Southern and East Africa AccommodationMid-Range Lodges
Southern and East Africa AccommodationMid-Range Lodges
Mid-range lodges offer a balance between comfort and cost, typically providing well-appointed rooms, good service, and strong locations without the price tag of top-end properties. This is the most common accommodation category on safari and often represents the best balance of value and experience for most travellers.
What qualifies as "mid-range" depends heavily on the destination. In South Africa, this may include a wide range of comfortable, well-priced lodges, while in more remote or high-cost regions like Botswana or parts of East Africa, similar budgets may only access more basic accommodation.
For this reason, safari prices should not be compared across countries in absolute terms. A mid-range lodge in one destination may be priced similarly to a luxury lodge in another, so these categories are best understood relative to location rather than fixed price points.
Katavi Wildlife Camp is one of a handful of camps in the remote Katavi National Park in Tanzania, offering an uncrowded and spectacular African safari. Unobtrusively built amongst the trees on the edge of the Katisunga floodplains, the small and simple yet stylish tented camp offers incredible views. During the wet season, the plain fills with water and the birdlife is spectacular. During the dry season, expansive herds of game can be seen making their way to the permanent water source nearby.
Set on the western side of a massive fossil pan, Nxai Pan is the only permanent camp within the Nxai Pan National Park. It has easy access to the famous Baines’ baobabs. Overlooking sprawling grasslands and wide open spaces, Nxai Pan is home to the massive annual zebra migration, second only to the great migration of the Serengeti.
Laikipia Wilderness Camp is an intimate, family-run safari camp that offers comfortable and homely accommodation in the unfenced wilderness of Central Laikipia. Laikipia Wilderness offers an authentic wildlife experience in a beautiful 70,000-acre landscape that is home to a wide range of wildlife, including the famous black leopard of Laikipia.
Madikwe River Lodge is the original safari lodge in the Big 5, malaria-free Madikwe Game Reserve. Each wooden en-suite chalet has a private deck overlooking the Marico River and is set amongst lush, riverine bush. The lodge is family-friendly and has an excellent position in one of the best regions of Madikwe from a game-viewing viewing point-of-view.
Mashatu Lodge is a beautiful, waterhole-facing safari lodge in Botswana's game-rich Mashatu Game Reserve. There are 14 spacious luxury suites with large en-suite bathrooms and private bush-facing verandahs. The family-friendly lodge welcomes children of all ages and inter-leading suites are available for families.
Tucked beneath the shade of enormous trees in Botswana's Mashatu Game Reserve, Mashatu Tent Camp is an eco-safari tented camp that overlooks a waterhole and offers an intimate and authentic safari experience with a maximum of only six guests per vehicle on game drives.
Motswari Lodge is in the Motswari Private Game Reserve, part of the pristine natural habitat that is the Timbavati Game Reserve. The boundaries of the Timbavati are open to the Greater Kruger National Park. Motswari is a traditional, established lodge. Reasonably-priced, this inviting lodge offers spacious accommodation in 15 luxury en-suite bungalows. Visitors can experience up-close game viewing of the Big 5 on daily games drives and bush walks.
Muchenje Lodge, set on an escarpment overlooking the Chobe River, is a popular safari destination with great views over the Chobe floodplain. It is the only luxury lodge in the area west of the Chobe National Park, and offers fantastic open-vehicle game drives within the park.
Sitting atop its very own island in the expanse of Lake Kariba, not far from Bumi Hills, is Musango Safari Camp. As with Bumi Hills, it’s just outside the Matusadona National Park. A small, well-established safari lodge, Musango is owned and run by the well-known Steve Edwards, former conservationist and warden of Matusadona, who personally guides and shares his incredible wealth of knowledge about the area, its wildlife and its history.
Situated on the eastern side of the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge offers comfortable accommodation with breathtaking views. Watching the sun set over the crater from your private balcony or the welcoming central lodge area is an experience not to be missed. With easy access to the road down to the crater floor and its concentration of wildlife, including the Big Five, this lodge is a great base at Ngorongoro Crater.
Nicol Street Heritage Cottages (formerly More Quarters Hotel Apartments) offer the best of both worlds: discreet five-star service and the independence of beautifully restored heritage cottages. Set just off Kloof Street in Cape Town's leafy Gardens neighbourhood, these elegant, private cottages combine space, privacy and a strong sense of place, with easy access to the city centre, Table Mountain and Cape Town's best restaurants, cafés and boutiques.
