Review: Safari at Singita Lebombo and Singita Boulders, South Africa

My husband and I just returned from safari in South Africa, all planned and managed by Abbie Hand from u/sarahwlee’s team. I found Sarah and Abbie through this subreddit and I am incredibly thankful I did because this trip was epic. Abbie is just totally top notch, she spent hours and hours crafting the perfect trip with us. And her partners in Africa, New World, were also REALLY amazing. They anticipated everything and got us what we needed before we even knew we needed it. A+++++.

We actually went to four lodges but this post is about the two Singita lodges we went to, one in Kruger National Park (Lebombo) and one in Sabi Sand (Boulders). Neither of us had ever been to Africa and this was a bit of a bucket list trip for my husband.

Happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

SINGITA LEBOMBO - KRUGER NATIONAL PARK

THE AWESOME:

  • The food. THE FOOD!!!! Singita is known for their food and honestly their culinary program is flawless. Every dish was a winner. I also have a few random dietary restrictions (can’t have tomatoes and raw onions) and they managed these perfectly. I always had something to eat.
  • The cooking class was also amazing, relatedly. Vanesa was our instructor, she was one of the students at the cooking school there, and she was really helpful and patient with us. We LOVED this experience. And it helped me feel confident in making South African food at home, which I’ve done several times now since I returned home. They also set up everything without tomatoes or onions, which felt like such an amazing level of care and attention.
  • The spa was beautiful and the treatments were lovely.
  • The physical environment of the place was just absolutely gorgeous.
  • On the two game drives where we shared a vehicle with another couple, the management team took the time and attention to ensure that we were with people we would enjoy: specifically, a couple where one of them was Canadian like us. :) It turns out that one member of the couple and my husband were from small towns about an hour apart, and are both entrepreneurs in similar fields. We got along so well with them that they’re planning to visit us this fall (yes, we make friends with everyone. we are just dorks like that lol)
  • Our guide, Evidence, and our tracker Daniel. They were both so lovely. I LOVED Evidence - he was always happy to answer my questions, even though I had a zillion of them, and he had some hilarious one-liners. I'll always remember him saying "buffalos look at you like you owe them money" and "my favourite animals are elephants, because they're always doing something." We felt safe at all times, and the team really went out of their way to make sure we got to see tons of animals... including two leopard cubs!!
  • On the last night there was a BBQ dinner with a little performance by some of the staff, and it was honestly so incredibly, incredibly cool. It seemed very heartfelt. I loved it.
  • The housekeeping team was amazing, they set up the room so beautifully for turndown each night.
  • They provided generally awesome amenities, including sunscreen that we took (we checked, it was ok!) and ended up using for the whole rest of the trip. We truly felt like every detail was looked after and anticipated.
  • The restrooms in the main part of the lodge were unreal. I know this sounds silly but omg.
  • The design of the rooms was spectacular. The way that they set up candles at the end of the day? It felt like the most amazing dream.
  • The snacks and drinks at the coffee break and sundowner on each game drive were so, so good.
  • The quality of the safari vehicles was EXCELLENT. They were super comfortable and they could go pretty much anywhere. Makes me want to trade in my Audi for a Toyota Land Cruiser, haha.
  • We saw the entire Big 5 in the first 1.5 days. I couldn't believe it.
  • Did I mention the animals? The animals!!!
  • I don’t drink alcohol at all but my husband does. Husband said the mixed drinks were very good. The mocktails certainly were. :) And no one gave me shit at all about not drinking alcohol, which is a good thing.

STUFF TO KNOW:

To preface: these things are either not a problem at all (ie the room distance from the lodge) or a super minor issue from our perspective. The lodge was 99% perfect. But different people have different needs so here’s some stuff to know.

  • We were in room 5, which was about a 3-5 minute walk from the main lodge, including about 40-50 stairs. It was the furthest room, but with the best view. This was fine for us, we are active people and honestly I really enjoyed the exercise in the morning. However, if you aren't as active, you’ll probably want a room that's closer in. I would happily stay in room 5 again, though!
  • The room was BEAUTIFUL but much smaller than the one at Boulders, and occasionally felt a bit small/cramped - but I think that's probably just the geography.
  • There was a minor issue with our room tech - it conked out twice, which meant we didn't get a wakeup call one morning and we didn't have wifi in our room for a day. They fixed it very quickly each time, and their response was 100% faultless - they just might want to look at whether there's a bigger issue with the tech in that room. But it was really minor.

