Sitting on a hillside in a clearing of pine trees, upmarket Chelinda is a traveller's dream. The main building crackles with fires at every turn, complemented by inviting couches, walls adorned with lush wildlife photography, pillars hung with woodcarvings, glittering chandeliers and high beams. Rates include park entrance fees and wildlife-watching activities.
After a day's hiking or biking, settle back for the communal candlelit dinner, or train your binoculars on the opposite valley for passing zebra. No less enchanting are the Swiss-style timber chalets, with roaring fires, wooden floors, claw-foot baths and hot-water bottles in the beds! Chelinda's elevated views are best enjoyed at dawn, when the surrounding grasslands are cloaked in blue mist that seems to possess a magical life of its own. Bliss.
