I Heart Safaris · Your curated guide to African safaris
Thirty-six places worth the flight.
Lodges, camps and island retreats in five countries, from the Kalahari to the Masai Mara — every one of them chosen, none of them merely listed.
Anyone can list a thousand lodges. We would rather tell you which thirty-six are worth your time.
Most safari websites are directories. This one is a point of view.
We cover five countries and thirty-six properties, and we keep both numbers small on purpose. In South Africa that means the private reserves of Zululand — Zuka, Manyoni, Nambiti, the wetlands of iSimangaliso — alongside the Sabi Sand and a single outpost in the Kalahari. In Botswana it is the Okavango Delta, the Moremi, Chobe and the Boteti River. In Madagascar, three places where sea, lake and rainforest take the place of the bushveld, because a safari there is a different animal altogether. In Tanzania, a coffee plantation outside Arusha and two &Beyond camps in the Serengeti, all three from a single trip of our own. And in Kenya, one camp in the Masai Mara — the first on the list, not the last.
Each property has its own page: where it is, how you get there, what it is like to wake up in, and why it made the list. If a place is on this site, it is because we would send you there.
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Five countries
Zululand's private Big 5 reserves, the lodges of the Sabi Sand beside the Kruger, a houseboat on Lake Jozini and a last true wilderness in the Kalahari.
Explore South Africa
Island camps in the permanent waters of the Okavango Delta, the Moremi and Chobe, and the Boteti River where the zebra migration crosses.
Explore Botswana
A peninsula lodge on the northwest coast, tented rooms between coral sea and primary rainforest, and a lakeside table on Lake Itasy.
Explore Madagascar
A coffee plantation outside Arusha for the first night, then two &Beyond camps in the Serengeti — one under canvas on the plains, one on the Grumeti river. Three places, from one trip.
Explore Tanzania
One camp in the Masai Mara, &Beyond Bateleur, and it is here on purpose: old-school safari, a balloon at first light, Out of Africa over the next hill. The first Kenya place on the list, not the last.
Explore Kenya02
Six to start with
South Africa
Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge
Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge: award-winning organic architecture and dramatic minimalism that disappears into the bush, a living gallery of the senses.
See the lodge
Botswana
Xugana Island Lodge
Xugana Island Lodge sits on Xugana Lagoon, regarded as the finest permanent water site in the Okavango Delta, where a river that never reaches the sea ends.
Madagascar
Anjajavy le Lodge
On a peninsula on Madagascar's northwest coast, Anjajavy le Lodge sits between a turquoise sea, a natural reserve and sandy beaches, and keeps surprising you.
Kenya
&Beyond Bateleur Camp
Old-school safari in Kenya's Masai Mara: fireside evenings, a hot-air balloon at first light, a lion hunt tracked at night, and Out of Africa over the next hill.
Botswana
Leroo La Tau
Leroo La Tau stands on the western bank of the Boteti River, the lifeline of Makgadikgadi Pans National Park and a critical link in Botswana's zebra migration.
South Africa
Tswalu Motse and Tarkuni
The Motse and Tarkuni at Tswalu: Kalahari launchpads built from organic materials, with privacy and unfettered access to a last true wilderness.
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We put together safari itineraries built around places like these. Tell us when you are thinking of travelling and we will come back to you with options.