Lalibela Mills Manor

Mills Manor is an exclusive-use home style villa offering an idyllic and private safari getaway for families or small groups. The villa has a relaxed home-away-from-home ambience and comes with a private game ranger and vehicle, chef and housekeeper.

This 100 year old villa is an historic farmhouse – happy home to generations of families. The gables, high ceilings, large rooms and wide wrap-around veranda are typical of the Edwardian farmhouses of the region, built at a time when high wool prices and the ostrich feather boom allowed farmers to build stately family homes.

Facilities inside the villa include a welcoming bar, spacious lounge and gracious dining room. Outside there is a swimming pool and sun deck, a large fire pit and barbeque area where al fresco dinners can be served under the African sky. The wide, shady veranda offers cool respite from the sun and a place to relax between game drives.

With 5 bedrooms, Mills Manor can accommodate a maximum of 10 guests. All rooms are air-conditioned and have wide stack doors opening out onto verandas or indigenous gardens with valley views beyond.

Much attention was placed on the quality of the furnishings and facilities ensuring extremely high levels of comfort and exclusivity. The rooms are generous in size and have en-suite bathrooms with shower and his & her basins. Three of the five bathrooms also have ball & claw baths.

Big Five Game Viewing

Lalibela is a conservation project that currently consists of 10,500 hectares (approximately 26,000 acres) and is home to the Big 5 (lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo & leopard) as well as other predators like cheetah, hyena, jackal & lynx.

Unique to our area of South Africa, we are blessed with vast areas Savannah Grassland, the biome that has by far the highest carrying capacity – this means that we are able to sustain truly vast herds of plains game like zebra, impala, wildebeest, red hartebeest, blesbuck and eland. This, in turn, allows us to sustain a remarkable density of free-roaming lions.

Game viewing is carried out during the morning and evening when you are guided by your game ranger in an open game viewing vehicle. If you have a particular interest, please mention it to your ranger; who will be happy to merge your plans with those of the group.

The game drives will take between three and four hours, with a sundowner stop at sunset and a coffee stop in the morning. The evening game drives usually return to the lodge after dark. Game drive times are seasonally adjusted. It is always advisable to bring warm clothing along, even in summer. Please do not forget to bring your binoculars, cameras and sunhat along.

Optional late-night game drives by arrangement with the lodge at an additional cost.

Big 5 Walking Safaris & Soft Walking Safaris (Non Big 5 area)

Big 5 Walking safaris:

Guests have the option of booking a Big 5 Walking safari during their stay at Lalibela. This will take place on the main reserve where guests may encounter Big 5 animals on their walk. Walks are led by our qualified rangers.

- Big 5 walks (Ages 16-65).
- Weather dependent therefore you are required to book during your stay.
- Bush walks are an additional cost. Guests to settle direct with the lodge.

Soft Walking Safaris (Non-Big 5 area):

Not only did the “Big 5 area” of Lalibela increase in size, but the acquisition of an additional 2,000 hectares adjacent to the existing Big 5 area, means that Lalibela now has a pristine wilderness range that will be used as a breeding area, and to reintroduce endemic game species to the Eastern Cape.

In this new predator-free area, “soft” walking safaris have been introduced. This breeding area offers a more relaxed “on foot” safari experience for the whole family where you can get up close and personal with game such as zebra, giraffe, warthog and various antelope in a safe environment.

- Soft walks in Non-Big 5 area (All ages).
- Weather dependent therefore you are required to book during your stay.
- Bush walks are an additional cost. Guests to settle direct with the lodge.