For intimacy without stuffiness and luxury without pretentiousness, it’s hard to beat Ecca Lodge. There are just six suites, well spaced apart from each other; the suites are vast, with separate seating areas, huge private decks and private plunge pools. The décor is unashamedly modern and funky, with a distinctive African twist. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer wonderful views over the vast Karoo scenery and increase the sense of space as well as reminding you that you have this incredible place almost to yourself!

At 22,000 hectares with 22 rooms (across 4 lodges), Kwandwe Private Game Reserve allows you to have an enormous slice of South Africa almost to yourself. And in the Karoo everything feels bigger, with wide-open spaces under vast skies. Wild animals roam again here, successfully reintroduced over the past decade or so, and sustained by the 30 miles of Great Fish River flowing through the reserve, Game viewing is excellent and you stand a good chance of seeing most, if not all of the Big Five of elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard.