The Best Safari Lodges in Africa

This year’s World’s Best Awards survey closed on March 2, just before widespread stay-at-home orders were implemented as a result of COVID-19. The results reflect our readers’ experiences before the pandemic, but we hope that this year’s honorees will inspire your trips to come—whenever they may be.

If there’s one type of bucket-list vacation that will need no embellishment, it’s a safari trip. For those who love wild places, there’s nothing comparable to seeing nature free from human intervention—elephants wandering through camp, hyenas sniffing the tires of your Land Rover, lions napping in the dust of a dry riverbed at midday, unbothered by your camera clicking furiously just yards away. Training your eye to spot a leopard tail hanging from a distant tree or to distinguish a hippo track from an elephant footprint gives you a connection with the natural world that you can’t get digitally. It’s a truly transformative experience, one made even better by choosing the right lodge—like the ones iBestTravel readers have chosen as the best safari lodges in Africa.

Understanding the Selection Process

Every year for the World’s Best Awards survey, iBestTravel asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe—to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Hotels were rated on their facilities, location, service, food, and overall value. Properties were classified as city or resort based on their locations and amenities.

A Luxurious Experience

The iBestTravel readers who weighed in know that luxury is all in the details: a hot water bottle and coffee just the way you like it can make a crack-of-dawn wake-up call feel pleasurable, and a guide who’s intimately familiar with every inch of the terrain can help you spot wildlife without a herd of other vehicles crowding the view. This year’s winners represent destinations both established (the Serengeti, the Masai Mara) and emerging (Rwanda’s gorilla treks are still relatively new, yet have taken off in recent years). Each has something special to recommend it.

Top Safari Lodges for Your Next Adventure

From homey, family-friendly spots to ultra-romantic honeymoon destinations, this list of the best African safari lodges has it all. Read on to discover this year’s No. 1, Singita Kruger National Park.

1. Singita Kruger National Park, South Africa

Score: 98.25

More information: singita.com

Singita Kruger has an edge over other Kruger camps: it’s really two properties in one, each with a distinct audience, aesthetic, and environment, allowing you to experience two trips in one. The seven-suite Singita Sweni, the newer of the two properties, is nestled among the trees on a riverbank, where you can glimpse crocodiles wallowing in the shallows and big cats coming to lap at the water’s edge. Higher up on the ridgeline, Singita Lebombo is open and airy, with a sun-drenched parcel of land and 13 suites that feature decks with hanging beds should you care to sleep under the stars. Both properties share unfettered access to Singita’s 33,000-acre private concession, a thicketed patch of the Kruger ecosystem where you might encounter a tower of giraffes gorging themselves on acacias. Sundowners of G&Ts paired with Singita’s house-made biltong cap off the day, but save space for the delightful dining experiences crafted thanks to Singita’s own cooking school, which trains promising local students for culinary careers.

2. Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, Tanzania

Score: 97.82

More information: fourseasons.com

3. Lion Sands Game Reserve, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa

Score: 96.24

More information: lionsands.com

4. (tie) Bisate Lodge, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Score: 96.00

More information: wilderness-safaris.com

4. (tie) Singita Sabi Sand, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa

Score: 96.00

More information: singita.com

6. andBeyond Ngala Safari Lodge, Kruger National Park Area, South Africa

Score: 95.67

More information: andbeyond.com

7. Gibb’s Farm, Karatu, Tanzania

Score: 95.43

More information: gibbsfarm.com

8. Governors’ Camp, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Score: 94.67

More information: governorscamp.com

9. andBeyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

Score: 93.50

More information: andbeyond.com

10. Angama Mara, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Score: 93.33

More information: angama.com