Lion Sands Ivory Lodge

The understated jewel in the Lion Sands crown. Here, hospitality is designed entirely around YOU and luxury is a feeling – much more than a sophisticated room in an exotic location.

We took our cue from Mother Nature to build a lodge ‘of the earth’, with natural materials that complement the surrounding bush environment and an open design that draws your attention outside.

Décor is rich yet minimal, lighting is ambient, and African design accents subtly pick up on the safari theme. Ivory Lodge awes with a natural and simple beauty, enhanced only by breathtaking river scenes.

The lodge’s eight one-bedroom Villas, set secluded at the confluence of the Sabie and Sand rivers, are the ultimate bush retreats. Here, only the best-of-the-best will do, somehow made all the more wonderful in the wild.

Villa
Ivory Lodge is a clean-lined masterpiece. Just eight low-slung Villas of glass, wood and concrete meld into the riverscape. Your private lounge, patio, deck and pool invite easy relaxation.

Here, everything is included – from your champagne of choice stocked in the maxibar, to your favourite shirt, washed and pressed – creating a highly-personalised experience of a safari, your way.

This is Truly Living…
Our purpose is to create life enriching experiences for our guests, and we know how impactful an African safari is – whether for the first or ‘umpteenth’ time.

But it’s the way it’s experienced that makes all the difference, and this is what makes our world turn – ensuring that every precious moment spent with us is meaningful, rich and beautiful.

Come Dine With Us
Excellent food and wine, shared in beautiful settings and good company – there’re few things in life more satisfying. From boma feasts to safari stops, dining promises to be a highlight for all of our guests – with any dietary requirement, including kosher, catered for.

Our chefs transform local recipes into contemporary dishes, giving you a taste of Southern Africa. Paired with wines from our collection of premium Cape labels, enjoying a meal becomes an experience in itself. We also offer wine tastings – a favourite of connoisseurs and dabblers, alike.

Bush Breakfast
When you’re not sure if the growl is coming from the lion or your stomach, it’s time for breakfast – waiting for you around the next tree. This pop-up experience is one of our signature surprises on safari – look forward to anything from hot pancakes and coffee to a full-on buffet.

Bush Dinner
Without dishing all our secrets… we can say we often surprise our guests by whisking them away to one of our favourite bush locations, pulling out all the stops, and presenting them with a dinner experience that combines the romance, adventure and magic of safari in equal measure.

Boma Dinner
A highlight while on safari with us is traditional-style dining in an African boma open to the stars. Add to this delicious food (including local South African favourites), fine wines and good company enjoyed around the fire, and you have the recipe for a memorable evening indeed.

Riverbed Dinner
While out on your late-afternoon safari, a special surprise is being prepared for your return… Tables are carried down from the lodge, the fire is lit, and lanterns light the way to tonight’s dinner. A barbeque feast is shared, while the choir sings and nature’s night chorus joins in.

Private Dining
For a special occasion or just a spoil, private dining is the perfect surprise… Return from safari to find your breakfast table prettily laid out on your deck or arrive to dinner in a moonlit clearing. The meal alone will be worth a toast and our sommelier will select just the right bubbly.

Family Dining
As anticipated as the activities, mealtimes bring everyone to the table with delicious dishes that are familiar and many options for even the pickiest eaters. Our chefs sneak in plenty of fresh fruit and veg – and treats, too… like toasted marshmallow hot chocolates around the fire.

Kosher Dining
It’s important to us that all of our guests feel at home, while also enjoying every treat that a luxury Lion Sands stay has to offer. For our Jewish guests of Ivory Lodge and River Lodge who are kosher observers, we specifically cater for your kosher needs with various options.

Safari Stops
All the excitement of your safari is bound to leave you thirsty and a little peckish… which is where our bush stops come in. Morning coffee and hot chocolate and late-afternoon sundowners are served with an assortment of chef-made snacks by your field guide in a particularly scenic spot.

Take Time Out
If you slow down a little, you won’t just find animals on safari, but also time and space to invest in yourself. Coming to Lion Sands is a literal departure from hectic everyday life.

Remote and peaceful, it’s utterly restorative and coupled with the lodges’ all-inclusive hospitality, you’ll finally find the opportunity to take time out for a little self-care.

Good sleep, wholesome food, and soul-soothing sunshine are as good as any therapy – and then there’s still spa treatments, light exercise, yoga, and nature walks to get you back on track.

Lodge Spas
Between safaris, you’ll have the luxury of free time – how better to indulge than with a visit to the spa at River or Ivory Lodge? We use natural TheraNaka products, instilled with the belief that self-care brings balance, in our tailored therapies to revive mind, body and spirit.

Spa Salas
Between safaris, we offer TheraNaka spa journeys guided by expert therapists in the peaceful retreat of our open-air salas – a luxury unique to Africa. These wilderness spas, found at Tinga and Narina Lodges, allow you to slip away for a while and re-emerge centred and rejuvenated.

Lodge Gyms
If you must gym, ours have bush views to distract you, as well as the essential, state-of-the-art equipment to make it a pleasure. You’ll find a standalone gym at River Lodge and one inside the Spa at Ivory Lodge, where you can add in a massage to complete your feel-good fix.

Yoga
You’ll find no better place to stretch and breath out any leftover tension than on your private deck overlooking the Sabie River, where the energy flows pure. Yoga mats are available from the lodge receptions, gyms, and in the Villas at Ivory Lodge.

Bush Walks
Going on the morning bush walks is the savviest way to get moving, while appreciating the landscape and wildlife. But you’ll get more out of it than a workout. Nature has a wonderful way of bringing us back down to earth and out here in the wilderness, your cares will seem miles away.

Celebrate With Us
Life’s most special occasions deserve celebrations out of the ordinary and at Lion Sands, we pull out all the stops. The bigger the occasion, the better the excuse to really go all out – and you don’t get more epic than an African safari.

Far from the blank canvass of a venue, the setting at Lion Sands needs little decoration and its experiences guarantee you (and your party) an unforgettable time. Ours is a celebration-ready blend of exciting and exotic, complimented by a few finishing touches that’ll make your occasion just perfect.

Your Celebration
Completely relaxed or wildly festive, we’ll help you celebrate in (your) style. Excellent food and wine are a given – leave us to surprise you with the location. But beyond the main event, every moment becomes a celebration, from your first leopard sighting to the last African sunset.

Your Wedding
Embark on the adventure of a lifetime and celebrate your union where forever began. We’ll plan your secret elopement/intimate nuptials/roaring celebration down to the last wildly romantic detail, leaving you to focus on each other, spend time with loved ones, and take it all in.

Your Honeymoon
Here, it’s finally just the two of you. Savour lie-ins and Champagne at breakfast, al fresco showers and rose petal turndowns, spa therapies and poolside safaris, and dinner in a secret location… All the trappings of the finest hotels, but somewhere altogether more wild and wonderful.

Lion Sands Safaris
Africa has been called the greatest show on earth and a Lion Sands safari plays out like a highlights reel. Our private reserve conserves 12 400ha (30 600ac) of habitat that is home to the highest and most diverse concentration of wildlife in the southern hemisphere.

You can see all of Africa’s iconic species here, including all of the Big Five, along with a supporting cast of no less intriguing 137 mammal species and over 450 varieties of bird – while having minimal encounters with other people. The magic here lies in HOW you experience this extraordinary place.

Morning Safari
Wake with the dawn chorus for the day’s first game drive. While the sun is just rising, this is peak game viewing time. Encounter nocturnal animals returning to rest and others headed out to hunt. The thrill of being let in on this world (and the coffee stop) will give you a buzz.

Evening Safari
As the day fades, a whole other world of animals emerges into the evening. It’ll take a little more to spot them, but with your guides’ keen eyes and your senses now attuned to the sounds, scents and movements of the bush, this experience captures the very essence of safari.

Astral Safari
The clear air and little light of this remote African wilderness make it an ideal stargazing location. During evening game drives, your field guide will point out planets and stars you’ve never before seen with the naked eye and tell you more about the constellations, taking you on a night sky safari.

