A single tree in silhouette against a gold sunset over the bush at Londolozi, the Sabi Sand, low hills layered along the horizon

Destinations  ·  The whole list

Thirty-six places, five countries.

Lodges, camps and island retreats from the Kalahari to the Masai Mara, every one of them chosen, none of them merely listed. This is all of them.

Londolozi, Sabi Sand

This is the whole list: thirty-six places in five countries, every one of them somewhere we would send you, and none of them here because somebody paid for the space.

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 country has a page of its own, where every place gets a photograph. This page is the list: the name, where it is, and the one line that says why it made the cut.

Seventeen lodges

South Africa

01 – 17

A male lion yawns in long golden grass at first light, hills behind him, at Amakhosi Safari Lodge in Zululand
Amakhosi Safari Lodge, Zululand

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
  1. 01

    Bayala Private Safari Lodges

    Northern Zululand · Zuka Reserve     Big 5 safari lodges on Zuka Private Game Reserve, three hours north of Durban, at the heart of a 10,300-hectare rewilding of northern Zululand. View
  2. 02

    Mkuze Falls Private Game Lodge

    Historic Zululand · KwaZulu-Natal     Historic Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal: one of only two private reserves in the region with the full Big 5, and nearly 430 resident bird species besides. View
  3. 03

    Makakatana Bay Lodge

    Lake St Lucia · iSimangaliso     A lodge on the banks of Lake St Lucia in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park: beaches, wetlands, a game reserve and a boat cruise on Africa's largest marine estuary. View
  4. 04

    Thanda Safari

    Northern KwaZulu-Natal     Thanda Safari: 14,000 hectares of Big Five bush in northern KwaZulu-Natal and four ways to stay: lodge, Villa iZulu, tented camp or the Royal Thanda Club. View
  5. 05

    Amakhosi Safari Lodge

    Mkuze River · Zululand     Amakhosi Safari Lodge, on the Mkuze River in Zululand: six river suites, two honeymoon suites and a private home for four, in harmony with the bush. View
  6. 06

    Shayamanzi Houseboats

    Lake Jozini · Pongola Game Reserve     South Africa's first and only houseboat: cruise Lake Jozini beneath the Lebombo Mountains, watch the Pongola Game Reserve from the water, and try tiger fishing. View
  7. 07

    Ndaka Safari Lodge

    Nambiti · KwaZulu-Natal     A fully catered, properly child-friendly lodge in a Big 5 private reserve at Nambiti: light lunches on the deck, passing game, and nobody rushing anyone. View
  8. 08

    Sungulwane Private Game Lodge

    Zuka Private Game Reserve     Sungulwane is a Big 5 lodge on Zuka Private Game Reserve with just eight private chalets: small enough that a safari stops being a tour and becomes a stay. View
  9. 09

    Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge

    Sabi Sand     Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge: award-winning organic architecture and dramatic minimalism that disappears into the bush, a living gallery of the senses. View
  10. 10

    Rhino River Lodge

    Manyoni · KwaZulu-Natal     Family-owned Big 5 lodge in the 23,000-hectare Manyoni Private Game Reserve, KZN: welcoming staff, honest value and properly child-friendly safaris. View
  11. 11

    mFulwazi Mthembu Lodge

    White iMfolozi River     Mthembu Lodge, hand-built stone by stone by the Mthembu clan on the White iMfolozi River, is configured on the circle and carries five hundred years of history. View
  12. 12

    mFulwazi Biyela Lodge

    White iMfolozi River     Biyela Lodge: twelve standalone suites, each with a private deck and most with a private pool, all watching the wildlife that comes down to the river each day. View
  13. 13

    Mavela Game Lodge

    Manyoni · Near Mkuze     An all-inclusive tented bush lodge in the Big 5 Manyoni Private Game Reserve near Mkuze, KwaZulu-Natal, where canvas puts little between you and the wildlife. View
  14. 14

    Londolozi Lodge

    Sand River · Sabi Sand     Londolozi sits on the Sand River in the heart of the Sabi Sand, part of the six-million-acre Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, where wildlife moves freely. View
  15. 15

    Elephant Plains

    Northern Sabi Sand · Beside the Kruger     Big 5 game viewing in the northern Sabi Sand beside the Kruger National Park, with rondavels, Luxury Suites and the Manyeleti Honeymoon Suite to come home to. View
  16. 16

    Dulini Lodge

    Sand River · Sabi Sand     Dulini is a sanctuary of restoration, romance and adventure, curated for solo travellers, parties marking life's occasions and honeymooners alike. View
  17. 17

    Tswalu Motse and Tarkuni

    Kalahari     The Motse and Tarkuni at Tswalu: Kalahari launchpads built from organic materials, with privacy and unfettered access to a last true wilderness. View

Twelve camps and lodges

Botswana

18 – 29

An Okavango channel winds through reed beds towards a thatched camp at golden hour, seen from the air, at Camp Xakanaxa
Camp Xakanaxa, Moremi

Island camps in the permanent waters of the Okavango Delta, the Moremi and Chobe, and the Boteti River where the zebra migration crosses.

