Where the sky catches fire at Mantis Hiddn in Addo, South Africa’s most extraordinary new safari lodge

By Scott Manson

The sun was going down over the Eastern Cape and the sky had turned the colour of molten copper. Standing on the sunset terrace of Mantis Hiddn, a cold glass of local gin and tonic in hand, the bush falling into purple shadow thousands of feet below, I found myself doing something I almost never do on the first evening of a trip: absolutely nothing. No phone, no agenda, no restless urge to explore. Just the fire pit crackling beside me, a handful of fellow guests quietly absorbed in the same view and a silence so complete it felt hugely calming.

We had arrived – my wife, our teenage daughter and I – after a journey that felt, by design, like a gradual shedding of the ordinary world. A flight from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, then a two-hour drive in a gleaming new Land Rover Defender with our driver Des, a cheerful, quietly brilliant man from Durban who had spent over a decade working in South Africa’s national parks. The last 45 minutes of that drive was on a track so dramatic – so rutted, so red, so gloriously remote – that Des had to engage four-wheel drive and raise the suspension to navigate it. He called it “the African massage,” which made us laugh, and which also, somehow, felt entirely appropriate. Every bone-juddering metre was the landscape announcing itself, insisting on being taken seriously.

When we finally crested the mountain and Hiddn came into view, the effect was startling. The lodge sits at the very top of an 800-hectare private reserve, seemingly suspended between earth and sky, with no sign of human civilisation in any direction. As we pulled in, a family of warthogs scattered across the path – the mother, Des informed us, had been named Ursula by the staff – and baboons lolloped in the middle distance with magnificent indifference. Parked beside the main lodge was a specially adapted INEOS Grenadier, our transport for the days ahead, which looked purposeful and rather exciting.

Our two-bedroom suite was vast, beautiful and opened onto a panoramic terrace complete with outdoor bath, a wood-fired hot tub, and – crucially for our daughter, who had already clocked the absence of televisions with considerable alarm – very fast WiFi.

What becomes apparent within hours of arriving at Hiddn is that the quality of the staff is exceptional, and not by accident. Manager Tracy, who had herself spent years at a remote hotel resort in Rwanda, explained that the team had taken months to assemble, ensuring every person was not just skilled but the right temperamental fit for somewhere this solitary. It shows in every interaction. Des turned out to be not merely a driver but a seasoned naturalist who could identify a bird at a hundred yards and lure it closer by mimicking its call. Bar staff, chefs, guides – virtually everyone we encountered had previously worked in one of the major South African national parks. The cumulative effect is of a place staffed by people who genuinely love where they are.

Dining at Hiddn operates without menus, which sounds alarming but is in practice one of the great pleasures of a stay. Each morning, the chef would seek out our preferences for the day, steering us gently toward whatever was beautiful and local – kudu, tender and rich; kingklip, a buttery Eastern Cape fish of quite extraordinary delicacy – before producing results that consistently exceeded expectation. Fine South African wines flowed at dinner, while pre-dinner drinks were taken on that sunset terrace, around the fire pit, in the company of other guests who, like us, seemed slightly dazed by their good fortune.

The days fell into a rhythm that was easy to surrender to. Early morning yoga as the mist lifted off the valleys. A couples massage while, unbeknownst to us, our daughter was being transformed by an art therapy session – she had sniffed at the idea initially, but by the time we returned, she had produced two genuinely lovely paintings. Who needs television? We trekked through the reserve’s hundreds of acres, poking into caves and following a guide to a clear, sparkling river for a picnic lunch. Remarkably, throughout four days in the African wilds, we encountered not a single mosquito.

The safari itself – one long day in the INEOS out into Addo Elephant National Park, with Des at the wheel – delivered everything the Eastern Cape promises and then some. Elephants at close range, zebra, warthog, buffalo, and then, rounding a bend in the late afternoon light, a pair of lion cubs. A rare sighting, Des told us quietly, as if he hadn’t perhaps known exactly where to look.

By the final morning, we had all fallen under Hiddn’s particular spell: extraordinary food, the deepest sleep any of us could remember, a landscape of almost violent beauty and a staff whose warmth felt genuine rather than performed. Is this the most luxurious safari lodge in the world? It may well be. But what it certainly is, is one of the most human.

Fully inclusive rates at Mantis Hiddn in Addo start from £2,000 per suite per night, based on two guests sharing. The nearest airport is Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), approximately 75km from the lodge. For more information, go to: www.mantiscollection.com/hotel/mantis-hiddn-in-addo.