods at MOUNT CAMDEBOO PRIVATE GAME RESERVE harness the idea of the TINY HOUSE MOVEMENT for a powerfully IMMERSIVE AND LUXURIOUS experience of nature.

- GRAHAM WOOD

PARADOXICALLY, ΤΗΕ SENSE OF COMPRESSION INSIDE ΤΗΕ + POD ENHANCES ΤΗΕ AWARENESS OF SPACE AROUND YOU.

IAIN BUCHANAN, CONSERVATIONIST AND FOUNDER OF MOUNT CAMDEBOO Private Game Reserve near Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape, took his family for an extended stay at the reserve during the pandemic. They did quite a lot of camping out in the veld, he says, seeking out some of the more remote (but spectacularly beautiful) spots to pitch their tent.

While the reserve has a lodge and other accommodation, the experience left him wondering how he could offer guests the immediacy of the camping experience - the sense of awe you feel being alone in the vast wide-open - but with a dimension of luxury and comfort. The idea posed several challenges. The Karoo is known for its temperature extremes, so "the traditional old Livingston-type canvas tent just wouldn't cut it," says Iain. But conventional building in the "middle of nowhere" is difficult and messy, and scars the landscape. A pod or tiny house, however, might work: a little Scandi-inspired hut, designed just right.