In South Africa, an Accessible Sabi Sabi Safari Caters to All the Senses

16.12.2024 - 20:01 / cntraveler.com

Beneath my fingers, I could feel the female lion’s tracks imprinted in the soil of the South African bush. Louis, our tracker, led my hand to the dirt, carefully tracing my fingers over the paw pads that would eventually guide us towards the Sabie River at the southern boundary of the Sabi Sabi game reserve. My long white cane made tracks alongside the predator’s in the dry October earth. It hadn't rained for days.

We were on our first drive on day one at Sabi Sabi, a private game reserve set in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, on a safari that caters to “all the senses." It offers adaptive experiences for Disabled guests, dedicated to making sure all guests’ individual needs are met—a premise that is, unfortunately, rarer than it ought to be. But, before I had time to be apprehensive about how accessible the safari was actually going to be, I had traveled 6,000 miles from London to Johannesburg, where I would be spending the next three nights.

Lions and their cubs in Sabi Sabi, a private game reserve within Kruger National Park.

Jamiel, our ranger, guided me back to the ladder of the open-topped Toyota Land Cruiser. I could hear the water rapids gushing in the distance—a soothing backdrop to Jamiel’s audio description of the landscape. In front of us, he described a vast, rugged terrain, peppered with dried grasses. There were upside-down trees torn up by hungry elephants searching for nutritious roots. He told me about the huge boulders. Notably, giant, pockmarked dirt termite mounds, some reaching ten feet high, poking out of the dried grass of the hilly landscape.

The 30,000 acres of the Sabi Game Reserve swallows any explorer who enters—I was, at once, fully immersed in the sprawling landscape, open to the elements and hearing nothing but the nature surrounding us. I was so amazed to hear plants and animals rustle as the sounds bounced off the uneven ground.

Lucy Edwards and partner on safari in Sabi Sabi, while an elephant attempts to hide in the distance.

We drove back to the lodge through the dry Msuthlu River, where the animals congregate to cool down and drink water. Louis spotted three lion cubs, only 18 months old, feasting on a Bushbuck. The rotten scent of death crawled up my nose. I could hear the sound of bones breaking, a desperate cry for help and a deep, guttural roar. While I was listening, Jamiel passed me tactile aids: animal sculptures, soft fur that he had collected from around the reserve, brittle snakeskin, and much more from what he called his “bag of tricks”.

After the game drive, we returned to Earth Lodge, one of 13 guest suites at Sabi Sabi and our home for the next few days. Our room was hidden under the earth, where elephants roam above and a breeze floats in from