Outside in – a new season dawns at Lebombo

All that we see around us – from the earth to the sky, and the life that fills them both, is reflected throughout Lebombo. Its spaces aren’t only inspired by the landscape, but extensions of it. Easy-going, open, and airy, it rests along a ridge overlooking a shimmering river, surrounded by trees and euphorbia, open to the elements. Lebombo has always lived lightly amongst its surroundings, its walkways frequented by birds, frogs, and lizards, resident nyala browsing comfortably in its environs.

The lodge’s recent refresh shifts it as gently into its new season as it rests within this setting. Each change has simply deepened its spirit and enhanced its expression.

At the heart of this is the new Conservation Lounge and Gallery of Treasures. What was once the wine cellar has been transformed into a space for learning, inspiration, and awe. A collection of artefacts and artworks that elevate nature to its rightful stature.

Sculptures and installations by artists from across Southern Africa live alongside found items and objects; the boundaries between nature and art blur. As you enter through glass doors, the Conservation Lounge to the left speaks to the region’s history and context, and the work being done by the Singita Lowveld Trust to care for its biodiversity and support its communities. To the right, the gallery begins with a ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ collected on the concession, and a trio of skulls.

A life-sized carved-cork crocodile by Wiid Design is mounted on the wall as you ascend the staircase, with a collection of cork skulls and sculptures above it. Alongside them sit a series of natural collages by Christopher Parker and a six-foot ceramic snake skeleton by Jack Fillery. As you reach the top, you’re greeted by a mask, made of seedpods, by Tatenda Chidora, and a multi-media installation. Each piece draws your eyes to the often-unnoticed elements of the natural world, highlighting their beauty, celebrating their intricacy, and immersing you in the multi-sensory experience of them.

This is a space where conservation and creativity converge. Nature is art, art is inspired by nature. It was made possible only through collaboration. Beyond the artists who have partnered with our design team on unique works for the gallery are the guides, guests, and trackers who collect the pieces you’ll find on these walls and shelves – a physical reminder of the diversity and complexity of the concession, and of our purpose to help care for it.

A growing anthology, a compendium of nature’s treasures. A space committed to celebrating context, conservation, and our natural heritage. The Wine Studio, too, celebrates this heritage in its own way – a communal space meant to be explored slowly, the product of time and land.

Again, bringing nature even closer, the design updates made to the lodge echo this blurring of boundaries – a palette shift from cool greys to warm tan and brown, which moves Lebombo into a warmer season, welcoming the landscape further in.

Fabrics echo the varying shades of bark, trees, bush, grass and wildlife beyond the lodge’s limits. The warm brown of a combretum seed pod, the glossy hide of the Nyala, striped like the shadows on the wood panelling as the sun moves over you, the rock-like texture of the granophyres found in the veined marble of the Long Bar. Rugs and fabrics rich in texture, filled with life and designed to quieten the mind and engage the senses.

Sensory and emotional comfort form the heart of Lebombo’s architectural updates. While some are functional, rather than visible, each enhances the physical experience of these spaces – their ability to shelter, comfort, and inspire.

This sensory experience expands outwards from your room, to dining on the deck, to out on a drive. None is separate; each is an extension of the lodge, as the lodge is an extension of nature. In every moment, you will taste, feel, listen, smell, and learn about the landscape – and leave enriched, with a greater understanding of the wilderness’s power to touch and transform.