Overview 

Hammond is a privately owned, 32,000 acre area within the Savé Valley Conservancy in southeastern Zimbabwe. Our family have had the privilege of overseeing Hammond’s transformation from a cattle ranch to a wildlife conservancy, and in 1998 we opened it to families and small groups who share our commitment to conservation and wildlife. The Savé Valley Conservancy was established in 1991 by farsighted landowners committed to restoring and protecting the area’s ecological balance. The Savé Valley Conservancy is the largest private game reserve in Africa and is home to hundreds of indigenous wildlife species which roam freely over nearly one million acres. 

Wildlife + The Big Five 

Hammond is a beautiful place. Its wild and diverse landscape, featuring open savannah grasslands, lush riverine, mixed species woodlands, and jutting granite kopjes, provides excellent wildlife habitat. There are literally hundreds of species of trees and birds, and all the varied species of indigenous plains animals. Hammond and the Savé Valley Conservancy are home to two of Africa’s largest remaining populations of endangered African wild dogs and black rhino. We are now regularly seeing Africa’s “Big Five” on Hammond: elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, and Cape buffalo. These species, which were shot out or poached during years of cattle ranching, have been successfully reintroduced since the Conservancy’s formation. In fact, the conservation of elephant and rhino was a driving factor in the creation of the Savé Valley Conservancy, and their numbers are consistently increasing. Cape buffalo herds have also been successfully reintroduced, and the lions have followed to join leopards in a nightly chorus. 
 

Activities 

When your family or group comes to Hammond, you have exclusive access to the property. Because we have only one group at a time, we can plan a daily agenda of activities suited to individual interests. Our guides and trackers can take you out tracking elephant and rhino and will amaze you with their ability to follow the faintest spoor. We can cook out on a kopje, have drinks on an ancient ruin, or take a day trip to local villages to bargain for handicrafts. Clients of all ages enjoy learning to identify animals and their tracks, observing animals up close from elevated hides, going for game drives in open vehicles, and just exploring trails and dry river beds accompanied by licensed guides. Or, you can just relax in camp reading, bird watching, and helping us keep the baboons out of the garden 

Accommodations 

When you come to Hammond, you don’t have to worry about the accommodations. The main camp has three guest lodges surrounding the Boma, a central living and dining area. The thatched lodges have two separate bedrooms, each with a full bath en-suite. There are sleeping lofts for children, plenty of hot water, and doors and windows to shut at night. Impala, bushbuck, and kudu range freely across the yard keeping the grass trimmed. The food at Hammond is excellent. Our garden provides a constant variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, and salads. Pure water comes from on-site wells. And most importantly, things at Hammond work well because we have a wonderful and helpful staff who have been with us for years.