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Samara's Videos

Watch our collection of videos about Samara's wildlife, landscapes and experiences.

Featured Video: Safari for the soul

Lodge video: The Manor

Lodge video: Karoo Lodge

Sibella the miracle cheet

Did you know?

You can see us on NatGeo WILD

The story of Samara's first cheetah, Sibella, is currently being told on NatGeo WILD. You can watch Sibella the Miracle Cheetah worldwide!

Read more

Wildlife videos

Introducing the Funny Five

Watch as we introduce you to our child-friendly version of the Big Five – the Funny Five! Can you guess who they are?
Desert-adapted black rhino

There are fewer than 5,000 Critically Endangered Black rhino left in the world, and just a fraction of these are from the desert-adapted subspecies. Samara is one of only two private reserves in South Africa to be home to this subspecies.
Cheetah hunting kudu

Watch as a female cheetah hunts a kudu on Samara.

Experience video: Milky Way star bed

Explore our Milky Way star bed, for a night out under the Karoo skies.

Wildlife Video: Aardvark

Have you ever seen a nocturnal aardvark foraging during the day? Check out our video for footage of exactly that!

Wildlife Video: Birds at Samara

Take a look at some of the bird species found around Karoo Lodge.

Aerial footage of Samara

Aerial footage of Samara’s biomes taken by a recent guest.

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Getaway Magazine - Kids can learn about the bush while under lockdown

Financial Times - Their own private game reserve

The Telegraph Travel - The Lion King returns to the Great Karoo

Tatler - Bring your cubs

Harper’s Bazaar - 15 Best Safari Experiences in the World

The Sunday Times - Bewitched by the majesty of Karoo

Contact Samara

Reservations: +27 (0) 31 262 0324
Lodge: +27 (0) 49 940 0059
or +27 (0) 49 891 0880

reservations@samara.co.za

Samara Private Game Reserve, Petersburg Road, off the R63 to Pearston, near Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape, 6280, South Africa.

View Samara on Google Maps or on what3words.com – our 3 word address is ///rosters.plots.famous

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From Instagram

Giraffe, 4m. Mountain, 2,429m. Visibl

Giraffe, 4m. Mountain, 2,429m.

Visible from many points on the reserve, the peak of Nardousberg is the second highest in the Great Karoo. This mountain forms part of the Sneeuberg range (literally translated as ‘Snow Mountains’), a name that refers to the dusting of snow that coats the peaks through much of winter.

🔗 Learn more about Samara’s varied landscapes at the link in our bio

#SamaraKaroo #Sneeuberg #Giraffe

📷: @lowermountain_photo

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Samara is on a journey to regenerate South Africa’s semi-arid Great Karoo region through rewilding and responsible tourism. A member of @thelongrunorg, Samara has committed to achieving a holistic balance of the ‘4Cs’: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.

Learn more at samara.co.za #DareToRewild

This beautiful eagle-owl is here to share with you

This beautiful eagle-owl is here to share with you that Samara has been accredited as a @birdlife_sa Birder Friendly Establishment.

The criteria for achieving this status include catering to the specific needs of birders when on safari, espousing the principles of #ResponsibleTourism and supporting BirdLife South Africa’s strategic objective of conserving wild birds and their habitats.

🔗 Learn more about a birding safari at Samara at the link in our bio

#SamaraKaroo #BirdingSafari #BirdingSouthAfrica

📷: Etienne Oosthuizen

- - - -

Samara is on a journey to regenerate South Africa’s semi-arid Great Karoo region through rewilding and responsible tourism. A member of @thelongrunorg, Samara has committed to achieving a holistic balance of the ‘4Cs’: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.

Learn more at samara.co.za #DareToRewild

So little is known about the wonderfully weird aar

So little is known about the wonderfully weird aardvark that until recently, scientists were not actually sure whether or not they drink water.

