Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve has been named Africa’s Leading Private Game Reserve 2026 at the World Travel Awards.
For almost 50 years, the private game reserve has evolved alongside the country’s luxury safari offering, balancing the romance of the bush with an increasingly considered approach to conservation, hospitality and design.
That enduring appeal has been recognised at this year’s World Travel Awards, where it was named both Africa’s Leading Private Game Reserve 2026 and South Africa’s Leading Private Game Reserve. The awards ceremony took place at Diamonds Bijoux Zanzibar on 28 August, bringing together some of the leading names in global travel and tourism.
For Sabi Sabi, the recognition is perhaps as much about consistency as it is about distinction. The reserve is home to four very different lodges, Bush Lodge, Earth Lodge, Selati Camp and Little Bush Camp, each offering its own interpretation of the safari experience.
At Bush Lodge, the emphasis is on relaxed luxury and family-friendly stays, while Earth Lodge takes a more design-led approach to its bushveld setting. Selati Camp leans into the nostalgia of an earlier era of safari, and Little Bush Camp offers a more intimate take on life in the wilderness. Together, they demonstrate just how varied the modern safari experience can be.
And while the lodges provide the setting, it is the surrounding wilderness that remains the main attraction. Situated in the Greater Kruger, Sabi Sabi offers the kind of close encounters that make a safari difficult to replicate elsewhere: game drives, walking safaris and birding are complemented by opportunities to engage with the communities and conservation work connected to the reserve.
That relationship with the landscape is increasingly central to what luxury travel means today. The most compelling safari experiences are no longer simply about seeing extraordinary wildlife from the back of a vehicle, but about understanding the ecosystem around it, and recognising the responsibility that comes with protecting it.
Sabi Sabi’s conservation efforts extend to both the wilderness and surrounding communities, with guests able to experience some of this work during their stay. It is an approach that places the pleasures of a safari within a much bigger picture.
The award also comes at an interesting moment for the wider Sabi Sabi Collection, which now includes The Claremont Boutique Hotel in Cape Town and the recently launched Sandringham Private Game Reserve. Together, the properties offer a broader interpretation of the South African escape, stretching from the city and winelands to the wilderness.
Still, it is the original Sabi Sabi experience that provides the collection’s foundation. Almost five decades on, its appeal remains remarkably simple: time spent in the bush, surrounded by an extraordinary landscape, with enough luxury to make slowing down feel effortless.
