Category: Africa

Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa

Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa

Elephants come to visit
They even drink from the pool
Comfortable Safari vehicle for trips out
Going on walks
Lodge sitting room
Relax overlooking teeming plains

Mhondoro Lodge and villa is set within the Welgenvonden Reserve and is set on a hill looking out across the plains.

There is a watering hole in front of the lodge, and uniquely this is connected to the lodge by an underground tunnel allowing guests to visit the hide in safety, without disturbing the animals they are there to see. This allows incredibly intimate views of wildlife that is completely relaxed

The main lodge has 5 suites, two deluxe rooms for 2, two deluxe suites with 2 bedrooms each, perfect for families or friends travelling together and the separate Villa, which sleeps 6 (the Villa comes with its own staff and can be completely separate from the lodge).

Despite being in such a remote place, you can expect to be pampered during your stay, with fantastic food and drink, incredible wildlife encounters and a comfortable place to sleep. With a fantastic team of chefs and quality food and drink the wildlife is not going ot be the only thing you remember about your stay.

However, while your stay will be luxurious, that is not the reason you come to africa. As you see from the video above, there is significant amounts of wildlife that live on the reserve including the big 5 though there are 60 other mammals to look out for.

One of the advantages of a private reserve like this, is often you stand a greater chance of seeing rarely seen mammals, such as aardvark and aardwolf and brown hyena (an animal almost never seen in the Kruger)

Jock Safari Lodge

Jock Safari Lodge

View of the lodge
Sitting area with a view
Luxurious bed
Impressive sized rooms
Buffalo on a game drive

Jock Safari Lodge lies in the south west of the Kruger national park, on a 6000 hectare exclusive concession.

This part of the park is one of the most game dense within the park. However, coupled with the exclusive rights given to guests of the property, you can experience them without the traffic jams that occur on the roads in the surrounding area.

This leads to a wonderful laid back life. Whether sitting in the lodge or out on a drive or on foot, you never know what is going to happen next.

With incredible views in all directions, the house has been designed with plenty of places to sit comfortably and watch the world go by, when you are not out exploring the park

The price for this place is all inclusive

If you have any questions, or would like to enquire about availability or book fillin the form below.

Chikunto Lodge

Chikunto Safari lodge- South Luangwa national park

Baby Elephant by the safari vehicle
Elephant with its mother
Lion encounter near the vehicle
Group of Buffalo nearby
Lodge from the air
Eating outside with a view
Suite with a view

Chikunto Safari lodge lies within the South Luangwa national park of Botswana. with the whole lodge built on stilts, raising it about 1.5m above the plains, you get  a particularly good view of the animals walking past and the Luangwa river.

With a wide range of activities to enjoy, and different ways to see the local wildlife, from game drives and boat rides, to eating outdoors watching the wildlife walk past, or a wonderful picnic when out on an excursion.

Alternatively for a change, you can go for a walk with highly experience guides. Not only will they be able to show you things that you would not usually notice, but they will protect you should you have a particularly close encounter with a wild animal. This is the place that walking safaris were pioneered, and as such they  have huge amounts of experience running these.

Seeing animals by boat is different
Fire pit and eating area
Out on the game drive
Eating in the wild
Walking is a different way to see things

The range of animals that live in this area is pretty impressive, and you are likely to plenty of exciting encounters with the local wildlife that will stick with you.

As well as all this, you will stay in a wonderful suite, that will be extremely comfortable

The price for this luxurious lodge starts at

If you are interested in visiting this luxurious lodge and would like to know availability, or have a question please fill in the form below.

KAZA Transfrontier park

Kalahari-Zambezi Ecosystem (KAZA)

Including Hwange,Chobe, Kafue national parks and protecting jewels of africa such as the Okovango Delta and the Victoria falls, this is likely to become one of the worlds premier wildlife destinations. It covers more than half a million square kilometers

Singita, Lebombo, Singita, Kruger National Park, South Africa
Singita, Sweni, Kruger Singita, Kruger National Park, South Africa
Singita-Lebombo-Lodge-Long-bar-deck reisized

The Kalahari-Zabmbezi Trans-frontier park is perhaps the most daring conservation effort in the world, Including several large national parks, as well as hunting areas and private reserves, this is one of the last great Savannah wildernesses of Africa and plays host to some of the most impressive natural specticles such as the Okovango breaking its banks, spreading life-giving water across the Kalahari desert.

