The new safari lodges in Africa open across classic reserves and remote wildernesses. From Laikipia and Ruaha to Bwindi and the Kafue River, high-end projects are bringing luxury to landscapes once deemed too remote, giving guests rare, unhurried access to wildlife and untouched scenery. Meanwhile, established strongholds such as the Maasai Mara, Serengeti, and Okavango Delta are seeing additions that emphasize exclusivity and personalized guiding rather than expansion. Legacy conservation operators (Singita, Great Plains, Wilderness, and andBeyond) continue to lead with purpose-driven projects, while global hotel groups (The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Anantara, and Banyan Tree) are among the new safari lodges in Africa that blend predictable service standards with authentic wildlife encounters.
→ See also: New Luxury Hotels Opening Worldwide in 2026
“[…] Mt Kenya silhouettes the horizon. The Ewaso Narok River threads below. Here, among ancient kopjes and vast landscapes, a deeper sort of safari awaits.”
— andBeyond Suyian Lodge
andBeyond Suyian Lodge sits within a vast 44,000-acre private conservancy in Kenya’s Laikipia region, an area known for its dramatic landscapes and low-density wildlife viewing. The lodge features just 14 spacious suites, designed to offer a sense of seclusion while keeping guests closely connected to the surrounding wilderness.
Outdoor living is central to the Suyian Lodge experience, with private plunge pools and open terraces that blend seamlessly into the terrain. The architecture draws on elements of Samburu design and takes cues from the natural environment, reflecting the region’s cultural heritage without overpowering the landscape. Beyond aesthetics, Suyian Lodge plays an active role in conservation, helping safeguard key wildlife corridors while supporting nearby communities through education and healthcare initiatives.
See what others think about andBeyond Suyian Lodge on TripAdvisor.
Official Website. Photos (including the leading shot at the top of the article) © &Beyond
Among all the new safari lodges in Africa, we are perhaps the most excited about this one. We have very fond memories of staying at Shompole Lodge in its final days before closure. After a turbulent period marked by shutdown, a devastating fire, and a change in management, the lodge is finally set to reopen under the stewardship of Great Plains Conservation.
While full details are still emerging, Shompole’s return follows the same conservation-first philosophy that defines Great Plains’ portfolio. The revived lodge is expected to balance bold, site-responsive design with strong ecological credentials, alongside wildlife-centric activities and storytelling rooted in the surrounding landscape. Its reopening marks a meaningful addition to Kenya’s high-end conservation travel scene, reinforcing the country’s appeal beyond its most established safari circuits.
Official Website. Opening mid-2026. Photos © Great Plains Conservation
“Discover a place enveloped by the rainforest, where ancient volcanoes rise over every vista, and the profound presence of mountain gorillas is within your reach. […] The pace of the everyday becomes a distant memory here, and gives way to the rhythms of the rainforest.” — Wilderness Bisate Reserve
With just four generously sized forest villas set well apart, Wilderness Bisate Reserve introduces a more restrained counterpart to the original Wilderness Bisate. Located on the forested slopes of Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, the lodge is intentionally low-key, offering a quieter base for exploring the Virunga Massif and its surrounding landscapes.
The villas are embedded into the terrain and designed for privacy, each with a wood-fired hot tub positioned to take in the changing light over the forest canopy. The focus here is less on spectacle and more on considered design, limited guest numbers, and proximity to some of Africa’s most sought-after gorilla trekking routes. Conservation remains central to the experience, with guests able to take part in ongoing reforestation work that continues to shape the surrounding reserve.
See what others think about Wilderness Bisate on TripAdvisor.
Official Website. Photos © Wilderness
Exclusive stay in Grumeti Reserve, Tanzania
Singita Elela, opening in Botswana’s southwestern Delta, is the Singita’s first property in the region, set on a vast private concession in NG26. The lodge comprises eight stilted, circular camps—five one-bedroom, two two-bedroom, and one four-bedroom retreat—each with private lounges, decks, pools, and dedicated guides, vehicles, and hosts.
From these elevated camps, guests can take in sweeping views over floodplains, islands, lagoons, and grasslands, with wildlife roaming freely nearby. Activities range from game drives, bush walks, and mokoro excursions to wellness treatments, yoga sessions, stargazing, and helicopter flights, allowing each stay to be tailored to individual interests. Designed to follow the natural rhythms of the Delta, Elela combines careful architecture and thoughtful service to place guests close to the landscape and its wildlife without overwhelming it.
