For more than three decades, one corner of South Africa’s Eastern Cape has been quietly rewritten, from worn-out farmland into thriving Big Five wilderness. That transformation is the story behind Founders Lodge, and of the conservationist whose vision set it in motion.
From degraded farmland to a conservation vision
In 1989, Adrian Gardiner bought a farm in the Sundays River Valley as a weekend retreat. The land had been worn down by years of overgrazing and conventional farming. Where others saw spent ground, Gardiner saw a chance to bring wildlife back. In 1992 he formally established Shamwari Private Game Reserve, helping to pioneer Big Five eco-tourism in a region then far better known for farming than for safari.
“Man and Nature Together is Sustainable”
In 2000, Gardiner founded the Mantis Collection, a portfolio of boutique, conservation-minded properties. The name itself was suggested by the late conservationist Ian Player; a little later, Mantis gave it meaning as a guiding philosophy, “Man And Nature Together Is Sustainable.” Gardiner went on to establish the vast Sanbona Wildlife Reserve in the Western Cape, and in 2018 partnered with Accor and co-launched the Community Conservation Fund Africa, extending a model that ties tourism directly to conservation and community upliftment.
Founders Reserve today
Founders Lodge opened as a commercial lodge in October 2016, set within a 1940s manor house that had been the Gardiner family’s holiday home for around two decades. The lodge sits on the privately owned Founders Reserve, with traversing rights onto the greater Shamwari conservancy, giving guests access to malaria-free Big Five country across diverse Eastern Cape terrain, within a rare and biodiverse biome.
At Founders, guests are invited into the work of conservation rather than kept at arm’s length from it:
Conservation you can be part of
At Founders, guests are invited into the work of conservation rather than kept at arm’s length from it:
- Rhino monitoring alongside the reserve team
- Quiet observation from the sunken photographic hide
- Guided nature walks through the reserve’s distinctive flora and fauna
- Guest impact experiences supporting conservation and neighbouring communities
- The accredited Bear Grylls Survival Academy, introducing younger guests to life in the wild
A living legacy
A stay at Founders Lodge is more than a safari. It is a small part of a conservation story that began with one degraded farm and a vision few believed in, and that continues, season after season, on the reserve today.
Plan your visit
To plan a stay, contact the reservations team on +27 41 404 9300 or reservations@mantiscollection.com.