Nkorho Bush Lodge is located in the northern Sabi Sand Game Reserve, a conservation area covering more than two million hectares. The reserve shares unfenced borders with the world-famous Kruger National Park. As a result, the diversity of wildlife to be seen at Nkorho is breathtaking and guests are often treated to sightings of some of the Big 5, even from the lodge itself, which overlooks a waterhole and open plain. Nkorho Bush Lodge offers reasonably-priced, comfortable accommodation for 16 guests in 8 en-suite thatched chalets.
About 80km south of the Chobe River in Botswana lies Nogatsaa Pans Lodge. The area is studded with natural clay-bottom pans that provide plentiful water in summer, supplemented by boreholes during the winter months. Idyllic and peaceful, there are raised hides at four waterholes for watching the fascinating inhabitants of this pristine bush.
Notten's Bush Camp is an affordable, rustic and comfortable safari lodge in the southern sector of the Sabi Sand Reserve. The lodge accommodates guests in nine tastefully furbished suites, all en-suite with a private viewing deck which overlooks a large plain and watering hole.
Ol Pejeta Bush Camp is a charming tented safari camp located in Kenya's Laikipia region. All seven spacious, eco-friendly canvas tents look out onto the Ewaso Ngiro River and, with activities like the Junior Ranger Programme, Ol Pejeta Bush Camp is a fantastic choice for families.
Located in the remote, untouched eastern plains of the Serengeti, Olmara Camp (formerly known as Ehlane Plains Camp) is a beautifully designed, eco-friendly, tented safari camp that offers sweeping views of Tanzania's vast savannahs and provides top-quality, year-round game viewing.
Plains Camp is part of Rhino Walking Safaris in the Kruger National Park. As the name implies, Rhino Walking Safaris specializes in foot safaris and guided bush walks. Often, Plains Camp is combined with Rhino Post Lodge on the same trip, offering the guest a combination of game drives and walking safaris.
Pondoro Game Lodge is a small, owner-managed, luxury game lodge situated on the banks of the Olifants River in the 40 000 ha exclusive Balule Game Reserve, a big 5 game reserve which forms part of the greater Kruger National Park. Pondoro offers luxury chalets and suites and is excellent value for money.
Rhino Post is a luxury safari lodge set in the 12 000 ha Mutlumuvi Concession Area within the Kruger National Park. This elegant 8-suite lodge was built using only natural materials such as wood, stone, thatch and canvas. It's the main accommodation base for Rhino Walking Safaris.
Rhino Walking Safaris incorporates the luxurious Rhino Post Lodge and the beautiful tented Plains Camp, offering a unique safari experience within the Kruger National Park, tracking the Big 5 by foot and sleeping out under the stars. Any combination of multi-day walks, game drives and sleep-outs on raised wooden platforms can be arranged (weather permitting).
Ruaha River Lodge is spectacularly situated overlooking the Ruaha River, one of the lifeblood drinking sources for the abundant game, especially during the dry season. Ruaha National Park, known for its prolific elephant population and large prides of lion, offers visitors incredible scenery and the safari experience of a lifetime.
Shepherd's Tree Game Lodge is an intimate safari lodge in Pilanesberg National Park, offering a more traditional bush-lodge atmosphere for travellers seeking a quieter safari close to Johannesburg. With fewer rooms and a more secluded feel than many Pilanesberg lodges, it suits couples and travellers looking for a more authentic lodge experience.
Shishangeni Private Game Lodge is situated deep in the heart of the famous Kruger National Park, South Africa - a wildlife reserve that offers some of the greatest game viewing experiences in Africa. Surrounded by the unspoilt beauty of the African bushveld, the lodge provides guests with luxury accommodation, as well as excellent open vehicle game drives with expert guides.
Opened in 2018, Stanley & Livingstone Boutique Hotel is the first of its kind in Victoria Falls, one of Africa's major attractions. Serene and luxurious, it provides a lovely base from which to explore the many sights, scenes and attractions the area has to offer. Or you can simply relax and take a break between safaris, watching as the wildlife comes to visit at the waterhole.
Price range estimate pp sharing per night (high season)
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