Branson Bundles Safari and Luxury in Africa

The bathroom: Heavily glossed redwood floors lead to a large master bathroom with eclectic painted soaking tub and wide-open views of the African plain. Devout toiletry snobs, we expected Miller Harris or Joe Malone and instead got oversize Virgin bath products that look like something plucked from an aisle at Wal-Mart in economy-sized plastic bottles too big to stow in our luggage. Worse yet, the bottles were only half full as if left by previous guests. A large stone shower is positioned in front of floor-to-ceiling glass doors opening to the terrace. Need something bigger? Book the new Treehouse Suite located on an elevated walkway 15 minutes from the lodge, complete with an all-night security guard and extravagant spa-style bathroom overlooking a watering hole of hippos, bathing elephants and grumpy crocodiles.

The safari drive: Two drives a day feature sunrise and sunset. A 5:30 a.m. wake-up comes with a thump at the door. Guests gather in the main lodge huddled under layered clothes with considerably less camera equipment than we've seen at other area lodges. We meet up with Duarte, who, with his trekker, gather a total of four guests into our Land Rover and speed away. What Duarte lacks in luggage couth, he makes up for in driving, preferring to make his own tracks in the bush than sticking to pre-made trails that many safari lodges follow. Duarte manages to find leopard, cheetah, lions and rhino in the first hour of the morning game drive, a feat that usually takes days to accomplish. A flat tire after a 6-inch tree branch penetrates our back tire only adds to the adrenaline of a surrounding pride of lions on a hunt.