The theory was that they receive the moisture they need from the termites and ants that they consume, but this sighting at Samara helped to confirm that aardvarks do in fact actively seek hydration, thus contributing to a research paper on the subject.

Although this may seem inconsequential, information on aardvark drinking habits can arm scientists with the knowledge required to more effectively conserve these keystone species in a warming world.

#SamaraKaroo #Aardvark #ConservationResearch #LivingLaboratory

🔗 For more information on aardvark, visit the link in our bio

🎥: Hansa Winshaw

- - - -

Samara is on a journey to regenerate South Africa’s semi-arid Great Karoo region through rewilding and responsible tourism. A member of @thelongrunorg, Samara has committed to achieving a holistic balance of the ‘4Cs’: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.

Learn more at samara.co.za #DareToRewild

The Milk River Pride has established a territory a

The Milk River Pride has established a territory along Samara’s main ephemeral waterway. In this landscape of dense riverine vegetation interspersed with open areas, lioness Sheba has become adept at preying on kudu bulls. With 4 cubs, she has many mouths to feed, and a meal of this size provides enough sustenance for a few days.

Our recent guests were lucky enough to watch her hunt a kudu bull out in the open. Although she was unsuccessful, it was an impressive reminder of her agility and strength.

#SamaraKaroo #LionConservation #LionCubs

📷: Catherine Hempel

- - - -

Samara is on a journey to regenerate South Africa’s semi-arid Great Karoo region through rewilding and responsible tourism. A member of @thelongrunorg, Samara has committed to achieving a holistic balance of the ‘4Cs’: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.

Learn more at samara.co.za #DareToRewild

For those of you wondering about the ‘Samara Mar

For those of you wondering about the ‘Samara Mara’ after our last post, here it is in all its glory.

This remarkable landscape is not only beautiful - it represents a significant portion of a highly diverse yet under-conserved vegetation biome, second only in terms of diversity to the Cape Floristic Kingdom.

🔗 Learn more about this unique landscape at the link in our bio

#SamaraKaroo #SamaraMara #GrasslandsConservation

📷: @marnus.ochse

- - - -

Samara is on a journey to regenerate South Africa’s semi-arid Great Karoo region through rewilding and responsible tourism. A member of @thelongrunorg, Samara has committed to achieving a holistic balance of the ‘4Cs’: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.

Learn more at samara.co.za #DareToRewild

One of the most eagerly anticipated of the experie

One of the most eagerly anticipated of the experiences available to guests during their Samara stay is our ‘Samara Mara’ mountain-top picnic.

So nicknamed because of its uncanny resemblance to iconic parts of East Africa, our own little ‘Mara’ sits on a high plateau, invisible from the valleys below.

What a surprise then to ascend the steep Wolwekloof pass and find oneself not just in a Serengeti-esque paradise of grasslands and wildlife, but welcomed by a delectable picnic spread for an al fresco lunch.

#SamaraKaroo #SamaraMara #PicnicInStyle

📷: @dookphoto_

- - - -

Samara is on a journey to regenerate South Africa’s semi-arid Great Karoo region through rewilding and responsible tourism. A member of @thelongrunorg, Samara has committed to achieving a holistic balance of the ‘4Cs’: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.

Learn more at samara.co.za #DareToRewild

Samara’s signature tree, at the centre of our lo

The irresistible allure of a vantage point. This 3

The irresistible allure of a vantage point. This 3-month old cheetah cub found himself incapable of walking past a climbable tree without first testing whether or not he could ascend it.

Cheetahs are not particularly good tree climbers due to their body shape and semi-retractable claws, but youngsters seem to relish the challenge regardless.

#SamaraKaroo #CheetahCub #CheetahConservation

📷: @coetzerlou leading a photographic safari with @cnp_safaris_sa

🔍: Nikon D850 with Nikon 500 F4.0 + 1.4 X Converter = 700 mm / F5.6 at 1/6400 sec / ISO 200 / EV -1.7

- - - -

Samara is on a journey to regenerate South Africa’s semi-arid Great Karoo region through rewilding and responsible tourism. A member of @thelongrunorg, Samara has committed to achieving a holistic balance of the ‘4Cs’: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.

