There is such a 'wow' factor to the architectural and interior design of Ivory Lodge that the simple act of entering your luxury safari lodge suite for the first time can literally render you speechless. Behind huge wooden double doors is the accommodation, all 165 square metres of it. A central courtyard, with a square plunge pool, is flanked by the living room on one side and a dual-level open-plan bedroom and bathroom on the other.
The suites alone may give you a good indication of what to expect from your stay, but you will soon learn that style, creativity and unfaltering attention to detail come in many forms at Lion Sands.
For example with specialist treatments in the health spa, expert rangers and trackers with only six passengers per specially adapted 4x4 Land Rover, an executive chef who creates food that appears looking like a work of art, and a world-class wine cellar.
Interestingly, Lion Sands is the only safari estate in this part of Mpumalanga to employ a full-time ecologist, there to ensure the preservation and maintenance of the natural environment.
Luxury and safari can go hand in hand and need not be separated, as evidenced by the fact that, if you stay long enough on your sunlounger, the wildlife will come to you. But if you have a strong desire to feel the African bush around you and beneath your feet, Lion Sands' highly skilled trackers, rangers and ecologist are at your service.
Being on the ground in big-game country is almost as good as being up a tree, and Lion Sands Private Game Reserve has two tree houses in which you can overnight - a very popular choice if what you are looking for is a night of romance or simply an experience like no other.
These freestanding platforms each feature a large bed with mosquito netting swaying in the breeze and a picnic basket containing everything you might want for an extraordinary night under the stars.