Sable Alley Camp

Fast Facts

• 12 luxury tents
• 24 guests maximum
• Family and honeymoon suite available
• Price range of USD600 – USD900 pppn
• Swimming pool
• Access to Skybed activity
• Exclusive access to the Khwai Private Reserve (no congestion)
• Game drives in open 4×4 vehicles, night drives,  limited boating and mokoro, walks
• Access by light aircraft or road
• Tracking team to help locate predators in thick bush

How to get there

This lodge is accessible by road and is only an hour drive from the North entrance gate of Moremi. There is also a nearby airstrip. It is accessible as part of an itinerary on a mobile safari.

Game viewing and activities

This is where the company that ran the old lodge went wrong – they never developed any of the game viewing activities or infrastructure. Admittedly, this concession does have relatively thick bush compared to other areas, being located in the ecotone between the Sable Alley River and a thick “Mopane-belt” of trees. This is all in the process of being overcome, as a dedicated team of road makers are fast improving the game drive network. Indeed, there is a vast network of open flood plains that can be traversed, and the game is certainly there to be seen. (The full complement of predators are all present as well as herds of elephants, buffalo and plains game.) Oh, and there is also a pack of wild dogs that den annually in the area!

Most importantly, the concession owners have employed their old hunting trackers as a “tracking team” that go out to track predators before the guides leave camp. These Authentic and skillful trackers make this an extremely good game viewing area, as they work full time on locating the animals for guests. The guides are of course, still capable of finding their own animals!

There is limited boating that can be done here as well as excursions out on traditional mokoro (dug-out canoe).

As the area is private, guides will also offer night drives AND can track and follow animals off the road.

Do not forget that this is the same concession where the SKYBEDS are located and one can easily tie this into their itinerary.

It must be noted that the activities available in this concession are likely to keep on improving as the concession managers are looking to build several hides and viewing platforms at some of the seasonal waterholes in the concession. We will keep things updated in this regard.

Camp Environment

The lodge has not been completely rebuilt as the same structures have been maintained. The furnishings and fittings have all been tastefully modernised. We felt that this is a camp that you can really unwind in – there are seemingly limitless seating options from sofas to day beds to pool loungers. You can “sink” into a corner somewhere in the main area and settle in for a seista! The new designers (personally done by the family that owns the camp) made an effort to brighten things up and knock out parts of the structure to give the camp an open feel.

The views from this camp are tremendous as the location is shared with a hippo pool in front of camp. There are sweeping views across a huge open floodplain, so sightings of other animals from camp are also possible.

The tented rooms are excellent. They are modern, well appointed and well lit. The concession owners have built and decorated the rooms themselves to a very admirable standard. There are inside and outside showers, a huge sofa on the deck of each unit, again, looking out onto great views. There are also convenient charging points for USB and 220v devices in each room.

What we think

With so many lodges now being out of touch with their original owners, we find Sable Alley to be a welcome return to the traditional way safari camps were run. You will feel like a friend of the managers almost immediately and will note that they have a personal hand involved in the way the camp is run. Although new, there were plenty of interesting books, photographs and African artifacts in the main area.

Eating was mostly done on a big communal table, but guests are able to sit privately on smaller tables in their own groups or families if they so wish – no forced interaction if you don’t want it. We like this option.

Certainly the reports coming out of this camp in terms of animal sightings are improving all the time, comparable with other game viewing lodges in the delta!