I Visited South Africa 10+ Times Last Year—Here Are the Best Hotels, Restaurants, and Safari Experiences I Recommend to Anyone

"A private-game-reserve collection of properties constructed along the Sand River, with Ebony Lodge celebrating its 30th anniversary after a brand-new renovation. In the local Shangaan-Tsonga language, its name translates as "place of miracles," and the wildlife encounters live up to that billing: one morning produced each of the Big Five before 9 a.m.—"a leopard in a tree, looking at a pair of lions; a rhino running alongside our vehicle, five feet away; elephants galore; and more buffalo than I could count." The stay is characterized by intensely personal service (guides such as Coman Mnisi, whose father was among the last residents relocated out of the area, and waiters and sommeliers who seemed assigned to the author personally) and a communal guest intimacy that prompted one honeymooning couple to describe the lodge as "a luxurious Tarzan tree house." - Chris Wallace Chris Wallace Chris Wallace is a New York-based writer and photographer. He recently published his first book, "Twentieth-Century Man," about the late artist Peter Beard. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Financial Times, and other publications. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines