Raquel de Castro Maia

After a wonderful summer season, we have commenced with our annual upkeep of Kwena Lodge as well as an exciting exterior refurbishment project! We are busy enhancing the pool area with private sun lounger pods and a fun new outdoor bar with comfy seating areas, all with magnificent views to sip a G&T and read […]

We have recently opened beautiful Lehele Lodge year-round to welcome and host our guests staying in the Bush Villas on the eastern side of the Reserve (now called Lehele Villas).  This shift will enhance the Villa experience for families and groups as it provides greater exclusivity and shorter driving distances between Lehele Lodge and these

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Gawie Grobler as Gondwana’s new Safari Manager to head the Field Guide Department and game drive experience at Gondwana.  Gawie is well known in the industry with significant credentials and expertise and has trained field guides throughout South Africa.  His qualifications include; FGASA (NQF4, SKS, FGASA Professional Field Guide,

We are thrilled to announce that Gondwana Private Residences has been named one of the Top 10 wildlife estates in South Africa for 2023 by NW Wealth! This is a tremendous honor and a testament to the hard work of our team in creating and maintaining a world-class game reserve. Gondwana is an 11,000 hectare

Gondwana’s guiding team is growing!  We are pleased to announce the appointment of a new senior position to head the department and game drive experience at Gondwana.  Gawie Grobler has been hired as Gondwana’s new Safari Manager.  Gawie is well known in the industry with significant credentials and expertise and has trained field guides throughout

Gondwana has been visited by many journalists and media outlets over the past few months including Kevin Richardson AKA the Lion Whisperer with a media crew from BBC UK as well as Top Gear Magazine who came to highlight the great work done by the GCF and APU team. Click here to read the article

There was a beehive of activity deep in the Nauga Valley at the end of last year as the Gondwana team prepared to relaunch its beloved Eco Camp experience. The new and improved Eco Campoffers the same off-the-grid, hands on safari experience, with expanded and upgraded facilities to provide more communal spaces and all-weather comfort

Our Pioneer trail guests were delighted to experience this woodpecker building a nest in an old tree at camp 3. ​The Knysna woodpecker is excavating a new breeding cavity, which they do every season. The nest will take a few weeks to build. ​ They choose a different location every year for their nest. The

There is something so magical about the flight of the Black Harrier (Circus maurus) as it swoops over the fynbos silently hunting. The feathers are deep black with large white panels on the under wing and white bars on the tail feathers, that occasionally catch your eye as it glides over low growing fynbos. According

In August, the Gondwana Conservation Foundation (GCF) did the annual count of Satyrium muticum, a very rare and endangered orchid species known from four small, severely fragmented subpopulations. When the Orchid was first found on Gondwana in 2017 it was listed as critically endangered on SANBI’s red data list (South African National Biodiversity Institute). No