Why safaris are a ‘life changing’ experience, according to Africa's leading luxury operators

There are many, like Goodall and Allison, who experienced an immediate and overwhelming emotional response to experiencing close encounters with African wildlife—some have dedicated their lives to living amongst, observing and protecting it. Others simply return home with a renewed sense of perspective. 

Today, there are a growing number of operators facilitating travellers’ desires to witness the marvels of the animal kingdom, but in a luxury setting. You know—plush linens, plumbing, sunset gin and tonics from the back of a jeep, the works.  

In 1991, Joss Kent founded andBeyond, a leading experiential travel company which has since grown to include 29 luxury lodges and camps situated throughout Africa to showcase the continent’s vast and varied landscapes and habitats. The andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, for example, is a design-led luxury camp in Botswana’s northern Okavango Delta with exclusive traversing rights over 22,500 hectares of wildlife land bordering the Moremi Game Reserve. Klein’s Camp, operated by andBeyond, sits in a remote corner of the game-rich Serengeti National Park, a 10,000-hectare wildlife concession leased from Maasai landlords, and offers guests an exclusive Tanzanian safari.

“More guests are willing to expand their horizons to not only search for the ‘Big Five’ [lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and African buffalo], but to include destinations where they have the opportunity to see rare and unique species of wildlife,” says Kent, “from pangolins at reserves like andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, or animals with rare genetic mutations such as the white lions which frequent andBeyond Ngala Private Game Reserve, or the black leopard for which the remote Suyian Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya, has become famous.” 

Like Allison, Kent began his career as a safari guide—he has guided and planned bespoke experiences for the likes of Bill Gates, Jimmy Carter, Hillary Clinton and the British Royal Family. One particular safari took Joss, basketball legend Michael Jordan and his family, and 15 children from Chicago’s inner- city schools to Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve.

“Safaris generally take people away from the everyday rhythms of life and allow them a complete immersion to make meaningful connections with people and cultures,” says Kent. “For some of our guests, a safari represents one of the few times they really can get away from it all; a weight lifts and they’re able to reconnect with themselves, their travel companions and with the natural world. Exploring the world’s remote wild places is often filled with multiple moments such as these, never just one.”

These experiences, and having that time and space to facilitate them, is “true luxury”, according to Jo Bailes, CEO of Singita, one of the originators of the luxury safari experience. In 1925 Bailes’ grandfather bought a piece of land on what would become the Sabi Sand region of South Africa, opening its first luxury lodge, Singita Ebony, here in 1993. Nearly a century later, Singita remains family-owned and operates 16 lodges and camps. 

“The world of luxury can often be chaotic and disheartening. However, at Singita, we proudly stand for Africa, its people and
all its beauty,” says Bailes. “We would define luxury as nature, conservation, time, space, peace and quiet; and anti-mass consumption, excess money and waste. Our goal at Singita is to help our guests forget about some of these ‘desires’ and
reconnect them with the natural world. We encourage guests to return to what is simple, to remove noise and turn inward—be part of the ecosystem.”

Singita works in partnership with a network of regional not-for- profit conservation partners and is a custodian of a million acres across six ecosystems that are home to precious biodiversity, unique wildlife and magnificent landscapes.

“[Protecting this] is our core purpose. We are committed to safeguarding the continent’s wildlife populations and wilderness areas—as well as creating economic independence within communities living alongside them.”

Oliver Ripley, CEO and co-founder of Our Habitas, which operates a luxury lodge in Namibia, agrees. “Ultra-high-net-worth guests seek a safari experience that combines luxury and adventure with meaningful engagement with nature and local cultures,” he says. “A key aspect our guests’ experience is authentic interactions with local communities to learn about traditions, crafts and
lifestyles, with opportunities to contribute to community projects and conservation efforts.”

This includes evenings spent with bushmen from neighbouring tribes, who share stories with guests over a braai—a traditional way of cooking meat over fire. 

Evenings are also brought to life with Perry Uatokuja, one of Our Habitas Namibia’s rangers, who is passionate about ancestral stories told using stars and constellations. He says, “The indigenous people of Namibia include the San, Nama, Ovahimba, Ovazemba, Ovatjimba and Ovatwa. Together they represent around eight per cent of the country’s total population. Those tribes mainly use the constellations for storytelling around household fires before and after dinnertime.

“Let’s take the Southern Cross, for example, which is only found in the southern hemisphere’s night sky. The San saw the two bright pointers [Alpha & Beta Centauri] as male lions. As the story goes, these lions were once men, but a magical girl cast them into the sky as stars. The San also saw the three brightest stars of the Southern Cross as female lions.”

Located in a 51,000-hectare nature reserve, Our Habitas Namibia features 15 freestanding villas set on a hillside overlooking the savanna through floor-to- ceiling windows. Formerly used for hunting, the reserve is now a place where wildlife roams free, and where Ripley and his team hope to offer experiences that “create deep empathy for our planet and the natural world”.

“Through local art and culture, we develop a greater understanding of ourselves and others, and through our programming we allow our guests to explore authentic spaces,” says Ripley. “People and nature come together to tell stories of past and present.”

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