Sabi Sand Game Reserve

Sabi Sand Game Reserve Overview

Regarded as one of the best safari destinations and premier private game reserve in South Africa, Sabi Sand Game Reserve should be on every wildlife and nature enthusiast’s African safari bucket-list. Boasting 65,000 hectares of vast untamed wilderness, the notorious Sabi Sand Game Reserve shares a 50km/30mi unfenced border with the world-renowned Kruger National Park (South Africa’s flagship national park), allowing animals to roam freely between the reserves. This ensures an unforgettable and unmatched African safari and wildlife experience.

The Sabi Sand Game Reserve is praised for its remarkable and longstanding conservation efforts. In fact, Sabi Sand Game Reserve’s conservation initiatives has led to the successful conservation of the highest density of big game in South Africa. The re-purposing of boreholes, previously used for private farms, into countless waterholes for animals means that the Sabi Sands is able to offer a year-round water source for wildlife and birdlife which is not affected by seasonal changes. This means you’re never far away from spotting the Big Five and the hundreds of other species that make up the greater Kruger population at any time of the year.

Even though the reserve shares an unfenced boundary with the Kruger National Park, wildlife in the Sabi Sands Reserve is well habituated, resulting in extraordinary up-close wildlife encounters and prolific sightings.

The Sabi and the Sand Rivers run through the reserve, which adds further dimension to the bio-diversity of this area.

Best time to go

May – September (Dry season)

High Season

October – March (Reserve gets more crowded)

Low Season

April – September (Excellent time for wildlife viewing)

Size

650km² / 251mi²

Altitude

272-479m / 892-1,572ft

Location

South Africa

Best Weather

April – May | September – October (Mild weather & little rain)

Dry Season

May – September (Winter)

Wet Season

November – May (Summer)

Worst Weather

June – August (Chilly mornings & nights) | December – February (Hot & humid)

Sabi Sand Game Reserve Wildlife

Boasting one of the richest game populations in the country, Sabi Sand Game Reserve is home to some of the most diverse and unique wildlife species in Africa. While Sabi Sands is most famous for its spectacular leopard sightings, the most elusive member of the Big 5, the entire African Big 5, lion, rhino, buffalo, leopard, and elephant can be spotted at the reserve.

Deemed one of the best, if not THE best, place in the world to see the Big Five, it is not at all uncommon for visitors to the Sabi Sands to spot all of the members of the Big 5 in one day. This undoubtedly makes the Sabi Sand Game Reserve one of the top must-visit safari destinations and game reserves to visit for local and global wildlife enthusiasts alike.

Besides enjoying glorious up-close sightings of the iconic African Big 5, visitors can look forward to seeing a vast diversity of other game when exploring the varied landscapes of the Sabi Sands. Other popular wildlife species that freely roam the Sabi Sands’ terrain include, giraffe, hippos, zebras, wildebeest, cheetah, and a wide array of antelope and plains game, to mention merely a few.

Several endangered species have slowly been reintroduced into the area over the last few decades, one of the most notable being the beloved African wild dog. The MalaMala, a game reserve located within the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, is especially noted and celebrated for its remarkable African wild dog population and the various conservation initiatives and efforts geared at keeping these extraordinary endangered species from going extinct.

Other rarely seen / less frequently spotted mammals you can expect to see when visiting the Sabi Sand Game Reserve include the aardvark, African wild cat, hyenas, jackals, Cape porcupines, pangolins, and many more incredible land-dwelling wildlife species.

The varied and vibrant vegetation of the Sabi Sands Reserve provides a pristine wilderness haven for an abundance of magnificent wildlife species, especially white rhino, reedbuck, cheetah, eland, sable antelope, nyala and hyena.

Sabi Sand Game Reserve Birdlife

Photo credit: flickr

Boasting over 300 bird species, the Sabi Sand Game Reserve has become a sought-after birding destination for passionate bird watchers. This premium birding hotspot is home to several curiously named species like widow finches, buntings, cisticolas, mannikins, wydahs and eremomelas. Other notable bird species avid birders should look out for when in the Sabi Sands include the Red-billed oxpecker, the Comb duck, and the purple heron.