Private Safari
When you book a private vehicle and expert guide team with a no-extra-mile-is-too-far attitude, you’ll have a safari tailored to you. Looking to tick buffalo off your bucket list? Your tracker knows their stomping grounds. Have a soft spot for hippos? Your guide will work in a drink’s stop at their pools.

Bush Walk
Led by your expert guides, these are our walks on the wild side. For those who want to experience the bush, beyond observing it, there is no more real excursion. Feel the grass brush your hands, hear the crunch of scrub nearby, and spot game appear just meters off – exhilarating!

Safari Photography
Nothing beats being in the bush, but photographs can help you capture those very special moments spent on safari.

For professional and novice photographers alike, our Creative Lab at River Lodge helps you transform your images into canvass artworks to create the ultimate keepsakes. Camera equipment is also available for hire.

Under The Stars
There are few such experiences left on earth that capture the romance of the untamed and untainted. Our Treehouses offer big views of remote Africa, globed by even bigger star-lit skies. Below, the stillness is punctuated by animals’ whistles, huffs, growls… carried on the breeze.

It all began with Chalkley Treehouse, built on the site where our ancestor Guy Aubrey Chalkley once made camp in a leadwood tree. Since then, the experience has got a fair bit more luxurious, with Kingston and Tinyeleti added to the collection.

A Family Adventure
The logistics of a safari with children needn’t be complicated – just pack your bags and come prepared to have fun! Mack & Madi Kids’ Adventure Explorers is not just a kids’ club – it’s an all-round family experience that makes taking a safari with children child’s play.

Along with flexibility around accommodations and our easy-going approach to mealtimes, we’ve specially-planned activities and excursions to give your children the freedom to have fun and explore to their hearts’ content.

Adventurous, creative or sporty, we promise them the best time! Kids of all ages accepted in our Fish Eagle Villa (Ivory Lodge) and Hi’Nkweni Villa (Tinga Lodge). Kids of 10 and over welcome at all other lodges.

Adventure Explorers
Led by their field guide, kids explore the wonders of the African bush. Just some of their adventures include bush bumbles (children’s game drives), animal ‘spoor’ casting and tracking, Bug CSI, and basic bush survival. Then when it’s time to head for home, mini spa spoils await…

Dedicated Childminding
For parent’s, we offer another luxury – me time, while your kids are off having fun in the care of our dedicated childminders. More like a play date, our minders read stories, do arts and crafts, and play games with them, keeping them happily entertained and out of mischief.

Family Stay
Our lodges are places for everyone to come together. Kept stress free with every comfort and convenience provided, they are warm and welcoming environments for guests of all ages. This laidback luxury encourages your family to feel at home away from home – but with many added spoils.

Family Dining
As anticipated as the activities, mealtimes bring everyone to the table with delicious dishes that are familiar and many options for picky eaters. Our chefs sneak in plenty of fresh fruit and veg – and treats, too… like toasted marshmallow hot chocolates after dinner around the fire.

Giving Back
A Lion Sands safari will stay with you forever, but you too can make an impression – by leaving a ‘heartprint’ here.

Our community initiatives were started to uplift local people and have evolved to become part of the guest experience through our Community Tours and Get Your Hands Dirty activities, connecting you to those who live here.

Not only can you gain insight into a different, humbling way of life, but also make a contribution that goes beyond donations to offering hands-on help, making these experiences all the more enriching for you and our communities.

Get Involved
Get Your Hands Dirty and help keep our community development projects going. Two of our most in-need projects are Henna and Jabez preschools, where you can do activities with, and help to feed the children – they love visitors! – and help with tasks, like tending the veggie gardens.

Community Tour
The tour brings you to the Huntington community, home to many of our staff. Visit our development projects here, meet esteemed community leaders, including the Induna (chief) and sangoma (traditional healer), and get a taste of local culture with a traditional cooking lesson.

Purposeful Packing
When you Pack For A Purpose, you are giving others the experience of hope. The space you save in your luggage to bring with you a donation of much-needed supplies for our community school projects goes a long way in helping us secure a better future for their children.

Website: www.more.co.za

Rooms: 6

Price: from 2.780 EUR per night