South Africa

With almost 20 national parks accounting for 3% of South Africa’s entire landmass, there is more than enough safari opportunity to be had. Yet, while Kruger National Park is arguably the most famous park of the entire continent and offers some of the finest game viewing available, this is only a single side of a multi-faceted, multiply fascinating country.

• Kruger National Park. It is impossible to discuss a South African safari without mentioning Kruger National Park. One of the more patronized national parks, we prefer instead to take our guests to the numerous private reserves bordering the greater Kruger. Still benefiting from Kruger’s abundance of wildlife, they offer far greater intimacy. Game watching is almost second to none and the region is one of the more reliable destinations to witness the Big 5 of game watching.
  However, bordering the park are several private game reserves, offering their own exclusivity yet still able to benefit from their proximity to one of Africa’s largest national parks.
• Tswalu Kalahari. This unique game reserve is privately owned by a single family who have transformed it from an agriculturally-scarred and heavily poached ecosystem into a wonderfully abundant, exclusively conserved reserve. While nature isn’t as prolific as in other areas, it is more unique. Elephant, gazelle, giraffe and oryx are common, but aardvarks, pangolin, black-maned lion, aardwolf, secretary birds and bat-eared foxes are among the elusive and endangered inhabitants. And don’t forget to visit the resident meerkat family!
• Cape Town. South Africa technically has three capitals, Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town, but it is the latter that is most commonly considered the capital city. This vibrant metropolis on the country’s southern tip has so much to offer, even if only for the first weekend of an extended trip. Often regarded as the culinary heart of Africa, Cape Town hosts some of the best fine dining in the world. The city encompasses a large and bustling harbor and is perennially overshadowed by the imposing Table Mountain. The cultural streets offer wonderful shopping and reflect the mottled history of South Africa’s past, including the thankful departure from apartheid.
• The Cape Winelands. South Africa’s culinary trail isn’t complete without visit the Cape Winelands. Home to globally-renowned wine estates, including Stellenbosch and MolenVliet, the country’s prolific wine region also attracts equally renowned chefs creating world-class cuisine.
  All this, and set in some of South Africa’s most lush, fertile landscapes, the rolling hills a profusion of floral color and foliage.
• Robben Island. Situated 4.3 miles (6.9 km) from the South African mainland, what once struck fear into the hearts of many hundreds of political prisoners has now become a symbol of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. Former president Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in incarceration on Robben Island before the end of apratheid and the closure of the prison facility. Now, it has become a totem of social justice and memorial to Mandela and all who suffered under the apartheid regime.
  It has also become a haven of conservation, with bontebok, springbok, ostriches, penguins, fur seals and many more creatures making a safe and peaceful home of the once-ominous island.

Though the international airport is in Johannesburg, to the north of the country, Cape Town is where many of our guests begin their itinerary. As you might expect from a major capital city, it offers a wide array of accommodations, some of our favorites taking in the wide coastal vistas and unfettered views of the majestic Table Mountain.

Wine is not the only attraction of the Cape Winelands. Lodges and villas are scattered throughout the region, all of impeccable standard and many featuring world-class restaurants. Though numerous contemporary hotels and villas have arisen, the influence of colonial Africa abounds, and many venues evoke the decadence of the 1900s and earlier, or draw upon European heritage, with classic English, German and Dutch design featuring prominently.

One of the defining factors of South Africa’s safari accommodation is that many of your options reside within private game reserves. Several also border the public national parks, Kruger in particular, able to enjoy the solitude of one and the greater area and animal numbers of the other. Expect traditionally-influenced luxury lodges crafted impeccably well with no attention to detail spared.  

If you are searching for something different, two options are quite simply unmissable. The Green Kalahari, a more verdant corner of the greater Kalahari Desert, combines rich red sands with grass and shrubland, home to some fascinating wildlife rarely seen elsewhere. Another private game reserve, this destination offers pure escapism upon spectacular landscapes.

The second option is to sleep under the stars in one of South Africa’s renowned treehouses. Several private lodges include these wonderfully romantic treehouse bedrooms that allow you to experience the wonderful nocturnal sounds of the veldt in absolute safety and comfort.