Photo credit: flickr | Southern Ground Hornbill

The Southern Ground Hornbill Project has also been doing some very successful conservation work here – Which is definitely something every bird lover can look forward to!

The best way to experience the vast and vibrant birdlife of the Sabi Sands Reserve is by going on an excitement-filled guided bushwalk or a walking or driving safari through the private reserve.

Notable birds in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve include:

Bateleur (common)
Black-bellied bustard (common)
Burchell’s coucal (common)
Comb duck (common)
Red-billed oxpecker (common)

Birding specials & real treats for avid birders in Sabi Sand Game Reserve:

African black duck
African crake
African emerald cuckoo
African finfoot
African hawk eagle
Black-crowned night heron
Coqui francolin
Croaking cisticola
Dwarf bittern
Eastern black-headed oriole
Gabar goshawk
Grey cuckoo-shrike
Half-collared kingfisher
Mosque swallow
Purple heron
Senegal lapwing
Shelley’s francolin
Shikra
Thick-billed cuckoo
Verreaux’s eagle owl
White-backed night heron

Best time for bird watching in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve

While the Sabi Sands is known for its pristine year-round birdwatching, it is at its best from November to April (wet summer season) when the migratory birds from the northern hemisphere are present.

Sabi Sand Game Reserve Scenery & Vegetation

Photo credit: flickr

As the Sabi Sand Game Reserve shares an unfenced border with the Kruger National Park, it is essentially an extension of the Kruger Park itself, and as such, shares the same thick vegetation of the Kruger, which primarily consists of woodland savannah.

While the vegetation / woodland savannah of the Sabi Sands can be incredibly thick, it by no means hinders the superb game viewing and wilderness experience visitors, wildlife and nature enthusiasts will get to enjoy.

One of the major drawing points and advantages of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve is the fact that the qualified, profoundly experienced, and highly skilled wilderness and wildlife guides have the permission and ability to drive / venture off-road in order to track animals and get closer to wildlife. These remarkable guides and trackers are some of the best in the safari business, affording guests the rare opportunity to witness up-close sightings you wouldn’t normally get to see anywhere else in the world.

Photo credit: flickr

In addition, the vegetation of the Sabi Sands Reserve provides a haven for white rhino, reedbuck, cheetah, eland, sable antelope, nyala and hyena in particular.

Plants

From grasses to trees and shrubs, the Sabi Sands Game reserve boasts thousands of plant varieties. These plant varieties are extremely valuable food sources for both herbivores and omnivores who reside in the Sabi Sands Reserve.

The tall wild grasses that are favoured by several of the reserve’s grazers include Blue Buffalo Grass and Vlei Bristle Grass. Guinea Grass grows up to 2.4m high in shady, damp areas such as close to rivers. This is a particular favorite of the white rhino, as well as several other wildlife species. Roan and Sable Antelope also feed off taller grasses.

On the other hand, wildebeest prefer very short grass, and therefore often follow Zebra that graze medium-height grasses.

A few animals, like Impala and elephants tend to graze and browse. Their choice will largely depend on which plants offer the best quality food in the area, and as a result, adjust and graze accordingly. Wooded bush areas generally cannot feed as many animals as the same size grassland. Browsers therefore tend to be solitary or in small groups.

Beyond the vast and varied grasslands and woodland savannah, two rivers, namely the Sabi and Sand River, run through the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, providing water to an abundant and diverse variety of wildlife as well as creates the ultimate riverine vegetation which makes an excellent habitat for leopard and other wildlife to thrive and flourish.

Photo credit: flickr

Some of the most notable tress you can find in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve are Fever Trees, Umbrella Thorn and Brack Thorn trees, to mention a few.

Best Time To Go To Sabi Sand Game Reserve

Best Time To Go