About Elephant Plains
Great game viewing (courtesy of its envious location slap-bang amongst the most prestigious names of the Sabi Sands) combined with reasonable prices - if your priority is the game rather than OTT luxury, this is a great option!
The Sabi Sand reserve has built up an enviable reputation over the last few decades as providing the finest game viewing in South Africa. The resulting huge demand from international tourists wanting to visit and experience the reserve’s famous leopard sightings in particular, has in turn led to many lodges choosing to rebuild and reinvent themselves by becoming more and more upmarket and luxurious, thereby allowing themselves to charge ever-higher rates. The result today is that the Sabi Sand is now dominated by very expensive and wonderfully stylish lodges which are sadly out of the reach of all but the very well-heeled travellers.
That’s why we’re so pleased that there are still a few lodges in the Sabi Sand that have resisted this trend to become ultra-luxury designer style icons, but which have instead retained their traditional game lodge styling and reasonable pricing – and Elephant Plains is a perfect example of this! Whilst the game viewing here is superb (as you would expect given that the property borders such prestigious immediate neighbours as Singita, the ultra-luxury new Silvan Safari and Simbambili) the price tag at Elephant Plains comes in at a small fraction of the cost of the famous neighbours!
The trade-off as we suggested is that Elephant Plains retains more old fashioned traditional game lodge styling and the accommodation, whilst very comfortable, has no pretensions at being ultra-luxurious. In fact, Elephant Plains goes out of its way to embrace its history. By way of example, the entry-level room type, the 5 Rondavels, are based around the original buildings dating back from when this was a family game farm back in the 1970s. This means that they are arranged in a cluster (as was the typical layout for family farms back in those days) so you don’t perhaps enjoy the privacy and seclusion of rooms at lodges built specifically for tourism purposes. That said, the Rondavels are comfortable and spacious and equipped with the air-conditioning you need so badly in the Lowveld summer.
Our choice though, especially if you tend to spend more time in your room than around the lodge’s public areas, would be to pay a little more to stay in a Luxury Suite – Elephant Plains has 6 of these rooms which are larger with lounge areas (including fireplaces for the chilly winter nights!) and are positioned more spread out enjoying views over the usually dry Manyeleti river bed or waterhole from their larger private decks. Finally, there’s the Manyeleti Honeymoon Suite, the most secluded room of all in terms of its position and which adds a private plunge pool and outdoor daybed to the equation – perfect for lounging about before enjoying a refreshing dip during the heat of the summer months!
As you would expect, the lodge’s public areas are similarly traditional in style but have all the facilities you need, including 2 swimming pools with views over the waterhole and plains beyond, a Spa where you can enjoy relaxing massages, and even a gym if you’re one of those maniacs who enjoy exercising on holiday! Having said that, you may need to hit the gym to keep your waistline in check given the generous quantities of delicious food on offer here! Whilst the actual dining room perhaps lacks atmosphere, you can normally enjoy meals out on the spacious wooden deck or under the stars around the open log fire in the boma.
But the star of the show here at Elephant Plains is undoubtedly the superb game viewing on offer – the Sabi Sands is renowned for the quality of its big game sightings with leopards being the undisputed highlight. The animals are fantastically relaxed around vehicles which, together with excellent guiding from the lodge’s rangers and trackers and the many other eyes out on game drive in other vehicles, means that you’re pretty much guaranteed excellent quality sightings. Which after all, is the main reason that you’re here in the first place…
