Welcome to the Zanji Suite at Tembo Plains

“The Zanji Suite at Tembo Plains, located in the private Sapi Reserve, was made for travellers seeking a private, luxurious Zimbabwe safari.

Tembo (meaning elephant in Swahili) Plains Camp honours the elephants found along the Zambezi River on Zimbabwean Plains. We draw on the Elephant’s pace and essence for the camp’s atmosphere. In our continuing acknowledgement of the rich history Africa shares with the East, The Zanji Suite at Tembo Plains recognises and celebrates this heritage of travellers, explorers, and traders who visited this region long before European settlers, soldiers, misfits, and missionaries walked the land.”

– Dereck Joubert

Welcome to the Zanji Suite at Tembo Plains

“The Zanji Suite at Tembo Plains, located in the private Sapi Reserve, was made for travellers seeking a private, luxurious Zimbabwe safari.

– Dereck Joubert

The Camp

The Zanji Suite at Tembo Plains, one of our Réserve-Collection luxury safari camps, represents the ultimate destination for those seeking a private luxury Zimbabwe safari.

The 2-bedroom private Suite is tucked away into a thick riverine forest on the edge of the Zambezi River in the private 128,000-hectare Sapi Private Reserve, East of Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools National Park.

The Persian word Zanji was a name used by medieval Muslim geographers and traders to refer to the eastern coastline of Africa, which included the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts, Zanzibar, Madagascar and stretched to the mouth of the Zambezi River.

This word is also the origin of the placename of Zanzibar (“coast of the Zanji”) and the Sea of Zanji. The Sea of Zanji applied to the sea expanses near the eastern portion of the African continent known by ancient Muslim travellers and chroniclers such as Al Masudi and Ibn Battuta.

Zanji also served a dual purpose as a descriptor of the inhabitants along this region of coastline in Africa.

For centuries the coastal settlements were a source of ivory, gold, and, regrettably, slaves. These traders sailed their dhows, using the variations of the Monsoon winds along the African coastline to trade.

Prominent settlements of the Zanji coast included Malindi, Gedi and Mombasa. By the late medieval period, records show that at least 37 notable wealthy Swahili trading towns existed.

Legend has it that these traders from the East were also seeking a mystical city of gold, the source of the gold that was traded. They even went so far as to sail their dhows up the Zambezi River, past the Sapi Reserve, looking for this magical city of gold.

Our fellow Réserve-Collection luxury safari camp in Zimbabwe is Tembo Plains Camp.

In Botswana, our Réserve-Collection luxury safari camps include Zarafa Camp and The Dhow Suite at Zarafa, Selinda Camp and the Selinda Suite, Sitatunga Private Island and the Sitatunga Private Island Suite, and Duba Plains Camp and the Duba Plains Suite.

Our Kenyan Réserve-Collection luxury safari camps are Mara Nyika Camp and The Sambuk Suite at Mara Nyika, Mara Plains Camp and The Jahazi Suite at Mara Plains, Mara Toto Tree Camp, and ol Donyo Lodge.

The Zanji Suite at Tembo Plains is also a proud member of Relais & Châteaux – the only luxury Zimbabwean safari camp currently with this honour.

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Safari Suite

The beautiful 2-bedroomed Zanji suite comprises two rooms flanking a shared lounge, dining area and pool. The Tembo Plains Suite is ideal for two couples or families travelling together and those guests looking for the ultimate private safari.

This 2-bedroom Suite offers guests a central lounge and dining area, flanked on either side by spacious bedrooms complete with a walk-in wardrobe, double vanity basins, toilet, copper baths and indoor showers.

There is a writing desk in each bedroom, encouraging you to diarise your safari experiences with us on what was seen, heard, and learnt. Jot down your favourite recipe enjoyed one evening.

The Zanji Suite at Tembo Plains offers a high-quality pair of binoculars and a professional camera with a selection of lenses for your complimentary use. At the end of your safari stay with us, your wildlife images and video footage is downloaded as our gift to you to take home.

Rates

$3 435 to $5 226 per night on exclusive use only

More Details

$4 965 per Suite per night 
01 June – 31 October 2024

$3 435 per Suite per night
01 November – 20 November 2024

$3 616 per Suite per night
01 April – 31 May 2025 & 01 – 20 November 2025

$5 226 per Suite per night
01 June – 31 October 2025

The above rates are in US$ and based on a per suite per night basis. Guide rates are available on request.

These rates include accommodation, scheduled wildlife viewing activities, one wildlife experience in the Mana Pools National Park on 3-night stays or longer, all meals, return airstrip road transfers, laundry services, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages including premium brand spirits and champagne.

Safari Experiences

Wildlife viewing activities at the Zanji Suite at Tembo Plains are focused on exploration and adventure. You can experience up-close encounters with elephants, lions, leopards, hyenas, wild dogs, buffalo, eland, zebra, and other ungulate species.

The Suite is in prime bird-watching country, and the opportunities to spot resident and migrant species are endless.

The Zanji Suite at Tembo Plains comes with a private, custom-built, open safari vehicle. The vehicle is specifically designed for photographers and includes fold-down windscreens, raised roofs, photographic bars, and multi-plug inverters.

The private Sapi Reserve was established in 2016 by Great Plains Conservation as a beautiful private photographic reserve safe for wildlife. It borders the Mana Pools National Park to the west and forms part of our mission to convert vast tracts of Africa into pure conservation land. It is now recognised as one of the finest wildlife destinations in Africa today. We access this fantastic wildlife sanctuary and the Mana Pools National Park if we want to offer a combined range of over 337,000 hectares of prime, protected wilderness for our guests. It is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and a core area of the middle-Zambezi biosphere reserve.

Enjoy the privacy of a safari, so rare today, in a wildlife-rich sanctuary along the Zambezi River with us. Here you don’t have to worry about anything else except how best to soak up every moment.  The Zanji Suite at Tembo Plains is accompanied by a private safari drive vehicle and a private wildlife guide. And, of course, our Relais & Châteaux level cuisine and service.

- Explore our other Great Plains Camps

Watch the world-famous lions of National Geographic fame hunt during the day

Play cricket on the banks of the lower Zambezi River

Canoe the lower Zambezi River and have lunch on a sandbank in the middle of the river

Lasting Impact

Great Plains Female Rangers: Empowering Women on the Front Line of Conservation

The Female Ranger Program invites women from local communities to embark on a 12-month training program equipping them with a plethora of skills, including data collection, first aid, computer skills, driving skills, and more. They are then hired and deployed in our concessions to monitor and manage the biodiversity. Great Plains’ Female Rangers also offers opportunities to shift gender stereotypes, empower vulnerable women, and establish strong female role models for young girls. The long-term conservation impact of this project is equally powerful; female rangers will help foster the community buy-in necessary to preserve Africa’s most precious biodiversity.

READ MORE ABOUT THIS INITIATIVE