Not all safari camps are khaki coloured. The animals roaming Thornybush private game reserve in South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park might have been startled to find a new camp arising in the bush in May – one with bold pink tents, candy-striped pergolas and plunge pools tiled in dramatic stripes or bold diamond patterns.
Masiya’s Camp is the vision of Liz Biden, doyenne of South African hospitality. Along with her husband, Phil, she is the force behind The Royal Portfolio, a collection of hotels, lodges and villas that began not so humbly in 1999 when, restless after recently retiring from her fashion business, she transformed the family’s holiday home in Greater Kruger into Royal Malewane, a pioneer of opulent safari stays in Africa.