Singita Lebombo Lodge, Singita Private Game Reserve, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Take a trip into the stylish designer world of Singita Lebombo safari lodge with travel writer Carrie Hampton. She is author of the coffee table book, ‘Exclusive Safari Lodges of South Africa’, from which this extract is taken with photographs by renowned photographer Gerald Hoberman.

Lebombo Lodge is one of eight luxury safari lodges in the Singita stable known for its elite luxury and style. Singita Lebombo is set in one of the most dramatic landscapes inside Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga, offering an abundance of wildlife including the Big Five, antelope, birdlife and a variety of smaller animals.

'Touch the earth lightly’ is Singita’s motto. All the safari accommodation in individual loft rooms, as well as the entire lodge structure, is perched on sturdy wooden frames on the slopes of a riverine gorge, deep inside the world-famous Kruger Park near the Lebombo Mountains.

White canvases billow in the breeze that flows through the open-plan lounge, decorated in tones of white, straw, lime green and grey. Being here is like existing inside a magazine photo shoot. Singita Lebombo’s cool, trendy appearance would work well beside a palm beach or even in a sun-blessed city, but here is Singita Lebombo looking perfectly at ease in the heart of the African bush.

Singita Lebombo offers a style experience as well as an African safari, and the two make an exquisite combination. The fifteen loft suites sit at various levels on the boulder-strewn slopes and inside is a feast of creative design features; a cascade of glass forms a lampshade; grey and white seeds strung together function as a curtain; a charcoal-grey walk-in mosquito net is tied to a square frame, creating an element of order amidst the frivolity.

Many unique decor items can be bought at The Trading Store, which offers experiences to please all the senses. There is even a gym and treadmill for those that need to go for a run, as jogging in lion country is not recommended! Or just relax around the pool until it is time to go and look for the pride of twenty lions in whose territory you are a guest.

Singita Lebombo is known for its ability to provide exclusivity and privacy, and exactly the right amount of romance for a honeymoon in Africa. The luxury safari accommodation even has a day bed on each private veranda, serenaded by a multitude of birds in the thick trees rising out of the gorge.