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Cheetah Plains sits in South Africa's Sabi Sand Nature Reserve, a private wilderness adjacent to Kruger National Park with no fences between them. Wildlife moves freely across both territories.
The reserve has gained a reputation for exceptional leopard sightings, though you’ll find all of the Big Five here, plus over 500 bird species. Stone Age artefacts and San rock art throughout the area reveal thousands of years of human history.
A New Vision for Safari Architecture
We’ve been captivated by Cheetah Plains, their team, their vision, and their reimagining of what luxury should mean. Completed in 2018 as a complete reinvention of sustainable luxury, Cheetah Plains stands as the pinnacle of contemporary modern-African design.
Cape Town’s acclaimed architectural firm ARRCC has created something extraordinary here: three exclusive-use villas where indoor sophistication dissolves into raw wilderness, embodying what they call “audacious Afro-minimalism.”
“When we build, let us think that we build forever”
— John Ruskin
This pioneering aesthetic makes a bold statement, inorganic architectural forms that somehow feel entirely at home in nature’s landscape.
It’s the unexpected creative harmony that makes Cheetah Plains so exciting: sharp lines echoing organic horizons, minimalist restraint amplifying maximum wilderness, contemporary design honouring ancient land.
The result is a visual conversation between human artistry and natural grandeur, each elevating the other into something unforgettable.
The genius of ARRCC’s design lies in direct translation: angular, divaricate forms echo the sharp geometries of Acacia thorns, their converging lines and spiny silhouettes mirroring the defensive vegetation of the bush.
The sculptural pool pavilion, forged from raw rusted steel, reinterprets the spreading canopy of the indigenous Tamboti tree, its weathered patina in deliberate conversation with the savanna’s earth tones.
Enter the Wild Experience
Speak to our villa specialists to reserve your private villa in the wild
Wildlife Theatre at Your Doorstep
Location is everything on Safari, and Cheetah Plains enjoys one of Africa’s most privileged positions. Set within the Sabi Sand Nature Reserve and bordering Kruger National Park without fences, it offers a seamless wilderness where wildlife roams undisturbed.
This private reserve is celebrated for its extraordinary leopard sightings, along with cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, antelope, and over 500 bird species. Here, you become special guests in the daily theatre of nature.
What a Day Holds
Each safari includes a dedicated expert field guide and tracker with your own game viewing vehicle. Guided day and night game drives take place in Land Cruiser electric vehicles equipped with heated/cooling seats, ensuring comfort during early morning and late afternoon excursions.
The experience extends beyond drives to include guided walks, sundowners, bush dining, and bird watching. For families, the Cubs Club provides engaging activities designed specifically for children.
Wine, whiskey, and gin tastings can be enjoyed throughout your stay, whether in the villa’s temperature-controlled wine cellar, the gardens, the formal dining room, or under the stars in the bushveld.
Additional experiences include visits to the local school crèche and village, tours of the solar plant that powers the entire property, and a variety of activities for kids such as scavenger hunts, tracking lessons, baking sessions, target shooting with pellet guns, and arts & crafts.
Design as Philosophy
The connection to nature is not accidental; it is the very essence of the Cheetah Plains experience. Each of the three private villas — Karula, Mapogo, and Mvula, named in tribute to the reserve’s wildlife legacy — accommodates up to eight guests in four sumptuous suites, serving as a masterpiece of modern design.
Floor-to-ceiling glass panels slide away completely, dissolving the barriers between interior and exterior spaces for total immersion with nature. The effect is nothing short of electrifying, offering guests a front-row seat to the drama and beauty of the African bush.
The design philosophy extends to every detail. The architecture exists to enhance the experience of the outdoors, not to mimic it, but to complement it.
Robust off-shutter concrete and rough stone walls ground the buildings into the landscape, while the interiors remain consciously restrained yet layered in form, detail, and materiality. Together, these elements create a sensory platform to experience the African bush in its purest form.
Inside Cheetah Plains
Each villa functions as a private residence in the wilderness, complete with its own dedicated hospitality team: villa host, culinary team, sommelier, spa therapist, guide, and tracker, amongst others.
Karula, Mapogo, and Mvula are carefully located in chosen positions across the property, ensuring absolute privacy between groups whilst maintaining identical standards of luxury and service.
The architectural blueprint remains consistent: four sumptuous suites accommodating up to eight guests, floor-to-ceiling glass panels that slide away completely, private heated swimming pools, elegant lounges and dining areas, intimate outdoor fire areas, and temperature-controlled wine cellars stocked with South Africa’s finest vintages.
What distinguishes each villa is its relationship to the land and the wildlife theatre that unfolds at its doorstep.
Karula Villa
Named after one of Sabi Sand’s most renowned female leopards, Karula occupies the northern reaches of the property with commanding views across open plains.
