Head Of The Klaserie

Wilderness lodge successfully prioritises authenticity over traditional tourism specifications.

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The approach to Hoedspruit’s Eastgate Airport makes it look as though you’re landing right in the middle of a sea of endless savannah. Essentially, you are. There are small settlements in the vicinity, but a much more common sight is the entrance gate to a game reserve – there’s one right opposite the exit to the airport’s parking lot.

Families, friends, drivers and guides wait under the shade of fever trees in the tiny airport’s central courtyard, and from the steps of the plane to the vehicle that will take you to the game lodge you’re heading to is not more than a couple of hundred metres, meaning arrival is more or less stress free – the best way to start a bush break.

Return to the wild

The gate to Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, which abuts both the Kruger National Park and Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, is 12km from the airport, with game viewing beginning there, before you’ve arrived at whichever lodge you’re going to in this vast shared space.

Discreet signs betray the presence of a number of small, exclusive establishments, but the overwhelming sense is of being in a remote wilderness area – an increasingly rare experience.

Klaserie Sands River Camp slowly emerges from the treeline along a curve on a dry riverbed. In 2012, the property situated there was devastated by ‘once-ina-century’ floods. Louis and Lee-Ann Rautenbach’s construction company won a tender to rebuild it, and being on site led to the couple falling in love with the area and convincing the landowner to allow them to develop a boutique game lodge of their own in that location.