Bayethe at Shamwari Private Game Reserve

Shamwari Private Game Reserve covers 25,000 hectares of the Eastern Cape near Paterson, where five of South Africa's nine biomes converge on a single landscape. The reserve holds the Big Five and is malaria-free, which removes one common complication from planning a southern African safari. Six lodges and one seasonal explorer camp sit within the reserve, each positioned differently in the terrain.

Game drives run at sunrise and sunset in open vehicles, with rangers and trackers reading the ground and radioing sightings across the concession. Guided walking safaris go out with armed, qualified guides; children under sixteen cannot join the walks, and the explorer camp — three canvas tents on a basalt and granite plateau — operates September through May for guests who want to spend several days on foot.

Beyond game drives, the reserve runs a wildlife rehabilitation centre where injured and orphaned animals are treated by a veterinary team before release. Two Born Free Foundation big cat sanctuaries within the reserve house lions and leopards rescued from captive facilities worldwide. Vulpro, the only vulture conservation organisation of its kind on the continent, also operates here, running both captive breeding and wild population programmes.

Children aged three and over are welcome on game drives. The lodges range from nine-suite tented camps to a six-bedroom private villa on the Bushman's River that accommodates up to twelve adults.