The villa’s position offers uninterrupted sightlines to a frequented waterhole, where elephants and buffalo congregate throughout the day. Four suites span two separate wings: two interconnecting for families, two with independent access for complete privacy.
Each features floor-to-ceiling glass that retracts entirely, private decks with daybeds, and en-suite bathrooms finished in natural stone. The infinity pool appears to float above the landscape, whilst indigenous gardens frame the terraces and outdoor boma.
Mvula Villa
Mvula sits within a grove of cathedral Tamboti trees, named for a male leopard known throughout the region for his hunting prowess. The natural canopy provides dappled shade across the villa’s terraces, whilst the architecture maintains clear views through the woodland to the surrounding bush.
Four suites follow the same spatial logic as the sister villas, with two interconnecting and two wholly private. The pool pavilion here feels more enclosed, sheltered by the Tamboti grove yet open to the sky.
This is the most forested of the three positions, offering a different quality of light and a sense of being nested within the landscape rather than commanding it.
Magopo Villa
Mapogo takes its name from the infamous lion coalition of brothers that once dominated this territory. Set directly on a waterhole edge, the villa provides front-row seats to hippo pods and elephant herds arriving to drink.
The architectural layout mirrors Karula’s four-suite configuration, though here the positioning captures both waterhole drama and sunset views across the western plains.
A covered outdoor lounge extends from the main pavilion, offering shade without sacrificing visibility. The private pool stretches parallel to the waterhole, creating a visual dialogue between human luxury and wildlife necessity.
A Cuisine Worth Noting
Cheetah Plains boasts eight sous chefs and four pastry chefs, a ratio unmatched in Sabi Sand.
The intent isn’t excess but possibility: menus that shift with season and supply, dishes that range from Tomato Lamb Bredie to sushi prepared against a backdrop of acacia and leadwood, Malva pudding enriched with rooibos crème anglaise.
Meals happen where they make sense: in private dining rooms, on pool decks, around outdoor bomas, or in the bush itself during sundowner stops. Guests are not limited by menus but rather have direct communication with their team to create the foodscapes of their dreams (and desires).
Menus are designed to minimise waste while maximising what the region does best. The cooking is confident without being showy, grounded in place while remaining open to influence, an approach that mirrors the architecture itself.
Charged by Nature
The entire property runs on solar power. Not as a gesture but as practice, backed by systems designed for genuine off-grid operation.
It’s a stake in the ground regarding what luxury can mean when divorced from extraction and waste, proof that the best experiences often come from working within constraints rather than against them.
Interview: NJ van der Merwe
General Manager of Cheetah Plains
Tell us how Cheetah Plains began.
Cheetah Plains, as it is today, came to be in 2018. Japie van Niekerk (the owner) had a vision for a space for people to enjoy that blurred the lines of luxury living and authentic wildlife experiences.
Having found the space many years ago, Japie and his team spent years crafting it to be perfect for all to enjoy; creating your own space in the limitlessness of the wild, being completely immersed and yet totally private. And that vision holds true even to this day.
What is one unique aspect of Cheetah Plains?
There isn’t just one standout feature; there are plenty! Yet, one of the most cherished and appreciated aspects of our property is the unparalleled privacy and exclusivity we offer.
Here, it feels as though the entire lodge is yours alone. With just a handful of villas, you never share a pool, a chef, a host, or even a safari vehicle. Every detail is tailored to your preferences, ensuring an experience entirely your own. It’s a rare level of seclusion, found only in a handful of places around the world and all without the need for sole usage.
How do you ensure privacy and exclusivity for guests in each villa?
Each villa operates as a fully serviced private retreat, complete with its own pool, chef, host, wellness therapist, and safari vehicle. Guests never share facilities or staff with other parties, so every detail is dedicated solely to their group.
This ensures a level of seclusion and personalisation that allows guests to feel as though the entire property is theirs alone.
What inspired the architectural design of Cheetah Plains?
The idea took hold in the minds of the architects, echoing their belief that any impression on this unique landscape should enhance the existing experience of being in the bush. It led to a reconsideration of traditional bush architecture and a fundamental departure from communal spaces.
It inspired a design aesthetic rooted in integration that brings the outdoors in, creating a memorable presence through a series of elegantly simplified edifices that are at one with the landscape.
How do you lead a team to uphold such high luxury standards?
Our team is made up of highly trained professionals, each bringing expertise in their respective fields. We follow a rigorous selection process to ensure we employ only the very best, but their skill alone is not enough.
What truly sets our team apart is who they are as people: passionate, dedicated and wholeheartedly committed to creating extraordinary guest experiences. With that spirit at the core, our standard of luxury never fails.
What specific sustainable practices are in place in the villas?
