andBeyond Ngala Tented Camp is situated in Ngala Private Game Reserve, which shares an unfenced boundary with the world-renowned Kruger National Park, South Africa’s largest wildlife sanctuary and one of the biggest game reserves in the world. A spectacular diversity of wildlife moves through this immense wilderness, including breeding herds of elephant, leopard, spotted hyena, giraffe, large buffalo herds and white rhino. With its name meaning lion in Shangaan, the local language, Ngala lives up to its promise, supporting several large prides of these powerful cats. African wild dog can also be spotted moving through the reserve.

Chic and contemporary, andBeyond Ngala Tented Camp is renowned for sophisticated tented accommodation in tranquil bush surrounds. It comprises nine luxurious tented suites set on raised platforms with outdoor showers, baths mounted on rough-hewn wooden bases, swirling overhead fans, air conditioning, electric blankets for winter and private wooden decks. The overall essence is African, with warm, earthy tones used throughout. Built on platforms, each tented suite is cleverly designed to blend into the riverside trees, minimising impact on the environment. Mature indigenous shade trees form a luxuriantly cool canopy overhead and elegant guest areas overlook the seasonal Timbavati River. The camp’s lap pool, which follows the contours of the riverbank, is perfect for idle afternoon game viewing, while a massage sala adds a touch of pure indulgence. The food at Ngala is as individual and inventive as the camp itself. Private lunch platters are savoured on the viewing decks, at the poolside or on the lush lawn. Theatrical al fresco dinners in the dry riverbed are unforgettable.

Care of the Land. Care of the Wildlife. Care of the People.

We show our commitment to “Care of the Land. Care of the Wildlife. Care of the People” by looking for ways to contribute and give more to wildlife spaces and the communities that live adjacent to them. But we also believe that we can reduce our negative enviromental impact on the earth without compromising our guest experience.

We operate a high-yield, low-impact model by creating very small luxury lodges that can support enormous tracts of biodiverse land, which remains untouched and untrammeled. But, even though &BEYOND ‘s footprint is very small (less than 450 bedrooms in total, which, in turn, support over 9 million acres of precious wildlife land), many of our lodges have a sustainability champion, who together with lodge managers, are custodians of our philosophy to “give more” and “take less”.

At every lodge and office we seek out small but meaningful ways of putting our values into action each day. We understand that delighting our guests is the most important thing we can do to sustain our business and thus sustain the wildlife areas we protect.

One of the many initiatives at Ngala is the Welverdiend Primary School and Bilton High School Project.

WELVERDIEND PRIMARY SCHOOL IS THE LARGEST OF THREE PRIMARY SCHOOLS SERVING THE WELVERDIEND COMMUNITY, WITH AN ENROLMENT OF MORE THAN 800 PUPILS…

Harnessing the power of individuals through education

Welverdiend Primary School is the largest of three primary schools serving the Welverdiend community, with an enrolment of more than 800 pupils. Previously classes were being conducted outdoors under the trees, in wind, rain or shine, and the demand for a more suitable learning environment became a necessity.

In 2004, Africa Foundation began to support the school with the construction of a double set of classrooms. Through continued partnership, the school facilities have further improved to include a kitchen, Enviro Loos, rainwater harvesting system and a media centre.

With unemployment at 60% in the village, the media centre plays host to adult-based education classes in the evening; assisting in equipping young job-seekers with relevant skills.

Through partnership with &BEYOND Ngala Safari Lodge over 200 children from Welverdiend Primary have participated in conservation lessons and experienced a game drive, exposing them to the wildlife on their doorstep that many of them never have the opportunity to see.

Between Welverdiend and Hluvukani lies the village of Tlhavekisa. With a population of over 4,000, the area offered three pre-schools and a primary school but no secondary school. Consequently, the youth were travelling up to 14km daily to reach high schools in Hluvukani, or dropping out of school after primary level. In 2012, the Community Development Forum met with Africa Foundation raising these concerns and proposing the construction of a high school in Thlavakisa.

A generous donation to Africa Foundation for the construction of a school, led to seven classrooms, 10 Enviro Loos and an administration block being built, just one kilometre away from the village primary school. The school doors opened in 2013, with 274 learners enrolled. Today the school meets the educational needs of over 500 children.