Sanbona Wildlife Reserve

• Property TypeGame Lodge
• Guests54
• Rooms/Units27
• + 
• • FEATUREPool

About Sanbona Wildlife Reserve

Situated between the small, historic towns of Montagu and Barrydale, skirting the edge of the R62 highway. The reserve is bisected by the towering Warmwaterberg Mountain, characterised by sculpted 500 million-year-old Cape Fold Mountains.

Just 3.5 hours from Cape Town, the reserve spans over 62,000 hectares of diverse landscapes in the Little Karoo. An area rich in culture, history, and heritage, and one of the world’s most biologically significant yet threatened regions. Sanbona aims to create a balance where critically important ecosystems, endangered wildlife and flora can prosper.

By placing nature and community above profit through its unique non-profit ownership model, Sanbona empowers guests to choose a lodge with a purpose, helping to preserve and protect this remarkable landscape for future generations.

Accommodation

Guests can choose from three luxury lodges, each with its own distinct charm.

Dwyka Tented Lodge is an opulent retreat set near the nesting grounds of Verreaux’s eagles. Tilney Manor, designed in classic Cape Georgian style, offers an intimate Karoo escape. Gondwana Family Lodge is a family-friendly haven, complete with a tailored kids’ Eco-Explorers programme. A range of experiences, including nature drives, guided nature walks, ancient rock art, and stargazing create an unforgettable safari adventure.

Our luxury lodges operate independently, each of which being fully staffed with their own management team, chef brigade, hosts and hostesses and experienced field guides.

Activities

We encourage our guests to jump at the opportunity to discover everything the Little Karoo has to offer in terms of fauna, flora and majestic landscapes.

Nature Drives
Interactive nature drives last up to 3 hours and take place in the tranquil moods of sunrise and sunset.

Sanbona is an ongoing conservation project that aims to restore the ecological balance in a landscape formed during cataclysmic times 350 million years ago. Travel through 2 different biomes, and many habitats, including the quartz fields of the succulent Karoo, a very special habitat characterised by beds of angular quartz debris and home to a flora of stunning minute succulent shrubs. You will traverse this wild landscape with a qualified Guide in a comfortable open Land Cruiser where numerous species of plants, animals, big game and birds can be seen.

Birdwatching
The Little Karoo is a well-known birding destination. With the contrast of vast plains, mountains, water-courses, and drainage lines throughout the area, it makes nesting for a variety of species easy.
Sanbona Wildlife Reserve is home to more than 200 species of birds. In fact, the banks of the Bellair Dam alone are home to more than 40 species of birdlife, making it a hotspot of avian activity. You can expect to catch a glimpse of birds of prey, such as the Jackal Buzzard or Little Brown Jobs like the Chat Flycatcher. You might even find Chestnut-vented Tit Babblers, mingling with doves, mousebirds, and sparrows.

Nature Walks
There is an array of walks and trails for you to enjoy. Well-informed and experienced rangers can indicate points of interest while divulging important and interesting information about the area.

Rock Art
There are seven recorded sites throughout Sanbona. These rock art sites date back more than 3,500 years and depict the spiritual beliefs and lives of the San and the Khoi-Khoi people that lived in this area until 100 years ago.

The San were nomadic hunter-gatherers and the Khoi–Khoi were pastoral herders who owned livestock such as cattle and sheep. The rock art is a product of what the Shaman of both Khoi-Khoi and San people envisioned in their trances. Some of the only evidence that remains of this way of life is depicted through this delicate rock art. This makes Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, not only a leading destination for an African experience, but a national treasure in terms of heritage.

Stargazing
With the absence of artificial light, the Klein Karoo offers some of the finest stargazing in Southern Africa and is an ideal activity for all guests to enjoy.

Why choose Sanbona ...

• Only 3.5 hours drive from Cape Town which makes Sanbona the closest free-roaming Big 5 reserve to Cape Town
• Vast open plains and rugged mountains
• Situated on the famous Route 62
• Variety of endemic bird and animal life
• Highly competent field guides
• Previously home to the San people where one can experience the legacy of the Bushman in the beauty of their rock art
• The only conserved habitat for the highly endangered Riverine Rabbit (13th most endangered mammal in the world)
• Malaria free
• Situated in the heart of the Little Karoo Wine Route, the longest in the world
• Free-roaming and self-sustaining Big 5
• The Western Cape’s Largest, Premier Wildlife Destination
• Pioneer In The Western Cape To Introduce The Big 5
• Exclusivity - Only 27 Rooms In 62 000 Hectares
• Conscious Approaches
• Accessible And Malaria-free
• Owned And Operated On A Not-for-profit Basis
• Situated In A Global Biodiversity Hotspot