Sabi Sand · Private pools
Idube Game Reserve
Fourteen suites with private pools, on a 10,000-hectare reserve in the Sabi Sand.
From R16 000 pp / night sharing
Sabi Sand · Waterhole suites
Arathusa Safari Lodge
Eight suites facing a busy waterhole and four bush suites with plunge pools, inside the Sabi Sand, with house drinks and a guided walk included.
FromR11 500pp / night sharing
The lodge
Twelve suites in the Sabi Sand, eight of them facing a busy waterhole, unfenced from the Kruger, with house drinks and two game drives a day included.
Arathusa sits inside the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, which shares an unfenced boundary with the Kruger National Park, and is reached through Gowrie Gate. The lodge takes a maximum of 24 guests.
Eight of the twelve suites face the waterhole in front of the main lodge; the other four are further out in the bush and each has a private plunge pool. Every suite has an en-suite shower, an outdoor shower and a verandah, with air conditioning, a minibar and tea and coffee facilities.
Days follow the usual safari rhythm: a morning drive, breakfast, an optional guided walk, lunch, afternoon tea and an evening drive. Vehicles carry no more than eight guests. Meals are served in an open-air dining room or the boma, and there is a spa on site.
Highlights
- Permanent waterhole with resident hippos at the lodge's edge
- Close, relaxed leopard sightings in the northern Sabi Sand
- Your own guide and tracker for the whole stay
- Daily Federal Air flight to the Arathusa airstrip
- House wines, beers and spirits included
In pictures
A look inside
Your stay
Where you sleep, how you spend the days
Accommodation
- Twelve suites for two guests each: eight Water-Facing Suites in front of the lodge, and four Bush-Facing Suites set away from it, each with its own plunge pool.
Activities
- Morning game drive of about three hours, after an early wake-up call
- Guided bush walk of about an hour after breakfast, on request
- Afternoon game drive into the evening, after afternoon tea
- Spa treatments at the Safari Spa, at extra cost
The fine print
What your rate covers
Included
- Accommodation
- All meals and afternoon tea
- House wines, beers and spirits
- Soft drinks and juices
- Teas and coffees
- Twice-daily game drives in open safari vehicles
- Guided bush walks, on request
- Wi-Fi in the main lodge areas (not in the suites)
- 15% VAT
Not included
- Premium branded beverages
- Laundry
- Curio shop purchases
- Spa treatments and products
- Sabi Sand Wildtuin gate fees: R370 a vehicle and R170 a person on each entry (2026)
- Sabi Sand Wildtuin conservation levy: R310 per person a night (2025 and 2026, subject to change)
Good to know
- Children aged 12 and over are welcome and pay the full adult rate; suites take a maximum of two guests.
- Single rate in 2026: R15 500 a night.
Getting there
Finding your way to the bush
Routes and transfers
- Road access is through Gowrie Gate only; do not follow GPS routes through Kruger gates.
- Hoedspruit to the lodge: about 80 km, two to two and a half hours by road.
- Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport to the lodge: about 165 km, about four hours by road.
- Johannesburg to the lodge: about 550 km, about seven hours by road.
- By air: Federal Air flies daily from Johannesburg to the Arathusa airstrip, five minutes from the lodge. Other airlines fly to Skukuza, Hoedspruit and Kruger Mpumalanga International.
- Arrive before 15:30 to make the afternoon drive.
Every stay is arranged around you. Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and we will confirm availability and shape the rest.
Request availability
Tell us when you would like to stay
Send your dates and we will confirm availability and the rate for your stay.
Or email us directly
- Emailhello@lepden.com
We use these details to answer your enquiry, and send you news only if you ask for it. Privacy policy
Keep exploring
Similar lodges
Not quite right? These lodges offer a similar stay.
Sabi Sand · Sand River
Umkumbe Safari Lodge
Located on the banks of the seasonal Sand River, Umkumbe sits in one of the finest Big Five game viewing destinations in Africa.
From R6 510 pp / night sharing
Sabi Sand · Tented camp
Umkumbe Bush Lodge
A private corner of the reserve, where people and nature live side by side in a luxury tented camp.
From R6 100 pp / night sharing