Wildlife aficionados with deep pockets and an adventurous attitude to overseas
property investment might like to get in touch with Tara Getty, a scion of
the American financial dynasty who, with his English wife, Jessica, runs a
handful of luxurious game lodges on the Phinda reserve in KwaZulu-Natal in
South Africa.
An overnight stay in one of the properties, set in 50,000 acres of land shared
with the big five – leopards, lions, elephants, white rhinos and buffaloes –
and a few exciting rarities, including the small and aggressive black rhino,
costs upwards of £180 per person.
Now, however, those with £2.6m to spend can buy one of the 15 houses that
Getty, grandson of the billionaire oilman J Paul Getty, is building on the
reserve. With 700 square metres “under roof”, including four bedroom suites,
a small gym and a pool, they will use local wood and stone, where possible,
and have thatched roofs.
It is, as Getty concedes, “the totally luxury end of the market” – especially
because letting out the houses as safari accommodation will not be
permitted. “The impact would be too much,” he says. “We could just as well
develop another lodge ourselves. This is a private retreat to share with
family and friends.” And, the implication is, to leave empty most of the
time.
The homes will be on solo sites or clustered in twos and threes around the
reserve. “We’d rather people didn’t fence them in,” Getty says. “If there
really is a problem, we provide security.”
“Problems”, in safari speak, are usually elephant-shaped, and can be quite
destructive if a huge tusker decides he wants your trees for his lunch, but
careful game management comes with the territory. Following the style of the
most upmarket safari holidays, Getty and his team will be able to staff each
house with its own butler, maid and cook, as well as a ranger and tracker
for game drives.
If you hanker to get the birds and beasts of South Africa in your camera lens
from the comfort of your own veranda, but don’t have Getty-style money,
there are other options, as the country’s developers realise that a big-five
view can be a draw for buyers bored with waterfront views, golf courses and
mountain retreats.
At Royal Jozini, in Swaziland (a small, landlocked country between South
Africa and Mozambique), you can buy leasehold plots on which to build your
own bush lodge. Plot sizes start at 4,000 square metres and prices at
£44,000. Half of the 600 plots have already been sold, and the developers
reckon it will cost about £375 a square metre to build a house – which could
mean about £100,000 for a decent-sized four-bedroom home.
Besides the big five, which have yet to be introduced to the territory, other
potential attractions include a golf course and a hotel, so it could get
quite busy, even on 40,000 acres. You could always spend a morning on Lake
Jozini, which forms part of the reserve, and try to catch a few tiger fish.
Down in the Eastern Cape, which has the advantage of being malaria-free, just
five private lodges are being built on the small Abo Shamani Wildlife Ranch,
which also has a small five-star hotel. The ranch, home to many species of
wild animals and birds, is within the wider area of the Kariega game
reserve, in the Bushman’s River valley. Prices for the houses start at about
£126,000 and they are on sale through the Kenton-on-Sea branch of the Pam
Golding franchise.
Michael Wilmot, an agent there, is selling a 1,800-acre private estate called
Khusela, which has a large main house and a farmhouse, for £2m. “The current
owners use it as a private conservation reserve, where the land can be
walked safely and enjoyed without having any dangerous animals chasing or
eating you,” he says. “The reserve has been stocked with a mix of grazers
and browsers carefully calculated to maintain the natural balance of the
vegetation. With the introduction of sable, a rare antelope, it is expected
that the sale of game will cover the running costs of the reserve by 2010.”
Bill Blevins, an international investment and tax advisor and one of Home’s
panel of experts, knows the thrill of owning a piece of Africa. Fifteen
years ago, he joined a consortium of 36 South African and British
bush-lovers who bought a 20,000-acre private reserve next to the Klaserie
reserve, near Hoedspruit, one of the gateways to the Kruger National Park.
Each owner contributed to the “very expensive” initial cost of stocking the
reserve with lions, cheetahs and other must-have creatures. They also share
the cost of the salaries of the rangers who maintain the land’s delicate
ecological balance, which, Blevins says, mainly involves ensuring that the
elephants (a recurring theme, you’ll notice) don’t destroy the habitat for
their fellow creatures. Each of the owners has built a house on their
20-acre plots.
