Africa is known for providing luxury in unexpected places and there are a wide variety of accommodations options available across the continent with something to fit everyone. Luxury African hotels offer the best amenities and services in some of the best locations. Luxury game lodges offer beautiful accommodations and wonderful game viewing. African camping options include luxury tented camps and mobile camps to fit a variety of travel styles and budgets while on safari. Africa Adventure Consultants (AAC) uses only accommodations that we have vetted – we have stayed in or visited almost all of the options we recommend to our travelers.
In Africa’s cosmopolitan cities like Cape Town, Nairobi and Johannesburg, you’ll find five-star service with African style. Africa’s luxury hotels rival any around the world in terms of quality, amenities and service, while typically offering stunning views and/or exclusive locations. These luxury accommodations cater to discerning guests who want the very best and are willing to pay for it. Normally, guest experiences exceed expectations in terms of food, room comfort, service and location.
Some of our favorite accommodations in Africa’s cities include Nairobi’s Giraffe Manor, best known for its opportunity for guests to get up close and personal with endangered Rothschild giraffes, including ‘having breakfast’ with the world’s tallest land mammal; Cape Town’s luxurious and intimate Ellerman House with its dramatic cliff side location wowing guests with incredible food, wine and art; and The Saxon in Johannesburg, a wonderful city retreat situated on ten acres of magnificent indigenous gardens where you will enjoy luxury and pampering.
Game lodges are typically situated in beautiful settings and provide great food and service. African game lodges have access to wonderful game viewing areas and are designed for you to absorb the peace and tranquility of your surroundings. Some are built in hotel style, while others feature a series of bandas or chalets. All offer comfortable beds, en-suite bathrooms with hot and cold running water, dining areas, lounges and often gift shops. Many have pools, spas and other facilities such as small gyms or photographic studios.
Some of AAC’s top luxury game lodges include Singita Kwitonda, one of the most unique and luxurious bases from which to trek gorillas in Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains (their private heated plunge pools are wonderful after a day of trekking!); Namibia’s Onduli Ridge, situated amongst boulders in the dramatic landscape of Damaraland and offering some of the most incredible night sky viewing on earth from your private star bed; and Tanzania’s exclusive Mwiba Lodge, which is perched above a rocky river gorge on a private reserve, allowing you to experience the wonder of the Serengeti without the crowds.
Choosing a permanent tented camp for your safari allows you to sleep under canvas with all the luxuries of home. Many tented properties in Africa are permanent structures and include raised wooden floors, en-suite bathrooms, fine linens and room butlers. These tents traditionally offer luxurious beds, beautiful interior decorations and oftentimes comfortable deck furniture on spacious front sitting areas overlooking a sweeping view. Many of these camps can stand toe-to-toe with any 5-star hotel room in other parts of the world. Typically small and exclusive, luxury tented camps accommodate just 10-30 guests. Many are located in private wildlife reserves, providing even more privacy and exclusivity.
A sampling of our top luxury tented camps include Botswana’s Zarafa Camp and North Island Okavango, with their land and water adventures; Tanzania’s Lemala Kuria Hills has stunning and spacious glass-fronted tented suites situated in an uncrowded area of the Serengeti; and Tswalu Loapi, a camp with exclusive-use safari homes situated in a remote private reserve in South Africa and offering a unique wildlife experience including time with species like meerkats and enjoying activities like horse riding and viewing ancient rock art.
Staying in luxury mobile camps harkens back to the original roots of safari and is a luxurious way to experience the bush. These camps are more lightweight and can be moved a few times a year for optimal wildlife viewing (such as following the Great Migration on its perpetual journey), yet this style of camping maintains all the comforts travelers have come to expect. Luxury mobile tented camping provides individual tents along with a dining tent that serves as the common area where meals are taken. They have showers and toilets attached to the tents and offer comfortable beds and furniture.
A few of our favorite luxury mobile camps include Sarara Wilderness, a camp located in Kenya’s remote Matthews Range that offers unique experiences like learning to bead with local Samburu women and helicopter rides, along with special amenities including a mobile swimming pool and cold plunge machines; and Singita Explore, a beautiful camp on an exclusive private reserve bordering the Serengeti which is set up based on each individual booking.
Deluxe mobile camps are also reminiscent of African safaris’ early days. Tents offer comfortable amenities including beds and furniture. Bathrooms are en-suite and include toilets and a bucket shower – a charming and rustic way to get clean in the bush (hot water included). There is a common tented area for delicious and hearty meals along with a space to relax.
Some of our top deluxe mobile camps include Tanzania’s Serengeti Safari Camp, Lemala Mara, Ndutu Mobile Camp and Kenya’s Serian Nkorombo, each of which has a unique style and moves with the seasons to ensure you enjoy the best access to the breathtaking wonder of the magnificent Great Migration.
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Photos courtesy Zarafa Camp, Giraffe Manor, Ellerman House, Mwiba Lodge, Onduli Ridge, North Island Okavango, Kuria Hills, Singita Explore, Sarara Wilderness, Serengeti Safari Camp, Mara Ndutu and Serian Nkorombo