Official Website. Opening in 2026. Photo © Singita
The Ritz-Carlton Masai Mara Safari Camp offers refined comfort in the heart of Kenya’s wilderness, set along the banks of the Sand River. The camp features 20 spacious tented suites and a four-bedroom Presidential Suite, each with indoor-outdoor showers, private decks, and plunge pools that open onto the surrounding landscape. Game drives, guided nature walks, and early morning hot-air balloon rides over the Mara plains are all part of the experience. Cultural encounters with the Maasai community, bush breakfasts under the open sky, and Maasai-style boma feasts in the evenings are other highlights. Locally inspired dining, combined with attentive service, ensures each stay blends the rhythms of the wilderness with sophisticated comfort.
Alternatively, book The Ritz-Carlton, Masai Mara Safari Camp via
Expedia | Agoda or see what others think on TripAdvisor.
Official Website. Photos © Marriott International
Laba Grumeti Art Lodge sits on a hilltop overlooking the Serengeti, just 35 minutes from the Grumeti airstrip. Part of the Laba Laba collection, the lodge is shaped by contemporary African art, featuring work by artists from South Africa, Kenya, the Ivory Coast, and Ethiopia. Art is woven into the guest experience, from the interiors of the 12 tented suites to the lounges and bar areas, where uninterrupted views of the bush frame the collection.
The lodge also offers a culinary program built on Laba Laba’s signature dishes prepared from organic produce, and a spa experience with a curated menu of wellness treatments. Among the facilities are also an infinity lap pool and a Technogym fitness space.
Official Website. Photos © Laba Laba
Staying at a luxury desert camp near Marrakesh
Wilderness Magashi Peninsula, newly opened in Rwanda’s Akagera National Park, is an intimate eight-bed camp set between Lake Rwanyakazinga and the Mutumba Mountains. The property includes a four-bed villa and two twin rooms, with interiors shaped by Rwandan culture and crafted from locally sourced materials. Star beds in each room allow guests to watch wildlife from the comfort of their suite, while the lounge, pool, gym, and wellness spaces offer quiet moments of retreat.
The camp runs entirely on solar power and is designed with a minimal footprint, blending sustainability with immersion in Akagera’s wildlife. Whether spotting elephants at the lakeshore or hippos grazing nearby, the camp offers a rare combination of seclusion, cultural design, and access to one of Rwanda’s most scenic and wildlife-rich landscapes.
Alternatively, book the Wilderness Magashi Peninsula via
Go2Africa, or see what others think on TripAdvisor.
Official Website. Photos © Wilderness
Kulu Ora is WildPlaces Africa’s seventh lodge and its second in Murchison Falls National Park. Located in a restricted zone with limited vehicle access, the camp offers a quieter game-viewing experience than the park’s busier sectors. The property comprises 11 canvas suites and a family unit, all facing the Nile River. Unlike smaller bush camps, the lodge includes a lap pool, an elevated library, and a spa built directly on the riverbank. It serves as a base for tracking Uganda’s ‘Big Seven,’ with a particular focus on the park’s high lion population, offering wildlife encounters that go beyond general game viewing.
Official Website. Opening Q2 2026. Photos © Wildplaces Africa
Ubuyu, named for the local baobab fruit, is Banyan Group’s first safari venture. Set in Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park, the six-villa property is designed for a minimal footprint: solar power runs the camp, and the timber, thatch, and clay structures echo traditional Maasai dwellings. The social hub, called the Living Room, flows like a Maasai enkang, while the Mganga Bar frames views of the river. Dining emphasizes plant-forward, zero-waste cuisine rather than typical game-focused safari menus. The Maji Spa on the riverbank offers wellness treatments in a tranquil setting, and ‘Escape Hosts’ guide guests through the camp instead of conventional butlers, fostering a more relaxed vibe.
Official Website. Opening May 2026. Photos © Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts
Anantara Kafue River Tented Camp is set deep within Zambia’s Kafue National Park. The property comprises 12 private tents, including a 600-square-metre Presidential Villa with plunge pools and exclusive access to the river by boat. The camp’s accommodations and facilities—restaurant, bar, traditional African boma, and wellness pool—offer comfort while keeping guests closely connected to the surrounding wilderness. Sustainable practices are integrated throughout, and the lodge works with local communities to support conservation and regional initiatives, allowing visitors to experience the park’s wildlife while contributing to its long-term protection.
Official Website. Opening April 2026. Images © Anantara Hotels & Resorts
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Erebero Hills, Asilia Africa’s first lodge in Uganda, brings a thoughtful, design-led approach to the country’s gorilla-tracking region, which has long relied on simpler safari camps. The lodge perches along a restored escarpment on the northern edge of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, offering sweeping views over the forest canopy and direct access to nearby gorilla-tracking trailheads.
Eight bamboo-built suites, designed by Pablo Luna Studio, curve and step down the slope of the land, their rooflines echoing the forested escarpment. Interiors are designed for the misty, cool climate, with fireplaces and expansive decks that invite guests to watch the forest awaken. The lodge cascades down toward a heated pool and an open-air bar, creating a series of intimate spaces that follow the site’s natural gradient.
