Samara Private Game Reserve near Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape’s Great Karoo region is honouring and celebrating this unique, remarkable and soulful landscape of infinite horizons by changing its name to
Samara Karoo Reserve.
Since time immemorial
the Karoo – a landscape of space, stars and silence – has held a special place in the hearts of many South Africans – its heart-lifting scenery evoking a humbling kind of magic.
A vast semi-desert that spans nearly 400,000 km² (an area larger than Germany) and stretches across four provinces, the Karoo splits into roughly two sections, the Great Karoo to the north-east and the smaller Little Karoo (
Klein Karoo) in the south-west. Long recognised for its serene, peaceful beauty and characteristic farming culture, the Karoo’s conservation significance has only recently been appreciated.
In the expansive
Groot Karoo, Samara Karoo Reserve sits positioned at the juncture of five of South Africa’s nine vegetation biomes in a Global Biodiversity Hotspot. It is this
astonishing diversity of topographies, vegetation and arid-adapted wildlife that makes Samara unique, and unmistakably different from other Eastern Cape game reserves. Mountain-top grasslands, akin to a
mini-Serengeti marooned in the sky, combine with dense Spekboom-covered valleys, winding river systems and flat plains with distant purple peaks to create one of South Africa’s most diverse safari destinations.
Samara’s story is also distinctive – a passionate rewilding project that began in 1997. Samara’s founders Mark and Sarah Tompkins were inspired by tales of a long-lost Karoo – a wilderness in which millions of springbok once grazed, the now-extinct quagga roamed and prides of black-maned Cape lion reigned supreme. The loss of this biodiversity through hunting, livestock overgrazing and other human activities posed a formidable challenge – could the Karoo be restored to its wild state?
The Tompkinses recount how humbled they were by the magnificence of this landscape they sought to protect.
“Those who visit cannot fail to marvel at the feeling of space here, of extensive grassy plains punctuated by dramatic dolerite-capped mountains, of never-ending horizons, of a land that was once a big game area rivalling the most magnificent on Earth. So it was that twenty-five years ago we embarked on a project to do our bit to restore it to its former glory,” recalls Sarah.
An ambitious programme of land restoration and wildlife reintroduction has seen the return of more than a dozen mammal species, including the first lion, cheetah, black rhinoceros and elephant to step foot back on the land in over 130 years. Certain species, like the Cape vulture and
leopard, have returned of their own accord – a testament to the reserve’s
rewilding success. Today, still pursuing Samara’s mission with as much fervour as its founders, is second generation Isabelle Tompkins.
Samara adopts a responsible tourism model to fund its conservation objectives, with a focus on slow and meaningful safari encounters that inspire a deep connection with the wild spaces of the Great Karoo. Two luxury
lodges sleeping up to 26 guests welcome discerning nature-lovers for exceptional wilderness and wildlife experiences in one of the lowest guest-to-land ratios in Africa.
At the heart of every guest’s stay is a showcase of what makes the Karoo so special, from the quintessentially warm hospitality displayed by the Samara team to the
Karoo menu of locally-sourced and regeneratively-farmed produce. Alongside the usual Big Five game drives and guided bush walks, guests can explore the Karoo’s rich history on a fossil tour, sleep out in a
star bed under the celebrated Karoo night skies and track Samara’s most famous predator – the cheetah –
on foot.
Samara Karoo Reserve is a leading conservation journey to restore 67,000 acres of South Africa’s Great Karoo landscape and beyond through rewilding and responsible tourism. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.
