Qwabi, meaning 'African wild cat' in the local Sesotho language, is a safari destination that has recently been added to the blue-chip Newmark portfolio.
Letamo Lodge is the largest lodge at Qwabi and is ideal for family safaris, with a number of child-friendly activities and amenities available.
Letamo boasts 58 rooms that include 10 luxury suites with private plunge pools. All rooms have been stylishly reimagined by the Cape Town-based design firm Francois Du Plessis Interiors, who have created an Afro-chic ambience to complement the environment.
Amenities include a padel court, two swimming pools and a luxury boutique bush spa. Diners can enjoy the main restaurant and the outdoor boma.
Letamo’s have also curated a child-friendly safari offering. Activities coordinator Lindsay Whitton says she has devised the ‘junior conservationists programme’ to encourage an appreciation of the natural world. “At QWABI,” she says, ”conservation underpins our core values and we want to instil this same passion in young children. It’s the way forward and all the activities we offer have this front of mind.”
She explains that on arrival at Letamo, each child receives a backpack that contains a hat, a bird and animal list, stationery and reusable straws and water bottles to demonstrate the move away from plastic and to advocate sustainability from the get-go.
“There’ll be an opportunity every day to do something age-appropriate both in camp and nearby, with youngsters chaperoned at all times.”
The 25-room Babohi Lodge, which will be exclusively for adult guests, will be defined by fine cuisine, refined accommodation and extensive facilities including a large swimming pool, dedicated wellness spa, fitness centre, restaurant, bar, vinotèque and boma. Semela, suited more to groups and corporate getaways will feature 24 guest rooms, as well as a swimming pool, restaurant and bush bar.
Qwabi joins the Newmark portfolio of privately owned game reserves that includes Motswari Private Game Reserve in the Timbavati, neighbouring the Kruger National Park; Nkomazi Private Game Reserve in Mpumalanga, Mount Camdeboo Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape and Serengeti Sojourn, a luxury mobile camp that follows the annual migration in East Africa.
QWABI Private Game Reserve is approximately three hours by road from Johannesburg and 60kms from the town of Bela Bela.
