To the babbling brooks of Sabie

Roughly every five years, Jaco and Jens Reverchon get itchy feet. They hopped around Cape Town, moved up north to the Greater Kruger and then, recently, put down roots next to the Sabie River where they live a peaceful life with their animals.

- MIA LOUW

"I've had horses in the past, but this last year is the most time I've spent with these magnificent animals. Horses are like mirrors they reveal your own emotions to you. Working with them has been a calming experience," Jaco Reverchon explains. It took hard work to establish an equilibrium at River Stables Sabie. Here, 10 horses are grazing happily in a meadow next to the Sabie River, but it is also home to five dogs, three donkeys and one fat pig lazing about.

The owners, Jaco and Jens Reverchon, moved to Sabie in August 2022. Before that, they lived in the Balule Game Reserve in the Greater Kruger, west of the Kruger National Park, where they managed their lodge, Mhangela. And prior to that, the couple lived in Cape Town.

"We bought the game farm in 2016, but only ended up moving there in 2018," says Jaco, an architect. "We travelled back and forth from Cape Town for two years." The look on his face reveals exactly how crazy this commute was.

During their five years in the bushveld, they renovated the lodge and created an intimate experience for their guests. "We like luxury, but we also prefer things to be natural: earthy, healthy and holistic," Jens adds. "We never wanted to have more than four people sitting on the game drive vehicle."

While running the lodge, Jaco took on architectural work around the reserve and Jens owned and managed a shop in Hoedspruit called Dream and Dine, which specialised in bedding, crockery, cutlery and glasses imported from Europe, mainly for the hospitality industry.

Why the move from the Cape up north? It was a combination of Jens's love for the bushveld and, unfortunately, their experience with crime in the Western Cape.

"We had a couple of crime incidents there: attempted hijackings, break-ins at Jens's bedlinen shop and a brick was thrown through our car window. It wasn't the main reason for moving, but it was stressful," says Jaco.