Drone-Singita-Sabi-Sand-Ross-Couper-2 resized

Combining such a huge area into a conservation network is quite a challenge. As well as the huge range of wildlife there is also a significant human population of around 2.5 million.

The KAZA covers an area of 170,000 square miles (quarter of a million square km)  and within its borders lives important populations of many animas.

For instance, around 250,000 elephants or about 60% of those on the continent live in this huge area. However these huge animals are not sensbly distributed across the area, and gradually barriers are being taken down to allow the huge herds to return to ancient homelands such as in Angola (where they have learnt to smell the landmines, and so can avoid them). 

This is obviously a project that will take many years to complete. However it is clear that its success will greatly benefit conservation in africa.

For my part, over time I hope to list many activities and places to stay within this huge area to support its conservation, and allow people around the world to enjoy this special place.

Hwange National park Zimbabwe

The largest National park of Zimbabwe covering an area of  ‎14,651 km2  or 5,657 sq miles.

Initially formed as a reserve in 1922 it was made a national park in 1961. It is one of Zimbabwe premier reserves, with significant populations of the ecotourism big 7 (Big 5 plus cheetah and wild dog)

The hope is that as the Kalahari Zambezi transfrontier park becomes more than just a paper park, it will benefit the whole area. While seemingly large, a park of just over 5000 square miles it will only consist of around 2% of the Kalahari Zambezi transfrontier area, allowing animals to migrate in and out of areas during floods and droughts.

Places to stay in Hwange National Park

Camp Hwange

Spread around a watering hole, Camp Hwange is a traditional safari permanent camp, with all the rooms getting a perfect view of the watering pool and its visitors, allowing you to laze in the camp as the wildlife comes to you.

Being a seasonal camp it is open from the beginning of May to the end of November.

Click the picture or here to find out more

Hwange Bush camp

Hwange Bush camp is nestled under a group of trees, providing very welcome shade, it provides you with a comfortable place to rest deep in the bush.

With the small size of camp (it consists of 6 “rooms”), animals are less afraid allowing you to truly experience the wilds.

This is a seasonal camp as well so is open from the beginning of May to the end November

Click the picture or here to find out more

Pashumana lodge

Pamushana Lodge

Pamushana-Lodge-1_resized
Singita-Pamushana-Lodge-Deck-and-Bar_resized
Singita-Pamushana-Lodge-Lounge-Area_resized
Singita-Pamushana-Lodge-Pool-Side_resized

Pamushana Lodge is set within the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve, a 502 square km wilderness refuge. The refuge borders the Gonarezhou National park of Zimbabwe, and forms a part of the Limpopo transfrontier park.

As such it is part of the same wilderness area of Kruger and the Sabi Sands.

Known for its sandstone outcrops, Mopane forests and Boabab trees it is an area of lots of character.

With high concentration of game including regular sightings of both black and white rhino, and with wild dog a common sighting in the area, you can expect some exciting encounters.

Below is a video diary of some visitors which were seen on a previous trip, and gives you an idea of some of the work that your visit would support.

While you may be staying a long way from other people do not expect to be roughing it.

You can expect fantastic food and drink, with locally sourced produce. The wonderful guides, who will take you out and have encounters with the local wildlife are also well respected.

For further information, and enquiries as to availability please fill in the form below.

Faru Faru Lodge

Faru Faru Lodge

Singita Faru Faru Lodge - View of Lodge resized
Singita Faru Faru Lodge - Main Pool and Water Whole resized
Singita Faru Faru Lodge - Suite resized
Singita Faru Faru Lodge - Deck Overlooking River resized
Singita Faru Faru Lodge - Lodge Lounge Area resized

Assuming that a place you stay in the Serengeti is comfortable, the most important thing you are looking for is somewhere that you will see much wildlife from the camp. Faru Faru Lodge is built right beside a watering hole which means that there will be a constant stream of animals coming to quench their thirst. Not content with simply being by a watering hole the river also passes nearby, so while you will spend much of your time exploring outside the lodge, the animals will also come to you and there will always be something to watch from the lodge.

