tonja

I was wondering if anyone has stayed at the Ebony Lodge in singita? I want a luxurious lodge with good game viewing. This will be my first trip to Africa in October. Any suggestions? We'll be there for 7 full days and nights.

Roccco

Tonja,

I stayed at Singita Private Game Reserve in 2002. It is definitely a fabulous place worthy of all the awards it has captured for itself.

I have been to Africa for the last three years and I have stayed at 8 different game lodges so far, and Singita remains the top one in both gameviewing and accomodations. October should be an excellent time to visit.

With 7 full nights at your disposal, you may want to split it up between Singita Ebony, Singita Boulders (very closely located to Ebony) and Singita Lebombo, which is quite a bit away from Boulders and Ebony, requiring a short air transfer.

Singita is capable of filling up 6 months - a year in advance so I do suggest that you find out if your dates are available as soon as possible.

For my first visit to South Africa, quite honestly, SINGITA is the reason why I wanted to visit. I was very disappointed when one agent told me that Singita was not available for my dates, and then I was overjoyed when another agent was able to get the very same dates for me without a problem...so having the right agent is everything.

I am attaching my photo album that partly includes my gameviewing at Singita. Unfortunately, I did not think at the time to include pictures of the lodges (back then I had no idea how fantastic the accomodations were compared to other top lodges I would later visit).

Have a look:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePh...d=597669870205

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePh...p;sort_order=0

If you would like my recommendation for a good agent, please e-mail me as I'd rather not name drop on the forum.

Trisha1

We stayed at Singita Ebony Chalet #1 for 3 nights in April of 2004. It is truly an amazing experience and has been rated Number 1 in the world many times for the superiority of the site, the game viewing, the accomodations and service.

I would recommend you reserve immediately as the usual reservations are made up to one year in advance. Ebony and Boulders are next to each other and cover the same areas for game viewing. We had dinner at Boulders and it is beautiful as well.

Why not spend 2 nights at Ebony, then 2 nights at Boulders and fly over to Lebombo for 3 nights. This way you would get to try all 3 Singita properties.

Another idea would be to go to a tented camp first (I recommend Ngala tented camp). You could have the tented experience at a smaller also deluxe camp and not spend quite as much as the Singita properties.

girlpolo33

Tonja: I agree with Trisha in that you might want to consider staying at two or more Singita properties during your visit. I booked my first safari with an American's view of vacation...staying at one place for a week. However, when I arrived at Singita, I realized that everyone else booked two or three nights at various game lodges in order to get a varied experience in accomodation, cuisine and game viewing. Since that time, I've followed that plan and enjoyed the experience much better. Singita actually has four properties, so you have several stunning options to consider. One thing is for certain...you will love your safari experience!

austkaye

Dear Tonja,

I have stayed at Singita Boulders in both December 2003, and December 2004 and have booked in for December 2005. The lodge is just magnificent and the staff are fantastic - in fact it is due to some of the staff that I return each year. My main thing is gameviewing, and the gameviewing is good - not the very best that I have been lucky enough to view. Something to consider - when I was there in December 2004, a canadian couple had been to Lebombo and mentioned that the gameviewing was not that great as the wildlife was not used to vehicles and getting to view them was difficult, and I have had this experience before. The wildlife in that area would need a good length of time to become used to vehicles and not see them as a threat. But the actual rooms are very luxurious. For me as an Australian, this is certainly one of the most expensive places for me to stay. For this upcoming trip to the Sabi Sands area, I am also staying at the following, for the first time - Ivory Lodge at Lion Sands and either Founders Lodge or Bateleur Lodge at Londolozi. Not much help to you in October. I seem to be alone in this, but I have absolutely no problem with staying 7 nights or more in one location as I always feel that the longer I am in one place, the more chance I get to see more animals.

Kaye