SINGITA BOULDERS - SABI SAND

THE AMAZING:

  • The massage I got at the spa here was probably the best massage I’ve ever had in my entire life. Ever. I was basically comatose for an hour in a good way.
  • The room product. OH MY GOOD LORD. I wanted to move in. The pool! The wavelike window! The scented oil! The two bathrooms! Just the whole feel of it! The PAINTING KIT??!! I am obsessed with this room. I want to live there forever.
  • Our guide Kayla and tracker Reazert! Kayla was quite young, and it took her an hour or so to warm up to us as I wonder if she is used to being misjudged or underestimated; she wasn’t rude or distant at all, just very ultra-professional. But once she got to know us a bit she was SO awesome and warm and friendly. Incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the animals and she knew exactly where to take us to see baby animals, which are a particular interest of mine. She was clearly in her element. She also seemed to have a very good rapport with Reazert (as Evidence and Daniel had at Lebombo) and the two of them clearly respected each other. I would highly recommend Kayla as a guide and Reazert as a tracker.
  • The animals, of course. Tons of leopards, lions, giraffes, a few crocs, loads of hippoes!
  • THE FOOD. Boulders specializes in BBQ meats and every single dinner was a revelation. We ate so many different antelopes!
  • Our server Vivian! I LOVED her. She was a hoot. She had a wicked sense of humour in the best possible way. Like, I overheard someone at another table ask her if the kudu on the menu was the same as the one they saw on the reserve, and she said, totally deadpan, “No, that one is alive and this one is dead.” She got us secret blessbuck from the kitchen one night because she said it was the best venison and she was right. She was so accurate with her identification of the best thing on the menu every single meal that I stopped choosing for myself and just asked her what I should have. And it was ALWAYS the right choice. I will defend her with every ounce of my being. I tipped her hundreds of dollars and she deserved every penny. She was a highlight of the trip.
  • The entire resort space. The safari lanterns. The restaurant. The everything. I wish I could bottle the feeling of utter awe in that place.
  • Other than the lack of safari boots in the boutique (see below), I really liked the boutique - it had a fairly good range of things at a range of prices, including some very reasonably priced gifts. Also apparently the general manager designed some of the clothing and had it made especially for the place, which was super cool! I didn’t buy any of the clothing but I would have if I’d needed anything!
  • Did I mention baby animals? We saw hyena cubs and wild dog pups and lion cubs!
  • The canine tracking experience was SO COOL. We really appreciated getting to know more about the anti-poaching efforts.
  • And on that same night, they put out a full bar on the Savannah for us with snacks, and it was SO beautiful.
  • The sommelier, I think her name was Isabelle. It’s hard to describe how amazing she was. As I mentioned, I don’t really drink alcohol; it’s not a sobriety thing, I just don’t really like it. But she let me taste small amounts of wine and explained things kindly and was the opposite of snobby. She actually made me understand wine pairings. I cannot properly express how much of a total game-changer she was in terms of my relationship with wine in general. And for my husband’s part, someone who actually does drink - he was incredibly impressed with both the wine selection and the sommelier. I recommend that they keep her on forever.

THE STUFF TO KNOW:

Literally the most minor issues imaginable. Boulders was nearly flawless.

  • I would have loved to be able to buy safari boots at the boutique! I didn’t buy them for the trip and I wished I had, but there wasn’t anywhere to buy them at any of the properties, alas! I don’t know if it would even be workable to stock them so this is not a complaint, just like… I would have paid good money for some boots!
  • On the first morning they didn’t have a no-tomato sandwich for me… but there was lots of other breakfast available! And they apologized profusely. And from then on, there was a no-tomato sandwich for me every morning, AND every single menu for every single meal had all tomato and raw onion omitted from every dish, basically they bent over backwards and did gymnastics to make sure I got food that I liked at every single meal, after one minor omission. It just shows the amazing level of detail this team had.

Anyway - you should go to these lodges.