Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Bisate Lodge sits in the natural amphitheatre of an eroded volcanic crater, its six forest villas arranged on the slopes with sweeping views across the peaks of Bisoke, Karisimbi and Mikeno. Each villa is a conical thatched structure rooted in the building traditions of the Rwandan royal palace – an architectural homage that is subtle, considered, and quite spectacular.

The experience is built around mountain gorilla trekking, and Bisate is considered one of the finest bases from which to do it in Africa. What elevates it further is a major reforestation programme actively expanding the gorilla habitat corridor, with every guest invited to plant a tree during their stay. Inside, the villas are warm and beautifully appointed, with fireplaces for the cool highland evenings and views of the volcanoes appearing and disappearing through the mist.

Mahale Mountains National Park, western Tanzania

Getting to Greystoke Mahale is part of the experience – a light aircraft, then a boat skimming across the dazzling surface of Lake Tanganyika toward a golden beach fringed by dense forest. The lodge itself is built almost entirely from reclaimed dhows and salvaged timbers, giving it the soul of a castaway jungle hideaway and the comfort of a first-class safari camp. Dinners are served by torchlight at the water’s edge or aboard a 50-foot mahogany dhow on the lake.

The primary draw is the chimpanzees. Mahale is home to the world’s largest known population, trackable each morning with expert guides. But the swimming, the kayaking, the sunsets from the rocky headland bar: there is no other lodge quite like it.

Skeleton Coast National Park, Namibia

The Skeleton Coast is aptly named – this remote stretch of Namibia’s Atlantic coastline is strewn with the bones of whales and the rusting hulls of over a thousand ships, claimed by centuries of fog, surf and hidden reefs. Shipwreck Lodge, the only permanent property in the national park, leans into this history. Its ten solar-powered cabins are constructed to resemble wrecked vessels: pale wooden frames jutting from the dunes at striking angles, eerie from the outside, modern and warm within.

Activities include 4×4 drives to real shipwrecks, tracking desert-adapted elephants, and searching for the rare desert lions of the Skeleton Coast. It is a place for travellers who find beauty in austerity.

Nairobi, Kenya

There’s a photograph that has circled the internet so many times it has almost lost its power to surprise – a giraffe stretching its neck through an open sash window toward a breakfast table. It is, of course, Giraffe Manor, and the reason that image keeps doing the rounds is simple: no amount of familiarity quite prepares you for the reality of it.

Set within 140 acres of indigenous forest in Nairobi’s Langata suburb, this 1930s ivy-clad manor house is home to a resident herd of endangered Rothschild’s giraffes who roam the grounds freely and insert themselves into mealtimes with cheerful disregard for personal space. With just twelve individually styled suites and a top conservation programme tied to the Giraffe Centre next door, it is one of the most sought-after bookings in Africa. Reserve well in advance.

Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana

In the 1960s, a legendary adventurer named Jack Bousfield set out across the Makgadikgadi Pans (one of the largest salt flats on earth), stumbled upon an extraordinary spot, and simply stayed. Jack’s Camp today retains his spirit. Its ten canvas tents are a full exercise in 1940s expedition nostalgia: Persian rugs, campaign furniture, four-poster beds, brass fittings, and a museum tent packed with fossils and natural history curiosities that would not look out of place in a Victorian institution.

In the dry season, guests explore the vast white pans on quad bikes, walk with Ju/’Wasi Bushmen, and encounter habituated meerkats. After dark, the salt crust becomes a front-row seat to one of Africa’s most extraordinary night skies.

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Most safari lodges hang a few artworks on the walls. Xigera (pronounced “kee-jera”) took a rather different approach: it commissioned over 100 bespoke pieces from 80 of Africa’s most celebrated artists and designers, making every item in the lodge, from the sculptural furniture to the hand-carved doors to the copper fireplace, a one-of-a-kind work of art. It’s the largest collection of bespoke contemporary African art in any hospitality property on the continent.

Set on stilts above the floodplains of Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve, the twelve individually designed suites float lightly above the Delta, with wildlife passing freely beneath. Highlights beyond the game drives include silent mokoro excursions through lily-covered channels and a night in the Baobab Treehouse – a sculptural steel structure rising ten metres above the floodplain with an open-air bathroom and panoramic views. Xigera is what happens when art collectors and conservationists build a safari lodge together.

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