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  1. 18

    Xugana Island Lodge

    Xugana Lagoon · Okavango Delta     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. View
  2. 19

    Sanctuary Chiefs Camp

    Sanctuary Retreats     Sanctuary Chiefs Camp is part of the Sanctuary Retreats portfolio: individually designed lodges and river boats built on one small idea, luxury, naturally. View
  3. 20

    Nxamaseri Island Lodge

    Private Island · Okavango Delta     A small lodge on a private island in the permanent waters of Botswana's Okavango Delta, one of the oldest in the Delta, styled after the swamp and its people. View
  4. 21

    Leroo La Tau

    Boteti River · Makgadikgadi Pans     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. View
  5. 22

    Kadizora Camp

    Botswana · Locally Hosted     Kadizora Camp balances adventure, culture and relaxation in one of the last true wild areas on earth, hosted by locals and built for switching off. View
  6. 23

    Ghoha Hills/ Nogatsaa Pans

    Chobe National Park · Kwikamba Pan     Nogatsaa Pans Chobe Lodge, deep in Chobe National Park: hides over grasslands and clay pans, views across Kwikamba Pan, and a safari in the old style. View
  7. 24

    Chobe Game Lodge

    Inside Chobe National Park     Chobe Game Lodge, inside Chobe National Park: expansive viewing decks, a private jetty and a boardwalk lounge, each a different way to sit still in the wild. View
  8. 25

    Camp Xakanaxa

    Khwai River · Moremi     Camp Xakanaxa (Ka-ka-na-ka) sits on the Khwai River and Xakanaxa Lagoon in Moremi, one of very few camps offering Okavango land and water safaris year-round. View
  9. 26

    Camp Okavango

    Nxaragha Island · Okavango Delta     Camp Okavango sits on remote Nxaragha Island in the permanent Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta, for a water wilderness that lasts all year. View
  10. 27

    Camp Moremi

    Moremi Game Reserve     Camp Moremi, a Botswana legacy in classic safari, was completely rebuilt in 2018 as a modern lodge within the celebrated Moremi Game Reserve. View
  11. 28

    Thakadu Bush Camp

    Bush Camp · Botswana     Thakadu Bush Camp offers a true bush experience with rustic honesty: a comfortable sleep, very good food, and a next generation keeping the original vision. View
  12. 29

    Saleda Lodge

    Lipadi Private Game & Wilderness Reserve     Saleda Lodge in Lipadi Private Game & Wilderness Reserve: five king bedrooms with outdoor showers, an open-plan heart with a pool table, sundowners and stars. View

Three places to stay

Madagascar

30 – 32

Anjajavy le Lodge on its peninsula on Madagascar's northwest coast, between the turquoise sea, the natural reserve and the beach
Anjajavy le Lodge, northwest coast

A peninsula lodge on the northwest coast, tented rooms between coral sea and primary rainforest, and a lakeside table on Lake Itasy.

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  1. 30

    Anjajavy le Lodge

    Peninsula · Northwest Coast     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. View
  2. 31

    Masoala Forest Lodge

    Coral Sea · Primary Rainforest     Masoala Forest Lodge: tented rooms between coral-rich sea and primary rainforest, with forest walks, snorkelling, kayaking, whale-watching and private beaches. View
  3. 32

    Farihy Hotel

    Lake Itasy · Ampefy     Farihy Hotel on the shores of Lake Itasy in Ampefy: a lakeside restaurant of authenticity, simplicity and generosity, cooking regional specialities and fish. View

Three places to stay

Tanzania

33 – 35

Wildebeest grazing across golden grassland beneath flat-topped acacias under a pale, cloud-streaked sky, in the Grumeti reaches of the Serengeti
&Beyond Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge, Serengeti

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.

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  1. 33

    Legendary Lodge

    Coffee Plantation · Outside Arusha     A colonial coffee plantation outside Arusha, Tanzania: bird calls instead of alarms, mountain views and rich coffee the night before the bush flight. View
  2. 34

    &Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas

    Under Canvas · Serengeti     Canvas walls, chandeliers and polished silver in Tanzania's Serengeti, with a hot bucket shower filled by hand under the stars and hyenas calling in the distance. View
  3. 35

    &Beyond Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge

    Riverside · Grumeti, Serengeti     Riverside in Grumeti, Tanzania's Serengeti, where we arrived expecting the migration to have moved on and found hundreds of thousands of wildebeest instead. View

One place to stay

Kenya

36

A table set for dinner at the edge of a pool beneath a lone acacia at dusk, candles lit and the plains of the Masai Mara fading to violet behind
&Beyond Bateleur Camp, Masai Mara

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 Kenya
  1. 36

    &Beyond Bateleur Camp

    Masai Mara     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. View

All destinations

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