One of the flagship lodges in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, Classic Portfolio’s Tanda Tula Safari Camp, will emerge as an upgraded and more ecologically friendly destination after a top-to-bottom rebuild is completed in May 2023. Meantime, guests are being hosted at the neighbouring Plains Camp, which offers eight luxury suites and two family suites, with air-conditioning, private plunge pools, and indoor/outdoor showers. 

“Taking on a complete rebuild as the industry is pulling out of a pandemic is not a decision made lightly, but when the option of moving house to Plains Camp became a real possibility, it felt like all signs pointed to ‘yes’ for this lofty endeavour,” said Lauren Gerber, Classic Portfolio’s Digital Sales and Marketing Manager.

The overhauled Tanda Tula will have a large central lounge and dining areas, a pool, a wellness centre, seven 125 sqm Safari Suites and two 165 sqm Family Suites. To ensure a lighter ecological footprint, the suites will be powered by solar energy. Each suite will offer a spacious lounge with outdoor seating and a private plunge pool; a bedroom area with indoor bath and shower, plus an outdoor shower; WiFi; and a fan and air-conditioning.

Tanda Tula has also leveraged the convenience of new daily flights – operated by either Absolute Aviation, Cesszani Aviation or Maverick Air – between Hoedspruit Airport and Pafuri in the north of Kruger. The flights will be planned around Airlink arrivals and departures into Hoedspruit.

“This opens up access to a destination (Pafuri) that has previously been thought of as ‘too far’ and ‘not easily accessible’, and it also creates an ideal combination offering between the Timbavati region and Pafuri Tented Camp. This provides the perfect balance of fabulous big cat sightings at Tanda Tula with the big herds, incredible scenery and geological wonders of the remote Pafuri,” said Gerber.