Learn more at samara.co.za #DareToRewild

“Love will save this place.” So said Naomi Kle

“Love will save this place.” So said Naomi Klein, author and activist, reflecting on the state of our planet and the singular power that we have, as engaged citizens, to protect the places we hold dear.

Hers is a philosophy that guides us everyday - the love we feel for our particular piece of the Karoo and its innumerable treasures underpins every decision we make and shines through in the Samara experience.

To celebrate the official “day of love”, we invited our guests to plant #Spekboom with us and remember the power that we have as individuals to effect the change we wish to see.

We also served a delightful Spekboom cocktail which you can make at home. Here is the recipe:

- Dash of Campari
- Tot of gin
- 1 part lemonade
- 2 part pink tonic water
- crushed Spekboom leaves
- sprig of Spekboom as garnish 🌿

#SamaraKaroo #LoveWillSaveThisPlace #ThePlanetNeedsOurLove

📷: @marnus.ochse

- - - -

Samara is on a journey to regenerate South Africa’s semi-arid Great Karoo region through rewilding and responsible tourism. A member of @thelongrunorg, Samara has committed to achieving a holistic balance of the ‘4Cs’: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.

Learn more at samara.co.za #DareToRewild

Imagine waking up here on Valentine’s Day mornin

Imagine waking up here on Valentine’s Day morning. Samara’s star bed offers a deeply romantic way of experiencing the Karoo’s famously clear night skies.

#SamaraKaroo #SafariForTheSoul #StarBed

📷: David Smith

- - - -

Samara is on a journey to regenerate South Africa’s semi-arid Great Karoo region through rewilding and responsible tourism. A member of @thelongrunorg, Samara has committed to achieving a holistic balance of the ‘4Cs’: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.

Learn more at samara.co.za #DareToRewild

As the layers of hills are revealed by the sunrise

As the layers of hills are revealed by the sunrise, a herd of black wildebeest pauses in the dust kicked up by their hooves as they move across the plains.

#SamaraKaroo #BlackWildebeest #PlainsOfCamdeboo

📷: Benedict Phepheng

- - - -

Samara is on a journey to regenerate South Africa’s semi-arid Great Karoo region through rewilding and responsible tourism. A member of @thelongrunorg, Samara has committed to achieving a holistic balance of the ‘4Cs’: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.

Learn more at samara.co.za #DareToRewild

The N family of elephants is the founder herd intr

The N family of elephants is the founder herd introduced onto Samara with @erp.redux in 2017, at a time when elephants had been absent from the landscape for almost two centuries.

Following the naming convention established by renowned expert Cynthia Moss of the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Kenya, elephant families are typically assigned a letter to be used as the starting point for naming the individuals in the group. This makes it easy to track social interactions within and between elephant families as populations grow.

Following this protocol, the N family was given isiXhosa names starting with N, based on their personality and status within the herd.

Nombeko (“Respect”) is the matriarch, and Nomvula (“Rain”) is her second-in-command. Noluvo (“Opinion”) and Nocwaka (“Quietness”) are the two adult females’ eldest daughters, with vastly different temperaments. The youngster in the family is 10-year-old Nolitha, whose name means “beam of light”.

#SamaraKaroo #ElephantConservation #JoinTheHerd

📷: Benedict Phepheng

- - - -

Samara is on a journey to regenerate South Africa’s semi-arid Great Karoo region through rewilding and responsible tourism. A member of @thelongrunorg, Samara has committed to achieving a holistic balance of the ‘4Cs’: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Staying at one of Samara’s lodges acts as a direct contribution to this vision.

Learn more at samara.co.za #DareToRewild

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