Need to know
Rooms
10, including six suites.
Check–Out
11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.
More details
Rates usually include breakfast, which changes daily. You can expect a buffet with fresh pastries, muesli, fruit and cold cuts; Continental and American dishes; and classics like a hearty full English made with locally sourced meat.
Also
Boost the soothing effect of safari by booking onto one of the hotel’s five-night wellness programs, which combines the safari experience with guided yoga, mindfulness and meditations sessions; a three-day juice diet; spa treatments; massages and more.
At the hotel
Waterhole hide; star-gazing deck; massage suite with an outdoor soaking tub; curio shop; free WiFi throughout; laundry. In rooms: minibar; Nespresso coffee machine; tea kit; free bottled water; Rain Africa bath products.
Our favourite rooms
With just five suites and a villa, there are no dud rooms here. They’ve all got stylish, earthy interiors, grand bathrooms and views that stretch to the distant bushland. But if we’re forced to pick favourites, the Honeymoon Suite would come out on top. It’s furthest from the main lodge, making it seem as if you’ve got the place to yourself when you’re in the valley-facing plunge pool or gazing at the stars from the daybed.
Poolside
The outdoor pool curves along the sundeck outside the lounge, giving swimmers an elevated view of the watering hole and untamed bushland beyond. The safari doesn’t all happen in the distance, however – elephants don’t just visit the watering hole, they come to drink from the pool almost every day, making this the perfect spot to see them up close.
Spa
The lodge has a dedicated massage suite with a pitched timber roof, a wood-burning stove, pretreatment lounge chairs and space for two beds – though you can also choose to have your treatment on the deck, where the smell of the earth and sound of the birds only adds to the pacifying rituals. The menu includes deep tissue and hot stone massages, aromatherapy treatments, facials and pedicures, all of which use products by Rain Africa, who use indigenous plants and products that have been used by African healers since antiquity. There’s also a soaking tub out on the deck, which is filled with milky, herb-infused water and surrounded with flickering lanterns.
Packing tips
A Leica M and plenty of film, for capturing the wildlife in razor-sharp black and white.
Also
The stony paths and layout of the lodge make it unsuitable for wheelchair users.
Children
All ages are very welcome, and there’s a four-person family suite and villa for those travelling with children. There’s plenty to keep little Smiths occupied, too, including indoor and outdoor play areas, archery, insect walks and kids’ bumble drives.