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Jumeirah Thanda Safari
Hluhluwe, South Africa · Jumeirah · High Luxury
Swedish philanthropists Christin and Dan Olofsson, inspired by Ernest Hemingway's accounts of Africa, began buying former game farms in 2002 and opened this 14,000-hectare Big Five Zululand reserve on May 22, 2004, inaugurated by Zulu King Zwelithini Goodwill kaBhekuzulu. Thanda means love in isiZulu, more than ninety percent of staff come from local Zulu communities, and Jumeirah took management in late 2024.
- Opened 2004
- Neighborhood: Big Five False Bay Ward 3
About Jumeirah Thanda Safari
- Zulu King Zwelithini Goodwill kaBhekuzulu personally inaugurated the reserve's official opening on May 22, 2004.
- Thanda means love in isiZulu, and more than 90 percent of the reserve's staff are drawn from local Zulu communities.
- The reserve was re-proclaimed a Protected Environment in 2015, 120 years after the land was first designated a game reserve in 1895.
- Jumeirah took management of the property in late 2024, opening it for bookings as Jumeirah Thanda Safari.
History
Thanda Safari is a 14,000-hectare Big Five private game reserve in the heart of Zululand, northern KwaZulu-Natal, founded by the Swedish philanthropist-entrepreneurs Christin and Dan Olofsson. Inspired by Ernest Hemingway's accounts of Africa, the Olofssons began acquiring former game farms in 2002 and consolidated them into a single reserve; "Thanda" means "love" in isiZulu. The reserve officially opened to guests on 22 May 2004, inaugurated by the Zulu King Zwelithini Goodwill kaBhekuzulu.
The founders' first home on the reserve, Villa iZulu ("Place of Heaven"), was joined by a luxury safari lodge, and the property became known for its deep engagement with Zulu culture and community projects such as Star for Life. In late 2024 the reserve moved under the management of Dubai-based Jumeirah as Jumeirah Thanda Safari.
Awards
- MICHELIN One Key (2026)
- South Africa's Leading Luxury Safari Villa 2025 (World Travel Awards) (2025)
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