Alternatively, book Erebero Hills via Mr & Mrs Smith .
Official Website. Opening 2026. Rendering © Asilia Africa
“Our new Botswana Under Canvas camps celebrate safari in its purest form. They are intimate, low-impact and deeply connected to place […]. Sandibe captures the energy of predator country while Nxabega reflects the calm of the Delta’s waterways.” — Riaan Venter, &Beyond Southern Africa
&Beyond is expanding its presence in Botswana’s Okavango Delta with two new seasonal camps—&Beyond Sandibe Under Canvas and &Beyond Nxabega Under Canvas—both opening on March 1, 2026. Each camp is intimate, with just three tents accommodating up to six guests, designed for minimal impact on the landscape while providing thoughtful comforts such as super king beds, double showers, running water, and Starlink Wi-Fi.
Sandibe Under Canvas is set in a game-rich concession, where sightings of lions, leopards, and wild dogs are common. Nxabega Under Canvas offers a quieter experience, with mokoro excursions, walking safaris, fishing, and guided game drives. Both camps run entirely on solar power, blending low-impact design with a close connection to the Delta’s rhythms and wildlife.
Official Website. Opening March 1, 2026. Photos © &Beyond
Vestige Collection opens four new lodges in northern Namibia in 2026, marking its first expansion beyond Europe. The lodges are unique among the new safari lodges in Africa in that they form a connected circuit across the region, each rooted in a distinct landscape: wildlife-rich plains near the Grootberg range at Omantedeka; views of the Brandberg massif at Sorris Sorris; a private concession bordering Etosha at Sheya Shuushona; and the Kalahari dunes surrounding Xaudum. Rooted in local communities, environmental awareness, and restrained design, the lodges allow guests to stay at a single property or move through all four as a connected journey.
Official Website. Opening Summer 2026. Photos © Vestige Collection
JW Marriott Mount Kenya Rhino Reserve Safari Camp is set in the heart of Kenya’s Solio Game Reserve, between Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Mountains. The camp features 20 tented units, including two two-bedroom suites with private plunge pools, as well as wellness areas, a spa, multiple dining venues, and a conservation house. 64,000 acres of protected wilderness ensure sightings of rhinos, leopards, cheetahs, and plains game. Highlights include horse-riding safaris, night drives, guided nature walks, quad biking, and visits to the reserve’s private rhino orphanage.
Official Website. Photos © Marriott International
Opened in April 2025, Natural Selection’s Mbamba Camp offers a vintage safari experience in the northern Okavango Delta. The camp has 12 canvas tents, including family units, designed in an old-world style that blends with the surrounding landscape.
Set in a wildlife-rich area known for African wild dogs, lions, and exceptional birdlife, guests can glide through the waterways on mokoro excursions, enjoy game drives across the floodplains, or spend time birdwatching from the camp. Focused on sustainability and conservation, Mbamba Camp works to minimize human-wildlife conflict while keeping visitors closely connected to the natural rhythms and wildlife of the Delta.
See what others think about Mbamba Camp on TripAdvisor.
Official Website. Opened in April 2025. Photos © Natural Selection
Launching in June 2026, Kitirua Plains is a new Abercrombie & Kent Sanctuary lodge set on a 128-acre private concession bordering Amboseli National Park. The lodge offers 13 standalone suites—11 one-bedroom and two two-bedroom—featuring contemporary, pared-back interiors with natural textures inspired by Maasai traditions. Communal spaces include a spa, gym, swimming pool, and a boma for evenings under the stars, creating a lodge that combines thoughtful design, immersive wildlife, and the rhythms of the Kenyan plains.
The Amboseli area, in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, offers plenty of opportunities to track elephant herds, lions, and cheetahs on game drives, while cultural experiences with the local Maasai community bring visitors closer to regional traditions.
Official Website. Opening 1 June 2026. Photos © Abercrombie & Kent
Masiya’s Camp, named for master tracker Wilson Masiya, is a six-suite camp set within the Greater Kruger National Park. Each luxury canvas suite has a private plunge pool and combines contemporary design with traditional African elements, placing guests close to the rhythms of the bush. Daily game drives and guided walks offer opportunities to track Africa’s big cats and other wildlife, while the suites provide a quiet retreat with modern comforts. The camp balances immersive safari experiences with thoughtfully designed accommodations, creating an intimate, nature-focused stay in one of South Africa’s most iconic wildlife regions.
