ABOUT NAKO
Purchased in 2020 for redevelopment as a private retreat, NAKO Safari Lodge was reimagined with a clear vision rooted in the hospitality industry. From the outset, the goal was to create a sustainable model that balanced personal use with an element of commercial operation.
The owners envisioned a lodge where family could gather and spend meaningful time together, raising their children surrounded by nature, while still accommodating the demands of modern business life. When not in school, the lodge becomes a place of connection and grounding, offering the flexibility to continue daily business activities, whether from a private office or a boardroom suited to strategic executive meetings. Easily accessible from Johannesburg, Pretoria, and international destinations, the lodge allows business to be conducted virtually or in person, without compromising on privacy, comfort, or time spent in the natural environment.
Prior to being renamed NAKO Safari Lodge, the lodge was called Pumba Game Camp and was owned by Pretoria businessman, Charl Van Deventer. Charl, being one of the founders of the Dinokeng Biosphere, owned the lodge for a period of 22 years. Pumba was the northern-most camp in the Dinokeng area; an unfenced hunting camp with simple chalets looking into a central Boma. The redevelopment enabled all of these chalets to be opened into larger luxury suites, turning the views from the Boma towards the surrounding bush, where the Big 5 can be readily spotted in the Dinokeng North Private Game Reserve, just outside Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The vision of NAKO Safari Lodge is to make a worthwhile difference in luxury eco-tourism in South Africa, with a strong emphasis on conservation and the preservation of natural habitats and local communities. Part of NAKO Safari Lodge bookings are re-invested into local projects, allowing guests to make a worthwhile difference while enjoying a luxury Big 5 safari experience close to the city.
NAKO Safari Lodge is committed to responsible tourism practices, combining sustainable safari tourism, environmental management, and local economic development. Guests are encouraged to join conservation initiatives within the Dinokeng North Private Game Reserve, including projects involving Rhino, Elephants, and Big Cats, creating an authentic and meaningful South African safari lodge experience.
NAKO Safari Lodge is an intimate luxury safari lodge operated by a close-knit, highly experienced team, fostered by a dynamic workplace culture grounded in participation and thoughtful, democratic decision-making. Through an uncompromising dedication to service excellence, NAKO Safari Lodge offers luxuriously sophisticated accommodation, sincere and personalised hospitality, and truly memorable wildlife encounters within the Dinokeng North Private Game Reserve.
DINOKENG NORTH PRIVATE GAME RESERVE
Heralded as one of the most distinctive boutique reserves in South Africa, the Dinokeng North Private Game Reserve stands as a landmark in modern conservation and community development. Established through a unique joint venture between the state, local communities, and the private sector, the reserve has become a powerful example of sustainable conservation in action. Today, it is the setting for Africa’s largest wildlife translocation project, where guests witness an extraordinary abundance of new life in a region once affected by economic decline.
The Dinokeng North Private Game Reserve is testimony to an enlightened conservation vision that has created an exceptional wildlife sanctuary for the preservation of a rare and pristine wilderness area. The reintroduction of wildlife began in 1991 under Operation Phoenix, recognised as the largest game translocation exercise in the world. More than 8,000 animals across 28 species were released into the reserve, including elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, cheetah, African wild dog, spotted hyena, giraffe, zebra, and a wide variety of antelope and herbivores. Leopard established themselves naturally within the reserve, while approximately 380 bird species have since been recorded.
This is a near-perfect ecological environment, where every plant, animal, and insect plays an essential role in a finely balanced ecosystem. Life and death exist in harmony to sustain the natural order, reminding us that humanity’s own survival has long been rooted in this intricate yet beautifully simple design.