Singita Safari Resort: A Room With a Gnu

It's the most famous safari lodge in the world. Its address within South Africa's Sabi Sands National Park dominates almost every travel survey, regularly ranking as the world's No. 1 luxury resort. For the international jet set, Singita is one of the world's hotel wonders, in the company of Venice's Cipriani, Manchu Picchu's Orient Express and Paris' Ritz.

We dropped in to the legendary resort during its winter season (June to August) for an investigative look at why the lodge is so beloved by the world's most-sophisticated travelers and magazine editors.

Getting to the Lodge

Direct flights from New York City include a refueling stop in Senegal or another Central African nation. If not flying privately, opt for an airline with a larger fleet of 777s or 747s, such as South African Airways, in lieu of the smaller 767s flown by Delta and many other U.S. carriers.

Most visitors arrive via Johannesburg before connecting to a smaller regional carrier, such as Federal Air, for a short 90-minute flight servicing the individual lodges of the Sabi Sands. A quick spiral decent reveals Singita's private airstrip with bungalow lounge, which appears as if out of nowhere, dotted by a game driver and trekker who await your arrival.

Checking In at Singita

An articulate staff of guides and trekkers commandeer open-air Land Rovers, telling you more than you ever wanted to know about flora and fauna, along a dirt road connecting the lodges to the main airfield. Singita is more formal than the other 20-or-so Sabi Sands resorts, and a staff lineup welcomes you along a stacked-stone porte-cochere and redwood deck with a koi pond that lead to the main reception.

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