I recently got back from Tanzania where I spent four nights with Singita spread across Faru Faru and Sasakwa lodges. Singita calls Faru Faru lodge a "relaxed approach to luxury" and I think that's a good way to describe it.

Faru Faru is located in the Grumeti Reserve; a private game reserve northwest-ish from the Serengeti National Park. Singita has their own airstrip for the Grumeti lodges that's located about a 45 minute drive from Faru Faru.

I'm running into issues adding photos right now, and I'll update the review when I am able to get it resolved.

Check In

Immediately upon arrival at Singita's airstrip, I was greated by a guide who would be taking me to Faru Faru. He was not my guide who I would be spending my safari drives with, but seems just sent to collect me and bring me to the lodge.

The airstrip has a nice lounge and I was offered a beverage and the ability to use the facilities before the drive to Faru Faru. 

Upon arrival at Faru Faru, there was a welcome committee waiting at the entrance consisting of two managers and my personal "server" for my time at the lodge. I'm not really sure how to describe them, but each party is assigned a single point of contact for your time in the public areas of the lodge.

Check in was quite simple, just needed to sign a piece of paper and then it was up to me to decide if I wanted to head to the room, grab a drink, eat, etc.

Room

One of the managers escorted me to my room and gave me a tour of everything. My bags were already in the room since I decided to grab lunch prior to settling in.

I would probably classify the room as a "junior suite". The room features a nice entryway with coat hooks and a bench to get ready for safari, along with a minibar that has a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and some snacks (they offered to swap in anything to the minibar if I wanted). Moving from the entryway is the main living area that has a chaise lounger, sitting chair, and desk, along with the bed. Then lastly, the bathroom area is partially split off from the living area by a wall of mirrors.

The bathroom area has a oversized bath tub, WC, twin vanities, and a door to the outdoor shower.

Dining

Each meal was generally taken in different areas of the main lodge. My pre-safari breakfast was usually taken at the bar where I was offered drinks of choice and then there were continental items setup nearby that were grab-and-go. These normally consisted of granola, yogurt, fruit, etc.

Depending on when you got back from your morning game drive, you'd then be offered breakfast or brunch. Additionally, one morning we had a bush bbq brunch, where they setup tables and some grills out near the river.

With brunch and dinner, there were a few choices for appetizer/salad and main course. They were also more than happy to take requests if you were not able to find something you like on the menu. I'm not too picky so went with on-menu items each meal, and they were good. 

Singita also has an impressive wine program. One of Singita's "traveling somelliers" was in residence during my stay and did an impressive job showing off South African wine and curating different bottles to try based on people's preferences. With lunch and dinner there would be several wine options on the menu, but he would always tell me that he's selected a few different bottles for me to try that were not listed. It was extremely impressive since I'd basically have an impromtu wine tasting each night and would select a red and white from those to have with dinner.

Service

Service was incredible. Everyone knew my name and I never once saw housekeeping. Preferences were remembered and followed throughout. It also felt incredibly personal, like they really wanted to get to know you. It was nice to have a single waitor throughout my stay since we got to know each other it almost makes things more comfortable. Additionally, the somellier was great. It was clear he was super passionate about wine (as am I) and it was fun to come back from the evening drive to a curated wine tasting!

Also, everything about the stay was customizable - it was completely up to me when I wanted to go out on the drives, what I wanted to see, etc. There was a menu with each meal, but as I mentioned, they were happy to take requests. And it was truly all inclusive too, I had no charges to settle even after having a Cuban cigar, plenty of off-menu wine, a walking safari, etc.

Game Viewing

The game viewing was incredible. Being a private reserve, you went offroad for pretty much the whole time. Also, walking safaris were available (I would highly recommend) and I think night safaris were available too (we'd come back after dark anyway on the evening drive). I had four drives while at Faru Faru and saw four of the big five, including three leopard. We followed one female leopard as she was hunting and it was incredible (she was successful too). All of the guides were talking about how special the viewing was those few days; after I left Faru Faru, there was maybe one leopard sightings the rest of the week across the reserve.

All the guides were super nice too. I had the same guide across my whole time at Singita and we got to know each other well. All the guides do a very good job of sharing information and sightings. They also make sure to keep the number of vehicles at a sighting to a minimum. I think four was the most at any sighting, but they made sure that each car had clear viewing angles.

Overall

Truly incredible experience. This was my first safari and I don't think I'll be able to go with anyone else. The game viewing, service, food, wine, etc. were all fantastic. Singita costs a lot, but it's clear to me that it's worth it.

