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The safari lodge ensuring sustainability isn’t just lip service
‘Farm-to-table’ and ‘sustainability’ aren’t just fancy words at Mhondoro – they’re intentional
Visiting Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa is a truly magical experience. It’s bush luxury at its finest, with every little detail of your stay taken care of in the most intentional way. You can read all about my visit in my review
However, when you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll find that their intention goes far beyond simply providing guests with a bush escape to remember
Sustainability with meaning
We live in a world where we need to be sustainable. For too long, we as humans have taken from the land, without a second thought for the long-term repercussions
While being sustainable in all facets of life is important (recycle at home, please), when it comes to the natural world and those who operate within it, sustainability has to play an integral role, as once the world around you is gone, your business model is shot
This is something which the brains behind the Mhondoro operations have taken to heart
They know all too well that it’s not only good for business to take on the responsibility of sustainability, but also the right thing to do
“We have been on a journey of sustainability for quite a while, and where we started versus where we are now is day and night,” shares Mhondoro CEO Fritz Breytenbach
“During COVID, we had the chance to do something with the farms. We started a game breeding programme which assists with sustainable harvesting out of the farm. Everything we do, from the biltong to the veggies, is harvested in a sustainable way.”
While the Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa is located within the Welgevonden Game Reserve in Limpopo, Mhondoro as a business also owns two farms outside of the reserve
With one farm located at the main entrance to the reserve and the other sandwiched between Welgevonden and Marakele National Park further south, Mhondoro is able to sustain itself through hard work, ingenuity, and intention
“We created what we call the ‘Farmhouse Project’ which produces everything that the lodge and villa needs. The whole menu prep for what you eat at the lodge and villa is done at the farmhouse, with 90% of what goes to the lodge harvested on our farms. We produce 65 different types of produce; and for anyone who knows anything about farming, that’s quite an achievement,” Breytenbach adds
Sustaining yourself in this manner is something which many other lodges right across South Africa can learn from. It doesn’t even need to be at this scale, with every good action helping the greater cause for long-term sustainability across the board
More to the Mhondoro story
While the sustainability is intentional, so is the upliftment of neighbouring communities and the people who live there
One such story is that of Amos, a Waterberg resident who is in charge of the harvesting of the animals and livestock on the farms
Amos started working for Mhondoro as a bricklayer, but Breytenbach saw huge potential in the young man thanks to his incredible work ethic and eagerness to learn
The upskilling process started and now Amos plays a major role in the operations of Mhondoro as the man in charge of meat production – and I can attest to his skills after tasting his biltong
“It’s not often that you find someone who wants to take an opportunity and run with it like Amos has. We have a nice synergy going on and as we go we teach each other as well. What we do here is not our background, so we get it done together, give each other feedback, and move on from there,” Breytenbach says with pride
Amos is not alone in this. Those who work across both farms are being given the tools to upskill in areas they never thought they would be operating in
From the people working in the veggie tunnels to those helping the beekeeping operations, so much good is coming from the work being done on the Mhondoro farms
Another example is chef Thembi, who was the private chef for our stay at the Villa. Her journey is inspirational, having grown into her new role thanks to the belief shown in her abilities and working alongside the award-winning Luke Dale-Roberts, who spent some time at Mhondoro assisting in the creation of the farm-to-table menus
This once again goes back to Mhondoro’s intention and what it is trying to achieve
A feel-good ending to my visit
While it was fascinating exploring the operations of Mhondoro, an incident which took place while I was there will stay with me for quite some time
While on the tour of the farms, we went to see the sheep. A little lamb, no older than a few days, was not happy. Its mother was clearly not interested and it was being starved of milk it needed
Bleating like crazy, the little lamb would clearly not survive much longer without intervention, especially seeing as the mother was not responding at all to her baby’s cries for help
Breytenbach jumped into action after seeing the neglect. He quickly pulled the lamb from the enclosure and called ahead to have milk prepped. He then nursed the lamb and got it to pass water (vital in a scenario such as this)
The lamb, eventually dubbed ‘Keith Jnr’ after a member of the group called Keith took a shining to the little one, is now being raised by the staff of Mhondoro (Keith the lamb, not the human)
The care on display was admirable, showing that the work being done at Mhondoro goes far beyond servicing the bottom line – it is genuine
And that is evident in everything they are trying to achieve in their little pocket of the Waterberg
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