- Christmas with Sanctuary Retreats is an exciting experience, as guests enjoy a superbly cooked dinner, fabulous festivities and unforgettable activities. Discover what makes a Sanctuary Retreats Christmas unforgettable below....  -

Rest and Relaxation

Following a fabulous morning game drive, where better to spend Christmas Day than at Sanctuary Baines' Camp? Guests can relax beside the swimming pool, whilst a delicious Christmas lunch is prepared. This is a truly special way to spend Christmas with loved ones.

Fabulous Festivities 

At Sanctuary Olonana guests can watch the sunset over the Masai Mara's spectacular rolling plains, accompanied by a festive sundowner. Once the sun has set, a fantastic cultural dance will take place with beautiful traditional music.

Special Celebrations 

At Sanctuary Kusini, follow your Christmas game drive with many activities including traditional music and dancing. At the camp the food served is exceptional, the specially designed Christmas menus contain many delicious festive delicacies.

Glorious Gastronomy 

Christmas onboard a Sanctuary river cruise is equally fantastic. 

At Christmas, Head Chef Sumet Sumpachanyanont curates an extremely special menu for guests onboard the Sanctuary Ananda. Chef Sumet has achieved many prestigious accolades throughout his career, including hosting two television cooking shows. Since July 2014, he has been Executive Chef on Sanctuary Ananda.

Sumet believes that “the visual presentation of a dish intensifies both the taste and quality of the cuisine.”

Christmas Cuisine 

Onboard Sanctuary Ananda at Christmas the festive menu will include the traditional turkey, but with a twist. The turkey will be “Surf and Turf” blending flavours from east and west. The dish is… Roast turkey with cranberry relish and grilled Irrawaddy giant prawn with exotic Asian herbs.

The Gift of Clean Drinking Water 

At Sanctuary Retreats we believe in giving back to local communities and this is especially true at Christmas. Recently, the Nakatindi Clinic & Maternity Ward in Zambia were given two LifeStraw filters, a gift which will change lives.

The LifeStraw filter is a water purifier designed to deliver safe drinking water. The filter converts contaminated water into safe drinking water. These filters will ensure that the clinic and maternity ward can offer guaranteed clean water for their patients, helping them to recover and stay healthier. 

The medical clinic and maternity ward cater for a catchment area of over 11,000 people from Nakatindi and surrounding areas. The medical facility currently has two sources of water, a borehole on site and a connection to the municipal water supply from Livingstone Town. Whilst this should provide reliable access to clean water for patients and staff, this is not the case. The borehole water has been tested and declared unconsumable due to contamination from a number of minerals dangerous to human health. The LifeStraw filters will ensure that the clinic and maternity ward can offer guaranteed clean water to their patients, helping them to recover from illness and stay healthier. 

Eight filters were also given to the local school with 810 students. Also covered was the Chipego Bike Shop and Sishemo Bead Studio situated at the Nakatindi market square. The LifeStraw filters will transform this situation and reap huge benefits for the community.

This year we also provided filters in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.