Founders Lodge by Mantis

Rhinos are regular visitors to the waterhole below Founders Lodge, so a quiet coffee on the terrace can easily turn into a sighting. Set high on its own private reserve beside Shamwari Game Reserve, this was once the family home of conservationist Adrian Gardiner, and it still feels like one.

Game drives head into Shamwari in search of the Big Five, while guided walks on the Founders reserve reveal the smaller creatures and rare plants of this malaria-free corner of the Eastern Cape. Back at the lodge, a sunken photographic hide brings you to eye level with visiting wildlife. Meals move around, from the formal dining room to the boma, the terrace or a picnic in the bush, with produce from the lodge’s kitchen garden. Evenings drift towards the sunken bar, a game of billiards or a book by the drawing room fire.

Families with children aged four and over are welcome, and younger adventurers can join the Bear Grylls Survival Academy kids’ programme. Guests of all ages can also lend a hand with rhino monitoring or learn to read tracks and signs with the guides.

ACCOMMODATION

Suites in the original colonial manor house have a classic feel, with period furniture and a four-poster bed in the Master Suite. The Heritage wing links its suites through a central passage, a handy setup for families. Contemporary suites come in warm hues and cool greys, with David Yarrow’s black-and-white wildlife photographs on the walls. Every suite opens onto a private veranda. Couples can hide away in the Honeymoon Pod above the lodge, while the Founders Railway Carriage, the Gardiner family’s own restored carriage, offers exclusive use with its own deck, pool and boma.