A bush fire broke out at Entabeni Safari Conservancy in the Waterberg region of Limpopo after the veld had been struck by lightning on October 8. Wildside Safari Camp was severely damaged by the flames and about 2 500 ha of the 22 000-ha conservancy burned down.
The reception, lounge, bar area and nine of the 20 thatched canvas rooms were destroyed by the fire. The restaurant, office, curio shop and other 11 rooms have not been damaged.
The camp will be closed for the rest of the month and will reopen towards the end of November. Guests booked over this period will be upgraded to one of the other Entabeni lodges.
“We are grateful for the relentless efforts that our firefighting teams put in to get the bushfire under control and that they finally stopped the fire, with help from the surrounding farm communities and the Mokopane fire brigade. Our managers made sure that our guests were never in danger and that nobody was hurt in the process. We have insurance for all our properties, therefore the rebuilding of Wildside Safari Camp will start almost immediately.
The rebuild will coincide with the current R4 million renovation project to upgrade all Entabeni’s lodges, a project that is still in progress but has almost been completed,” says Mart Cilliers, md of Legend Hospitality Group.