Blevins does his own cooking when he’s at the house – mostly on his brai,
a traditional South African barbecue. “One of the great things about a lodge
on a private estate like mine is that you are bound to learn a lot about
animals,” he says. “If you want to find a kill, you have to watch out for
where the vultures are circling. The most fantastic thing about our house is
that we are living in the territory of the animals. Seven lions slept on our
patio last time we were there.” Almost as exhilarating as close encounters
with the big beasts is tracking the currency fluctuations between the rand
and sterling. Blevins reckons his four-bedroom spread is now worth about
£500,000. When he bought into the reserve, the exchange rate was 19 rand to
the pound. A few years later, when a pound would have bought only 10 rand,
he says he “could have sold and doubled my money”. The rand has since
drifted down to about 15 to the pound, which means that, even if nothing
else happens to affect South African property values, you could still see
the value of anything you buy there now gently slide on the international
market.
Blevins also warns buyers to watch out for the current crop of land claims by
local people against farmers in rural South Africa – many game reserves are
converted from farmed land. “We cleared ours a long time ago, and we have a
certificate,” he says. “However, I bought another game farm, rebuilt the
lodge and resold it. I made a good profit, but the fact that it had a land
claim on it probably put off about 20% of potential purchasers. Land claims
frighten foreigners, rather than South Africans, who are familiar with the
risks.
“The bureaucracy is long-winded and that creates great opportunities to
negotiate with the local chiefs,” he adds. The chiefs tend to do quite well
out of such deals, but Blevins warns that “this is not entirely secure.
South Africa could still be volatile. The claim could be settled, then there
could be a change in the rules about how it should have been settled”.
Back in KwaZulu-Natal, such worries are minimal at the Thanda private game
reserve, according to Pierre Delvaux, who runs the enterprise for its
Swedish owner, Dan Olofsson, chairman of the telecoms giant Sigma. Since he
established the estate, which is practically next door to Getty’s spread, in
2004, with an elegant and luxurious lodge, the tycoon from Malmo has made a
friend in a high place. Goodwill Zwelithini, the king of the Zulus, is a
frequent visitor, and his King’s Trust is granting a 90-year lease on
neighbouring land, doubling the size of the 7,130-acre reserve.
The king will also own one of the 34 Thanda Royal Residences, to be built on a
huge rectangular slice of the reserve’s western section, an undulating
swathe of hillside with views across a breathtaking vista of hills and
valleys.
The cheapest, at £2.7m each, will be the 500-square-metre houses on five-acre
plots. Even for South Africa, where space is never cramped, these homes will
be on a gargantuan scale, with towering domed roofs, lofty ceilings and vast
outdoor and indoor living spaces.
One of Olofsson’s Swedish billionaire mates has paid £3m, which, says Delvaux,
will buy him the “key to a house fully furnished and kitted out with
everything he’ll need, apart from his own clothes”. And a good pair of
binoculars to keep an eye on the neighbours.
www.thanda.com
Into Africa
On Phinda, a 54,000-acre private game reserve, this five-bedroom,
600-square-metre home has internal and external dining and living terraces,
and a swimming pool.
For sale for £2.6m; 00 27 11 809 4523, www.africanhomesteads.com
You can build your own bush lodge at Royal Jozini, in Swaziland. Plot sizes
start at 4,000 square metres and prices at £44,000, plus build costs of
about £370 a square metre.
Contact Alistair Brown; 00 27 32 947 2410, www.royaljozini.com
Khusela, a four-bedroom thatched lodge on the eastern slopes of the Bushman’s
River valley, an hour’s drive from Port Elizabeth, is for sale for £2m.
Built in 2006, it has a pool and a farmstead.
00 27 46 648 1203, www.pamgolding.co.za
Five private eco-lodges are to be built in the Abo Shamani Wildlife Ranch, in
the Kariega game reserve, in the Eastern Cape. They will have access to the
Kariega River Lodge.
Prices start at £126,000; 00 27 46 648 1203, www.pamgolding.co.za
