There are some journeys that stay with you long after you’ve left the dust behind, not because of the miles covered or the game taken, but because of who you shared them with. In this Rigby Campfire blog, Rigby’s Head of Communications Simon K Barr reflects on a deeply personal safari to South Africa’s Limpopo Province, where Royal Thabane offered something increasingly rare: a place where family, hunting and conservation sit side by side, and where the next generation is invited not just to observe, but to understand.
I’ve always dreamed of sharing Africa with my daughters. The continent has held my heart for decades, but finding the right place to introduce two young girls to its wonders (and to hunting) proved more challenging than I’d imagined. While I’m perfectly content in a tent surrounded by nothing but roars and bush sounds, I knew that wouldn’t be the gentle introduction seven and nine-year-olds needed. What I was searching for seemed almost impossible: a place that combined quality hunting opportunities with family-friendly comfort, where my wife and children could be active participants rather than mere spectators. Then I discovered Royal Thabane, tucked into the undulating bushveld of South Africa’s Limpopo Province.
This luxury safari lodge, the shared vision of Alex and Danielle McDonald, delivered something I’d begun to think didn’t exist. Alex, descended from a long line of respected conservation hunters, brings the kind of quiet authority that comes not just from experience, but from purpose. His commitment to increasing and rehabilitating the property by clearing thick bush and opening up plains has transformed Royal Thabane into a rare gem in southern Africa.
What struck me immediately was how different this felt from other hunting lodges. We weren’t there five minutes before my girls were off with Danielle, tracking animals and learning about spoor. This wasn’t a case of keeping the kids entertained while the grown-ups went off to hunt. The whole experience was immersive for them, exactly what I’d hoped to find.
“We want children to grow up understanding these animals, the ecosystem, and the role of ethical hunting within it,” Danielle explained to me. “That starts with being out there, feet on the ground, seeing it for themselves.”
The lodge itself provided the perfect base for our family adventure. Elegantly understated, with stonework and timber blending into the landscape, it offered the comfort I knew would make this African baptism gentle rather than jarring. Private suites with wide verandas overlooking the bushveld, outdoor showers, and that essential element for traveling with children, a pool, meant my wife and daughters could relax between adventures.
But Royal Thabane is no mere luxury retreat. The game drives here are anything but passive affairs. My daughters learned to track, identify birds and plants and even follow blood trails, always at their own pace, under expert guidance. The abundance of game made every outing rewarding, from early morning sightings of leopard and giraffe to the countless wildebeest that meandered past our veranda.
The defining moment of our visit encapsulated everything that makes Royal Thabane special. Although a modest hunt by comparison to my other adventures, but more profound and meaningful, I stalked a mature impala ram with my family in tow. Using one of the lodge’s Rigby .275 Highland Stalker rifles.
It wasn’t about the trophy. The trophy was the experience and its context. This was an animal that needed to be taken and my girls were right beside me the whole time, understanding the whole process. They saw the animal, they saw the shot, they saw what happened afterwards. And they asked all the right questions.
Back at the lodge, the impala became part of our meals. My daughters even helped prepare the meat, understanding that nothing was wasted, that hunting, when done properly, is part of conservation, not in conflict with it.
For my wife, now an occasional hunter, Royal Thabane proved equally rewarding. Morning wildlife drives, yoga sessions in the open air, gym sessions with panoramic views of Africa, bush breakfasts beneath marula trees and photography walks guided by the lodge trackers filled her days. The library, stocked with books on natural history and African folklore, provided quiet moments to soak in our experiences.
Danielle’s meals became highlights in themselves, impala carpaccio, kudu steaks, and bushveld vegetables complemented by South African wines, often taken communally under the stars, within the lodge’s many grand areas or around a fire. These gatherings, where hunting stories mixed with children’s excited observations about the day’s discoveries, epitomised the lodge’s family ethos.
“We never wanted it to feel transactional,” Alex told me one evening. “You’re not just coming here to hunt something and leave. You’re coming to share a way of life, and to understand the land and the animals.”
One of Royal Thabane’s most exciting features is the “Rigby Room,” a curated space within the lodge dedicated to the rifles of London gunmaker John Rigby & Co. Alex is a passionate Rigby man himself and the lodge’s close relationship with the brand is a nod to their shared values: adventure, tradition and respect for the hunt. Visitors can handle and admire some of Rigby’s finest rifles, including the iconic .275 and .416 Rigby. Best of all I was able to borrow these for my hunts, circumventing the increasing stress of traveling with guns, while still hunting with a dream rifle. For many, it’s a rare chance to see the art of British gunmaking in an African context. “There’s something very grounding about holding a Rigby rifle in the bush,” he says. “It connects you to a long line of hunters and legendary stories.”
In a region saturated with hunting lodges, Royal Thabane stands apart through its unique combination of serious hunting opportunities, genuine family engagement, and authentic conservation practices. The team is deliberately small and deeply invested, with no generic itineraries or rotating door of Professional Hunters. Wildlife populations are carefully managed according to scientific data, not commercial demand, ensuring ecological balance rather than just offering photo ops.
Perhaps what makes Royal Thabane most special is its sense of permanence, of roots going deeper than the thorn trees and granite kopjes that dot the landscape. This isn’t just a destination for a once-in-a-lifetime trip; it’s a place families return to, season after season, year after year. For those bringing children, it becomes part of their upbringing, a place where they learn that adventure doesn’t come with a screen and that wildness has value beyond beauty. These early experiences often plant seeds that flourish in adulthood. Former guests have returned as teenagers to apprentice under Alex and his team, learning not just to hunt, but to track, guide, and manage land with intelligence and restraint.
The long-term vision for the property is equally compelling. With community support, Royal Thabane is expanding, not just physically through the consolidation of neighbouring properties, but philosophically, as part of a broader rewilding effort across this region of Limpopo. Eventually, it aims to achieve private nature reserve status, offering a contiguous wilderness where all species, including rhino and elephant, can roam freely once more.
“We want to leave something enduring,” says Alex. “Something that still matters 50 or 100 years from now, not just for our guests, but for the land, for the animals, and for South Africa.”
Royal Thabane has become part of our family story now. It’s not just where we went to see Africa; it’s where my daughters began to understand it, where hunting revealed itself as stewardship rather than sport, where family bonds strengthened around campfires and over spoor tracking lessons.
For families seeking that perfect balance, serious hunting opportunities alongside genuine family engagement, comfort without compromising authenticity, education wrapped in adventure, Royal Thabane stands alone. Alex and Danielle have created something precious, a place where the next generation can fall in love with Africa just as we did, but on their own terms, at their own pace. My dream of sharing Africa with my children has been realised and Royal Thabane will forever be the place where that dream took flight.
