Singita Boulders Lodge

Situated in the heart of the V&A Waterfront, the Cape Grace is one of Cape Town’s most famous luxury hotels.

Originally a private retreat of the Brink family, Chitwa Chitwa was transformed by Charl into an oasis of conservation and harmony. With an extremely strong approach to conservation and land management, this beautiful lodge offers you a fabulous experience while visiting the Sabi Sands. The Chitwa Trust actively supports the local community through an educare centre as well as adult educational initiative. You’ll also find several environmental programmes in place at the lodge itself. As a family owned and run lodge, you will receive excellent service as well as comfort when staying here. With just eight luxury suites each stylishly decorated and spacious, this lodge is a nice and intimate experience for family and honeymooner alike. The Chitwa House is a private villa with just two beautifully appointed en-suite rooms with private decks and out-door showers. It has a massively spacious common room and benefits from private meals, driver, guides and chef. Magic.

Sitting alongside the meandering Sands River, set amidst wild bush and enormous trees in the middle of South Africa’s ‘big cat country’, is Singita’s original Ebony Lodge. Unrivalled hospitality is blended with the heritage of an English county home to create a timeless and most welcoming safari experience. The 12 suites, two which have two bedrooms and are perfect for families, all feature en-suite bathrooms and indoor-outdoor showers, private heated plunge pools and spacious game viewing decks. Your suite has been decorated according to a black and white colour scheme in homage to the big ebony trees that surround the lodge and interiors are furnished with vintage campaign furniture from Luke Bailes’ (the founder of Singita) family collection, sepia photography, tribal print murals and imitation leopard and zebra-print fabrics. Interior walls have been replaced by canvas or glass to create a light and airy atmosphere and to capitalise on the amazing views outside, to beautiful effect in the bedroom where you’ll enjoy an uninterrupted view out onto the terrace. The food here is exquisite yet unpretentious, fitting of the lodge’s homely feel, and is paired with an extensive range of handpicked South African wines. Free time at the lodge can be spent indulging in the Bush Spa, relaxing in the library, using the well-equipped gym or cooling down in the pool. Of course the highlight here is the rich array of wildlife. Species such as leopard, lion, rhino, large herds of buffalo, elephant, reedbuck, hyena, hippopotamus, nyala, cheetah, wild dogs and many types of birds can be spotted on expertly guided day and night game drives, and thrilling walking safaris. Other activities such as stargazing will get Africa even further under your skin.

The malaria free Tswalu Reserve, owned by the Oppenheimer family, consists of over 100,000 hectares of the ‘green’ Kalahari grasslands home to eighty mammal species and 340 varieties of bird. Furthermore, the reserve is not further divided up into concessions or reserves and the only accommodation is the Motse Camp and Tarkuni House, which only allow for a maximum of thirty guests at one time in the entire of Tswalu. If you are staying for three nights or more you’ll also get a complimentary private vehicle, guide and tracker to make this your very own private Kalahari. The motto is, if you see another Range Rover on your game drives, complain. And whilst you really couldn’t get any further from a package holiday, the accommodation at Tswalu truly does have it all ‘wrapped up’ as far as a five-star safari lodge goes, with more luxury, authenticity, exclusivity and conscientiousness than any other in Africa. Having won awards for both their spa and conservation work, you just have to see the efforts they make to look after the wildlife and support local communities to know the lengths they go to look after you.