Sustainability is at the heart of Cheetah Plains. Each villa is fully solar-powered, supported by one of the largest off-grid renewable energy systems in the region, and our safari vehicles are entirely electric, thereby offering a silent, zero-emission game drive experience.
We’ve built with minimal environmental impact, using materials that blend seamlessly into the landscape, while advanced water filtration and recycling systems ensure careful conservation of natural resources. Our culinary philosophy also reflects this commitment, with menus inspired by seasonality and locally sourced produce.
Beyond the lodge, we are deeply invested in our community. We support local schools, skills development initiatives and the local community to provide sustainable livelihoods. All in all, these practices allow us to offer uncompromising eco-luxury that protects our environment while uplifting those around us.
What logistics are involved in transporting guests?
Cheetah Plains is accessible by both air and land, though we highly recommend air travel for the most seamless journey.
Most guests arrive from Cape Town or Johannesburg, flying into Hoedspruit before continuing by private charter to Arathusa Airstrip – just 20 minutes from the lodge. From there, a luxury transfer awaits, ensuring your safari experience begins the moment you touch down.
What key lessons have you gained from working at Cheetah Plains?
People will make or break you. At the end of the day, you can have the most incredible product, but your team and the subsequent service are what will be remembered.
We’re very lucky that not only do we have a unique, incredible product, but we also have a wonderful team who are truly passionate about what they do and provide world-renowned service. And that makes our guests come back again and again.
Can you describe how you accommodate guest requests?
We are not in the industry of saying ‘no’. If you come to Cheetah Plains, it is our job to ensure your every desire is met, your every want is fulfilled. There is rarely a case in which we have not accommodated the guest.
We have always had a range of requests, everything from dietary preferences and concerns all the way to service requests such as pizza in the wild or paint and sip activities.
We have hosted weddings, vow renewals, every birthday you can imagine and plenty more. It doesn’t matter the size of your request, we will do everything in our power to ensure our guests have the perfect holiday.
In terms of food & beverage, what are your culinary specialities?
Anything! That’s the magic of Cheetah Plains. Our highly trained culinary team can do it all – from preparing a 10-course, wine-paired dinner to crafting the perfect chicken tenders and homemade ice cream for the little ones.
They take the time to get to know each guest, discussing preferences and dislikes before every meal, ensuring that every dining experience is thoughtfully personalised and perfectly tailored to delight every guest.
From your perspective, what would a perfect day look like at Cheetah Plains?
For me, the game drives provide the perfect opportunity to experience the thrill of the wild and the wind on your face as the ranger and guide duo ensure only the most extraordinary sights, which will never get old.
We encourage guests to take full advantage of their dedicated team, including a personal wellness therapist for massages, facials and bespoke wellness treatments.
Our villas are designed to embrace the outdoors, so whether you’re taking a dip in your private pool, sipping a cocktail while the kids have the time of their lives, enjoying a workout in our fitness centre, or exploring the gallery, each day offers a seamless blend of adventure, relaxation and culture.
How do you infuse local culture and traditions into the guest experience?
At Cheetah Plains, we believe true luxury lies in connection to nature, to people, and to place. We infuse local culture and traditions into every guest experience by celebrating our South African roots through cuisine inspired by regional flavours, curated wine pairings from the Cape’s finest estates, and contemporary art and design crafted by African artisans.
Our guides and trackers share not only their deep knowledge of the land and wildlife, but also stories and wisdom passed down through generations, offering guests a rich cultural context to their safari.
If you could offer guests one piece of advice for making the most of their stay, what would it be?
Take full advantage of your dedicated team – they are there to ensure your stay is nothing short of extraordinary! From your wellness therapist, mixologist, culinary team, guide, ranger, host…they are all eager to show you what makes the lodge so incredible.
What are the most interesting experiences that you can offer to guests?
Everything at Cheetah Plains is personalised – it’s what sets us apart. While traditional resorts often offer structured entertainment, our approach is fluid and entirely guest-focused.
Every experience is crafted with the individual in mind, from private cooking classes and high-end wine tastings in your personal cellar, to learning about wildlife with our tracking team, enjoying a bespoke art gallery tour with your host or an art curator, or even spending time with a gemologist to size and try on diamonds.
The opportunities are endless, ensuring every moment on the property is unforgettable.
Cheetah Plains represents more than just another luxury safari destination. It embodies a new philosophy of travel that respects the environment while providing uncompromising luxury, celebrates architectural innovation while honouring the wild landscape, and offers privacy and exclusivity while fostering deep connections with Africa’s natural heritage.
Speak to our villa experts at My Private Villas to discover how you can experience Cheetah Plains in your own way.
Ready to dive deeper?
Let’s talk! Schedule a personalised video call with our team to discuss your questions.
