Ebony Lodge is a classic: the original opening in 1993 for Singita, a brand that has come to define high-end safaris, on a beautiful bend of the Sand River in the leopard-rich Sabi Sands Game Reserve. And it’s smarter and more nature-immersed than ever after a significant 2024 redesign by Cape Town designers Cécile and Boyd.

Arriving here is sublime: down a foliage-fringed wooden walkway past an organic two-tiered pool built into the rocks. There’s always a warm welcome and a hot or cold towel outside the main indoor-outdoor space, all recycled woods and natural textures, with stepped wooden platforms beyond a vast adobe fireplace descending towards the wildlife-rich Sand riverbed.

Photos Courtesy of Emma Jackson/Singita