Due to glass walls in as many places as possible the wildlife can be seen from most areas of the lodge.

Imagine sitting out on the veranda, eating delicious food and watching as the wildlife take their drinks only 10m away. Containing only 10 rooms made up of seven suites, one family suite and two bedroom suites, even if completely full and everyone is on the veranda together there is plenty of space. At the end of the veranda, before the cliff, is the swimming pool which means you can bathe in the evening, keeping cool, while looking out as the world goes by.

The lodge itself is built in a simple elegant style, and while much of its art and craft come from Africa, some of its design cues come from Denmark. Due to its design this lodge can safely be used by smaller children.

Sitting in the Grumeti conservation area on the west side of the Serengeti, only people visiting Sasakwa Lodge, Sabora Tented Camp and Faru Faru Lodge can be in the area. As such you will not see the the scrums around exciting sightings that you often see in the Serengeti. There is something extraordinarily satisfying about finding incredible wildlife spectacles and having to share them with no one. The pace of life in this way is slow, and you can enjoy the moment for as long as you wish. 

Despite there being few people using this reserve it still covers 500 square miles giving you huge amounts of space to explore and look for wildlife.

Overlooking a watering pool and with a riverbed passing close by, and with windows on all sides, your viewing of the animals can continue as you relax in the camp. 

The owner is in residence during certain periods of the year, and given the range of properties that Singita run, it tells you something of how special place this is. Always a challenge in these sorts of lodges, is to find a way of creating an incredible luxury without removing people from the feel of being in the wild, however Faru Faru Lodge has succeeded.

Faru faru lodge is regularly listed as one of the best lodges in Africa 

If you are interested in visiting or would like to know, do fill in the form below with any questions you might have. Pricing is below

Castleton

Castleton

Castleton from behind
Castleton with cheetah
Eating Alefresco
Eating indoors
Wild dogs near the house

Castleton is an amazing place to stay in Sabi Sands. Consisting of six double en suite cottages around the main house, it is perfect for groups of friends or large family gatherings. The place is used exclusively by one group at a time.

Originally the home of Singitas founder Luke Bailes grandfather it still has a hugely homely feel.

Looking straight out into the parks grasslands and overlooking a watering hole, game watching can be done while sitting in the comfort of this home away from home.

Included are all the staff you could require, including cook and game driver.

As you can imagine this is a way of doing safari that few will get the chance to experience.

While this is by no means a cheap way to do it, it compares well to a public lodge for that number of people and the length of your stay.

Expect incredible food, comfortable beautiful house to stay in and some of the most well informed wildlife guides.

This also guarantees the feel of the wild, as drives take place on the private sabi sands, which you only share with the other lodges, and you stay alone in this fantastic lodge. 

If you are interested in booking this place for a visit, or would like to ask for more details, please fill in the form below. pricing information is below the form.

To return to the Limpopo transfrontier park page click here

Kataza House

Kataza House

View of the mountain from inside Kataza house
View of the Mountain from the Kataza house veranda
Kataza house
View from Kataza house bathroom

Katazi House is the way a fantastic place to stay as a group if visiting the mountain gorillas of the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.

Consisting of a master suite, junior master suite and two further spacious suites. The communal rooms consist of a Cinema, a treatment room for massage and other treatments (staffed) as well as an interactive kitchen with wine celler and a fire pit. Much of the food is local, with  a significant proportion of it grown on site

This spacious house is large enough to take around ten guests and comes with rooms for the staff as well (who will only be there to look after you).

Expect delicious food,  a luxurious house to be your home away from home and a wild experience you will never forget. Katazi House can base its timings around its guests as there is only ever one group there at a time. All the amenities at Kitwonda lodge are also at your disposal during your stay

This is a luxurious place to base yourself while you do your gorilla trek.