Singita Sasakwa Lodge is considered by many to be their "crown jewel" in East Africa. I can definitely see that after spending a few nights!

After spending a couple nights at Faru Faru, my guide drove me over to Sasakwa around midday (he similarly continued as my guide while staying there, too).

Sasakwa is truly jaw-droping, it's a sprawling, 11 cottage estate built up on a big hill. The landscape views are incredible - each time I looked out over the Serengeti, I couldn't believe I was there.

Check In

Check-in was incredibly easy. Upon arrival at Sasakwa, I was greated by one of the managers along with my personal "butler" (basically my single point of contact for anything throughout my stay). After a tour of the main lodge(s), I was brought to my cottage for a tour. No papers to sign and, naturally, everyone knew who I was. Similarly, only thing I had to sign throughout my stay was the credit card receipt for a few things from the gift shop.

Room

The cottage was incredible (I'm running out of adjectives to describe things). I was in a one-bedroom cottage. At the entryway was a well-stocked minibar (all complimentary) and a guest bathroom with toilet and vanity. That leads into the living area with a couch, a few chairs, coffee table, writing desk, and fire place. Moving into the bedroom was another writing desk and the king-size bed. After that was the dressing/closet area. And lastly the oversized bathroom with dual vanity, free-standing tub, shower, and watercloset.

Additionally, the outdoor patio had two separate seating areas and two lounge chairs around the heated plunge pool.

The room (and Sasakwa as a whole) is designed as a "Edwardian Manor House" as such, the room featured several chandeliers, dark woods, African artifacts, etc. The room looked and felt quite nice (to me). It did show a bit of wear, but nothing that detracted from the experience (mainly scuffed wood floors and a scratch on one of the mirrors).

Service

As with Faru Faru, service was fantastic. I never had to wait for anything and my personal "butler" was super nice and got to know my preferences - for example, coffee and water preferences were remembered right away and food preferences were acknowledge from the start. The F&B manager/somellier was also ever-present and did a killer job serving wine each day. I had one impromptu wine tasting and one schedule wine tasting and they were both fantastic. As with Faru Faru, they had wines printed on the dinner menu, but the somellier would be like "I'm happy to pour you what's on the menu, but I selected a few other bottles that I want you to try" and they were all exceptional and tailored to my taste.

Additionally, I requested some local food one night and they put together a tasting menu of eight(!) dishes for me to try at dinner. It seems they were all super excited at that request and even my guide was getting involved in letting people know what to make! I also had some laundry done during my stay, and requested it done same-day (requested around noon) and I had it back less that two hours later.

Throughout the stay at Sasakwa (and Faru Faru) everything was entirely up to me - I got to choose when to go out and come back on my game drives, meal times were completely flexible, etc.

Dining

Overall, the food was good. The highlights being pastries at breakfast (Paris-quality croissants in the middle of the Serengeti was impressive), a couple different sandwiches I had at tea-time (not sure if they were actually on the menu or not, my "butler" just suggested them). And, of course, the local Swahili dinner.

Pre-morning drive was always continental breakfast with granola, fruit, yogurt, etc. After the morning drive, they offered full breakfast, then full lunch, and tea time prior to the afternoon drive, and naturally dinner after that.

Even I wasn't able to do breakfast, lunch, and tea all within about four hours, so did breakfast and tea time, skipping lunch.

Location

As I mentioned previously, Sasakwa is a ways up on a hill. Not much in the way of game viewing directly from the compound (except for plenty of monkeys, baboons, and some stray giraffe and zebra). But only a few minutes away and you're back on the plains of the private reserve with incredible viewing.

Overall

Sasakwa was mind-blowing. I though Faru Faru was incredible, but Sasakwa blew it away. I'm not sure that Sasakwa is for everyone, it is clearly more formal (in style) than Faru Faru (and Sabora) but they certainly didn't make me feel weird our out of place. Similar to Faru Faru, the service felt very comfortable and never stuffy. It was nice to get to know people on a personal level.

IMO, there's a lot of charm to the place - I loved coming back each night to the main lodge with a roaring fire and nice glass of wine. It reminded me a lot of a wilderness resort I would visit as a kid that features a huge log cabin as the main lodge - slightly creaky wood floors (in a good way) and the crackling fire brough me right back to those memories.

In addition to the fantastic hard product, the service continued to shine. I would have no issues returning and completely understand why it's such a magical place.