Ericka

Congratulations!!!!!

floridagal23

Thank you!

Dgosche

Any recent visits to Segera? We have a stay coming up for our honeymoon, but I haven't seen a lot written about it in this forum beyond a few mentions. Thanks.

Kagehitokiri

jeese, segera opened (way back in) 2013. some here might have gone and not reported. interesting several here have done/booked richard branson's (joint venture with Gehlot) kenya property, which also (re)opened that year.

wonder re largest exclusive-use concession / reserve

private reserve
526km2 - 14 singita pamushana
1,100km2 - 17 tswalu (seems pretty remote)
1,295km2 - 18 / 22 - 6 zarafa + 8 + 4 ; 4 trail *

concession in private reserve
2,330km2 - 18 - 9 lebala + 9 lagoon *
1,400km2 - 46 total singita grumeti but has mobile camp

concession in public park/reserve
1,730km2 - 22 - 6 abu + 8 seba + share with 8 macatoo

* adjacent

interesting re malaria https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxu...l#post22931858

Five Star Traveller

I read that Thornybush Reserve is tearing down its eastern fence (to be completed next year), which means it will be fully open to the Kruger National Park. How does Royal Malewane compare to Singita ignoring the fence issue?

Larkin

Royal Malewane is very nice. Rooms are African Colonial style with all the great amenities. They have a beautiful spa, very good food and included wines and when we were there excellent game viewing ( although you will run up against the fence). We had a terrific guide and good service. Like Singita it is a private reserve so you can do night drives which is nice. We like a lot, but in comparison we have been to Singita Boulders many times and Royal Malewane once. Having said that on one of these trips to Southern Africa we will go back to Royal Malewane. It's actually easy to combine the two, but depending on the amount of time you have you may want to experience something different like Botswana or the Kalahari Desert. I like Singita Boulders the best of the South Africa Singita properties. I like Royal Malewane better than Singita Lebombo personally but the terrain at Lebombo is different which makes it a good contrast. You will likely be happy at any of these properties! Africa is wonderful!

KI-NRT

Good news for those contemplating a luxury Gorilla safari experience. Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge and the recently-christened Bisate Lodge (by Wilderness Safaris) will be joined by One & Only Gorilla's Nest in 2018, followed in 2019 by Singita Kwitonda Lodge. Not really surprising when you consider that Gorilla permits in Rwanda recently doubled in price to $1500 per person per trek (day).

KI-NRT

Mombo and Little Mombo will reopen in 2018 after a complete re-do (complete with private plunge pools for every room.) Perfect, since we'll be there in September.

King's Pool will soon close, and will be completely rebuilt from the ground-up.

Serra Cafema (in Northern Namibia) will be rebuilt in 2018.

Singita Pamushana will be undergoing a refurb next year (from January to mid-2018.)

P.S. - the recently redone Duba Plains Camp is supposedly a massive hit, and bookings are through the roof. Visitors there claim the camp is now better than Zarafa, although the wildlife experience is quite different (Duba is best known for the Lion/Buffalo "interactions.")

MacMyDay

Soft opening is December; fully reopened by Feb. We’re going in Feb.

Ericka

Mombo should be amazing.
We booked our Botswana safari a year and a half out and both Mombos were full for all of September. We never made it.

Five Star Traveller

How would you rate Singita Sasakwa against Royal Malewane (rooms, F&B, service, etc)? We love the grandeur of the African Colonial style, and these two appear to be the most luxurious lodges in Africa for our tastes.

Thank you again for your expertise!

Larkin

This is hard to compare. You are really comparing a Southern Africa game reserve to Tanzania game reserve which have really different landscapes, terrain, and environments. I think both are great choices. Singita Sasakwa is extremely luxurious and should be paired with perhaps another location in grumeti such as the tented camp or Faru Faru. I do think Sasakwa is the most luxurious of their camps but think the tented camp gives a nice alternate feel and location although you can traverse most of the property no matter where you stay, it's just a matter of distance. So Sasakwa is great if you want to visit Tanzania where you have wide open plains, could visit Norongoro Crater, the Serengeti, etc.

Royal Malewane is in South Africa so different terrain. Both locations have good service, good game viewing and very nice rooms. I'd say your decision should be based on location you want to travel. You can pair RM with Singita ( you could do Ebony if you prefer colonial to the more modern Boulders). For me Tanzania and South Africa are both great experiences but very different in terms of landscapes, and terrain. I think you would be happy with either property depending on your location choice. Let me know if you have more specific questions.

floridagal23

exactly. On our last Safari we did sabora tented camp and then sasakwa. We skipped faru faru because it seemed more like lebombo/sweni in design with the glass and we wanted to try something new (we were at sweni the year before). The tented camp was fun to try! Then we went on to crater lodge.

bhrubin

Thanks!

How would you (and anyone else) compare the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge with Singita Sasakwa/Faru Faru and Singita Boulders/Ebony/Sweni/Lebombo? Both in terms of property, food/beverage, air con (haha), and wildlife viewing?

I’m currently of the opinion that while seeing the crater wildlife would be nice, the crater’s public park conditions, including the traffic and long drives in and out of the crater, not going off road, etc, make it not quite worth the trouble for us. For us, seeing the different (particularly carnivorous) wildlife and staying in the nicest luxury accommodations with the best food/beverage are what’s most critical (along with hopefully and luckily seeing the Great Migration.) If I’m off base, please do let me know....but it seems to me that it may be more worthwhile for us to just stay longer at Grumeti between Sasakwa, Faru Faru, and perhaps a tented camp (though without air con makes that a 1-2 night terrifying option for me) and just skip the crater altogether. I get the idea that people stay at the crater because they’ve been told they absolutely must but that it isn’t quite as unique or spectacular as most offer.

Five Star Traveller

Thank you. We've actually been to Boulders, but it was quite a while ago. Absolutely loved it but would like to try something a bit different in style but equally (if not more) luxurious. Ebony suits our taste perfectly though I wonder if we should try a new area outside Sabi Sands. When I last spoke with a safari company, they recommended Royal Malewane as the most over the top lodge followed by Sasakwa. I admit I like the look of Royal Malewane the most, but it does lose points for the fence (though as I posted previously, parts of it appear to be coming down). Tanzania is a bit more hassle for us versus South Africa because of the longer transit and potential tsetse flies, but the game viewing (in season) and scenery look spectacular. However, I'm concerned about the game viewing there if the trip doesn't align with the Great Migration.