Of importance to note, whether you are doing 1 gorilla trek or more than that, there are many other things to see within the park and there are all sorts of other treks you could do to keep you busy for the rest of the week. These activities include though are not limited to golden monkey treks and volcano climbs.

If you are interested in booking this property, or have any questions fill in the form below.

Kwitonda Lodge

Kwitonda Lodge

Kitondwa Lodge
View of the mountain from Kitondwa lodge
Inside of Kitondwa lodge

Kwitonda Lodge is a fantastic base for mountain gorilla trekking within the Volcanoes National Park Rwanda. Sharing a 1.2km border with the park, the lodge is within the ecosystem and there are monkeys and other forest animals that live around the lodge.

Set up to be a luxurious retreat before and after your gorilla trek into the forest. 

Within the property there is also a childcare facility, allowing you to visit the gorillas even if you have children too young to accompany you on the trek. There are a range of activities that children can take part in while you are on your gorilla trek, one notable possibility is visiting the wild golden monkeys living nearby.

The accommodation consists of seven 1 bedroom suites with 270-degree views of the volcanoes and boasts floor-to-ceiling glass
doors.

There is also one 2 bedroom suite, perfect for friends travelling together or families.

If you are interested in this property and would like to know more, or would like to enquire as to availability please fill in the form below.

SINGITA KWITONDA LODGE NO OF UNITS BASIS RACK (USD)

 PEAK SEASON 1 Jun – 31 Oct 2022 & 15 Dec 2022 – 5 Jan 2023

 Suite 7 per adult per night 2 800 Double/Twin per child per night 1 400 Two-Bedroom Suite 1 per suite per night (1-3 guests) 8 400 2 Doubles/Twins per additional adult per night 2 800 Maximum 4 guests per additional child per night 1 400 OFF-PEAK SEASON 6 Jan – 31 May 2022 & 1 Nov – 14 Dec 2022 Suite 7 per adult per night 2 100 Double/Twin per child per night 1 050 Two-Bedroom Suite 1 per suite per night (1-3 guests) 6 300 2 Doubles/Twins per additional adult per night 2 100 Maximum 4 guests per additional child per night 1 050 FEES & LEVIES 6 Jan 2022 – 5 Jan 2023 Singita Conservation & Community Partnership Levy per guest per night 2% of accommodation 

 

Mara river tented camp

Mara River Tented Camp

seating area view of plains small enough
indoor seating space small enough
inside of tent small enough
pool and view of the plains river small enough

The Mara River Tented Camp is totally off-grid, situated on a bend of the Mara river, overlooking one of the places that the migration crosses.

With only one other lodge on this side of the river, and at a distance, you can feel totally at one with the wilderness.

While the wildebeest are only there in high numbers during the migration, there are many resident animals. This includes a healthy population of predators and a number of famous big tusker elephants.

In particular this is where the big cats rule. As with Big Cat Diary, a BBC wildlife show that ran for several years and was very popular (filmed the other side of the river), there are significant numbers of lions leopards and cheetahs who live in the area worldwide.

Enjoy astounding wildlife, luxurious living and incredible tranquillity for your stay. Fall asleep to the sounds of the bush and the Mara river flowing past.

Singita Mara river tented camp is incredible luxury in the wilderness.

There is nothing separating the wild plains from the camp allowing you to feel completely immersed, with a team of people to look after your safety and offer all the creature comforts you could possibly want.

Furthermore, the wildlife guides are exceptionally knowledgeable and will be able to take you to see fascinating things on your game drives.

If you have any questions feel free to fill in the form below, or book this fantastic accommodation from here. Information on pricing lies below the form

See Animals Wild

Read more news

Join as a wild member
to list your wild place & log in

Join as an ambassador supporter to
support this site, help save wildlife
and make friends & log in

Join as an Associate member
to assist as a writer, creator, lister etc & to log in

List a wild destination

List a destination in
the shadow of man

List a hide for animals more easily seen this way

Highlight some news
missed, or submit a
one-off article

Browse destinations for fun or future travel

Temporary membership
start here if in a hurry

Casual readers and watchers