Official Website. Photos © The Royal Portfolio
Natural Selection’s Hoanib Elephant Camp is located in Namibia’s remote Kaokoland, where desert-adapted elephants roam across open plains and rugged terrain. The solar-powered camp features 10 canvas tents (including family units), each with private plunge pools and indoor-outdoor bathrooms. Eco-conscious materials help regulate temperatures naturally while blending the structures into the landscape.
Tracking elephants, giraffes, lions, and black rhinos, guided nature walks, and watching the desert sky come alive at night are the staples of the camp experience. Excursions to the Skeleton Coast and visits to local Himba communities are also possible.
Official Website. Opening in May 2026. Photos © Hotel Name
Sediba Sa Rona is Desert & Delta Safaris’ newest lodge in Botswana’s Khwai Concession, where the Okavango Delta, Moremi, and Savute ecosystems meet. The camp has 15 tents with en-suite bathrooms and private decks overlooking the Khwai River (which is a key wildlife corridor).
Elevated platforms and an open-air fire deck offer uninterrupted views of the floodplains, while the pool provides a quiet spot to watch hippos and birds along the river. Twice-daily game drives and boat excursions wind through the diverse landscapes, bringing visitors close to elephants, lions, and other wildlife in one of northern Botswana’s richest ecosystems.
See what others think about Sediba Sa Ron on TripAdvisor.
Official Website. Opening in March 2026. Photos © Desert & Delta
The romance of a luxury star bed in the savannah
This intimate eco-lodge, perched in South Africa’s Soutpansberg Mountains, serves as a gateway to the UNESCO Vhembe Biosphere Reserve. Few & Far Luvhondo has six suites set along the cliffside among some of Southern Africa’s oldest and largest baobab trees. The lodge was designed by Plewman Architects, with earthy yet refined interiors by Ohkre Collective.
A standout feature is Solfari, a solar-powered aerial cable car shaped like a weaver bird’s nest. It glides silently above the treetops, offering panoramic views of the rugged landscape and glimpses of wildlife below, providing a private and unobtrusive perspective on the reserve. The lodge also includes a wellness sanctuary with a meditative labyrinth and spa treatments designed to harmonize with the natural surroundings.
Alternatively, book Few & Far Luvhondo via
Agoda or see what others think on TripAdvisor.
Official Website. Images © Few & Far
Perched 180 metres above the Zambezi, Bupenyu Lodge overlooks the Batoka Gorge, just a short drive from Victoria Falls. The lodge has 11 suites, including a private villa, each with a plunge pool and a cantilevered deck offering sweeping river views and complete privacy.
Meals are served on the edge of the gorge, while a hilltop spa provides a quiet retreat. Helicopter arrivals offer dramatic vistas of the gorge below. Built with regenerative principles, Bupenyu integrates sustainable design into every element of the lodge, encouraging guests to linger and take in the landscapes, rather than rushing past the falls.
See what others think about Bupenyu Luxury Boutique Lodge on TripAdvisor.
Official Website. Opening 1 March 2026. Photos © Hotel Name
Wilderness Mara reopens the former Little Governors’ Camp in the Mara Triangle, offering a new perspective on one of Kenya’s most wildlife-rich locations. The 12-suite tented camp sits along a quiet bend of the Mara River, providing access to both sides and a chance to observe wildlife—and the Great Migration—away from the crowds.
The camp blends timeless safari design with understated comfort. Morning and evening game drives explore the riverine plains, while the camp itself offers privacy and unobstructed views of the river, creating an experience that appeals equally to first-time visitors and seasoned safari-goers.
Official Website. Opening June 2026. Photos © Hotel Name
Launching in June 2026, Sandringham Private Game Reserve is a restored 11,000-acre wilderness in South Africa’s Timbavati region, reconnected to the Greater Kruger ecosystem. The reserve runs along the Timbavati River and borders Thornybush, Ngala, and Timbavati, providing extensive wildlife corridors for elephants, lions, and other species. Two intimate lodges, N’Weti Camp and Shisaka Camp, offer a small number of suites and family villas, each designed for privacy and minimal impact on the land. Conservation, wildlife rehabilitation, and community initiatives are integrated into the experience, allowing visitors to explore restored landscapes while observing thriving wildlife in one of South Africa’s most important corridors.
Official Website. Photos © Sabi Sabi Collection
The most anticipated hotel openings in Italy, Saudi Arabia and beyond
There are so many exciting new safari lodges in Africa that it’s particularly hard to limit the list to only two or three dozen. The shortlist below includes some safari camps and lodges that are just as worth mentioning as those in the selection above.
Getting there: The flight-comparison sites such as Skyscanner (www.skyscanner.com) or Kayak (www.kayak.com) will help you find the best flights and deals.
Disclosure: We may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
Author: Travel+Style. Last updated: 18/01/2026
Top of Paris: the most creative luxury hotels in the city
