About The African Safari Collective | South African Safari Lodges

WHAT DRIVES US

Our key mission is to save you time, give you peace of mind and deliver your South African safari lodge dream.

We are a group of independent lodges who are dedicated to working together to hold each other to the highest standards so that we can deliver your dream safari. It is something we have been doing for over a century, and now collectively, we know we can take you so much #FurtherTogether.

Our uniqueness is the journeys we curate and deliver, that we call safaris, the Swahili translation. Originally from the Arabic adjective سفر) safar) meaning a journey, travelling, touring or voyaging.

We achieve our mission by collectively being driven to consistently deliver our seven key S’s to all our customers, that include our direct guests, agents and our members. These include a simple, secure, safe, sustainable, society, spectacular and special offering.

OUR FOUNDERS

African Safari Collective was founded in 2020, at the hight of the Covid-19 pandemic, we came together with the same overriding worry, not for ourselves but our teams, our people, our family and the beautiful and fierce creatures of Africa. We realised that if we falter, her people and wild areas would be at risk. So, ASC was born, by a group of like-minded independent collaborators who knew we could go #FurtherTogether as we preserved the wilds and bettered the lives of our communities while delivering our guests safari dream.

Born out of a shared vision, our 5 founding members, united in their passion for Southern Africa and sharing our spectacular journeys and diverse biomes and regions countless different experiences with you.

Together, our founders have almost three centuries of expertise in tourism in Africa.

Leigh-Ann and Hugh Morrison

Makakatana Bay Lodge - St Lucia, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

#CreativeArtyAndTheCostCutter #FightForWhatYouWant

Makakatana Bay has drawn human beings for centuries and has been in the Morrison family for four generations. In 1997, Hugh and Leigh-Ann were given the opportunity by Hugh’s parents, to build Makakatana Bay Lodge in a beautiful location right at the edge of the water at Lake St Lucia, close to the Morrison family home and original trading store. Leigh-Ann and Hugh are passionate about their heritage, conservation and sharing this magical park and the wondrous ocean and lake that surround it. The iSimangaliso Wetland Park was declared a UNESCO world heritage site, with globally significant ecological importance and beauty.

Nicky and Doug Rattray, and Micko and Daisy

Fugitives Drift Lodge - Rorke's Drift, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

#OutOfTheFireIntoTheFryingPan #WiseHeadsThinkTanker #FunnySpectaculaRRRRStoryteller

Fugitives Drift Lodge is situated between the battlefields of Rorkes Drift and Isandlwana in its own 5000-acre game reserve a listed natural and cultural heritage site. Fugitives Drift focuses on the drama of the battles of the Anglo-Zulu war and offers numerous activities thought the game reserve.

Andrew Rattray

Fairview House - Plettenberg Bay, South Africa

#GreenFingersWithRealSolutions #FarmersMakeAPlanAndAnalyse

Moving to the Western Cape and away from the Battlefields has enabled Andrew & Anel to make their own individual presence known within the Collective. Uncovering the grace and beauty of Fairview House and establishing an aquaponics farm to sustain their restaurant has set Fairview House on a long and successful road on the Garden Route. Andrew has made becoming the Farm to Fork Farmer look easy!

Cheryl and Simon Blackburn

Three Tree Hill Lodge - Bergville, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

#GoingPlacesNoOneElseWill #IntegrityEvenWhenNoOneIsLooking

With their whole life always about the travel industry, both Simon and Cheryl know every detail within their lodge and the journey it took to get there. However, their passion for being answerable to Mother Nature with anything they do means that they are the perfect ambassadors for Sustainable living and mentors for all.

Jo, Ryan and Quinten Vivier

Leopard Mountain Safari Lodge - Mtunzini, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

#OnlyIfItIsConservationFirst

In 1997, as the Vivier family, it was our original vision to find a sustainable solution to protect and conserve our endangered species, specifically by co-owning and running a Game Reserve. What we realised at the time, was that the only way to achieve this was to build and run a successful lodge. Thanks to our amazing team and guests, more than two decades later, Leopard Mountain has achieved its founding vision and so much more. Today starts a new chapter in our story, while we continue to passionately put conservation first, and celebrate, share and develop what so many of our guests return to again and again. We cherish the value that we deliver them, and will continue to ensure all of them leave saying, “Leopard Mountain is always so much more than what we expected”.