It was an “old longing to blaze new trails and to reclaim unused land” that compelled Lucas Bridges and Despard Bridges, sons of English missionaries based in Argentina, to purchase 750 000 hectares (7 500 km²) of land in the South East Lowveld of Southern Rhodesia from the British South Africa Company in 1919, and establish a cattle ranch named Devuli Ranch.

Over decades, unstable markets, foot-and-mouth disease and civil war crippled the profitability of cattle ranching in the South East Lowveld. It was however the severe drought of the summer of 1991/1992 that led to a review of land use by the owners of Devuli Ranch, and a shift in operations from cattle ranching to the breeding of wildlife. Devuli Ranch was divided into 15 smaller land units in 1991 which led to the formation of the Save Valley Conservancy.

Three of the land units were purchased by Willy Pabst in 1993, and would collectively become known as Sango. The first managers of Sango removed all remaining livestock, dismantled internal fences, and reintroduced wildlife indigenous to the area. Anti-poaching teams were established, infrastructure was erected, and roads were constructed.

Sango Lodge opened its doors to guests for the first time in 2003.