andBeyond Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge

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"This lodge was originally built in the 1990s and was a favorite with safari-goers. After it was flooded, in 2020, andBeyond took on the South African safari supremos Fox Browne to rebuild it for the 21st century. Working with the architect Jack Alexander, they created a new central living space and spa, linked by a pool and 10 contemporary bush villas, lined with canvas, wood, and banana leaves, to echo the building materials of a tribal manyatta (or local village compound). The former bush camp opened as a colorful, creative safari lodge in 2022. The rooms are beautifully designed and come with decent food, excellent cocktails, and plunge pools from which to view wildlife in the scrub opposite (Swarovski binoculars included). There are only two other camps within 60,000 hectares, so out on game drives there’s nothing about but creatures: herds of elephants, lions lying in the shade, giraffes galloping across grasslands, and birds from tiny sunbirds to pelicans fishing in the oxbow lagoon beside the lodge. Rooms from $1,135. —Lisa Grainger" - CNT Editors