Kolokolo Safari Home

At first light, the Kolokolo Safari Home unfolds like a secret you’ve been keeping, guinea fowl make gentle calls to break the silence, and the Limpopo breathes mist through the riverine trees.

This private sanctuary, which is situated in a serene garden that stretches to the riverbank, gives you a close-up view of Botswana’s fabled Mashatu Game Reserve, also known as the “Land of the Giants,” where tawny lions write their tales in the dust and elephant paths wind through the sand.

A deep lounge and dining room are anchored by a crackling fireplace, and wide stacking doors dissolve into a wrap-around veranda so that breakfast, books, and fireside nightcaps all keep the bush in view. Behind the acacias, four en suite bedrooms sit to either side of a spacious central living area where families and friends can congregate before drifting to quiet corners.

The interior has a relaxed, homey vibe. With cool linens, ceiling fans, powerful showers, and well-thought-out storage, each bedroom is a self-contained haven. The center of the house is a gorgeously furnished kitchen that is enhanced by your personal chef, who fills the days with healthy, homemade meals—still-warm breads at dawn, colorful salads and grills at noon, and hearty suppers under the southern stars.

The lawn turns into a playground for kids and adults alike when you step outside; spontaneous games roll toward the boma, where evenings end in a ring of story and lamplight; and the reservoir-style swimming pool keeps its rim to the riverbank so you can float and watch kudu step down to drink while hornbills fuss in the reeds. A reminder that this wild corner is also someone’s backyard, the veranda becomes an observatory for cross-border vignettes of everyday life along the far bank when the heat subsides.

Choice and the peaceful luxury of time shape Mashatu’s days. Each morning and late afternoon, the reserve is unlocked by your personal safari vehicle and dedicated guide, the reserve is unlocked by your groups private safari vehicle seating up to eight guests, with a dedicated safari guide, and the privilege of no more than three vehicles at any sighting. Elephants waist-deep in winterthorn, leopards that refuse to be rushed, cheetahs and their delicate pauses, and the long silence that allows you to hear a lion breathe are all made possible by that space.

The wild opens up in other ways when you want to venture beyond the bonnet: nighttime drives that discover civets and porcupines, guided walks that teach you to read tracks and wind, full-day walking safaris that string waterholes and basalt ridges into a single narrative, fat-tyre cycling and horse safaris that put you eye-level with plains game, professional photographic hides by day or overnight, community visits along the river, fly-camping sleep-outs under Orion, and relaxing spa treatments when distance and dust demand it.

The Kolokolo Safari Home is powered solely by solar energy, so instead of using generators, the air is humming with cicadas. Its light touch on this landscape contributes to the peaceful luxury you can feel in your bones. Youngsters of all ages are welcome and flourish here, free to explore, ask leisurely questions, and customize the safari.

Limpopo Valley Airfield is home to the reserve’s own international-standard runway. Scheduled or charter flights from Johannesburg operate into the reserve, and a game drive to your private home awaits.

The way true exclusivity, river-edge living, and low-impact design come together in one location—an all-solar, one-use home with a private chef, a pool overlooking the Limpopo, and a dedicated guide and vehicle in a reserve that restricts both guests per vehicle and vehicles per sighting—makes Kolokolo Safari Home unique in an area known for superlatives.

Three simple ways to incorporate the landscape into your day when you’re not lounging on the veranda are a guided golden-hour walk to a granite kopje for sundowners as the bush turns bronze and the first stars appear, an afternoon ride along the riverine fringe where giraffe move like metronomes against the sky, and a dawn visit to a photographic hide to watch elephants and sandgrouse at arm’s length.

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