Just a quick post to highlight the fact that the Friedkin Conservation Fund’s Mwiba Lodge appeared in this month’s Departure Magazine, which went as far as to call it East Africa’s ‘most significant new safari lodge.’ Some accolade.
As shared some months back, I was fortunate enough to accompany Dan Friedkin on a tour of the fund’s giant lease, a trip that included stopping off at the increasingly feted Mwiba Lodge. I like Mwiba for many reasons, for its design, for the level of service, the expertise of ingrained in its hospitality and its guiding, the sheer privacy it offers.
However, I’m especially fond of the fact that in establishing itself here on the Mwiba Wildlife Reserve, Mwiba has by its proactive presence helped secure a portion of the southern leg of the wildebeest migration. In this sense, though perhaps in slightly different circumstances, it does the same as Paul Tudor’s Singita enterprise does for the western flank of the Serengeti. A vast and guaranteed ratio of bed to wild space, it ensures that area’s both supported and not overrun. Plus it is the first lodge to compete on Singita’s terms – that is the ability to combine a very high-end luxury offer with a proper heavyweight conservation ethos.
As said, it’s in this month’s Departures, and written up beautifully.