Lamai Serengeti - Serengeti, Tanzania

Unlike the Mara, this place is blissfully devoid of tourists. Lamai is one of only three permanent camps here, its 12 scruffily thatched rooms hidden among massive boulders on a little kopje - each with astonishing views over hundreds of miles of wriggling, giggling, trumpeting, roaring creatures.

What unbelievably unbeatable dawn views from romantic netted beds! Once you've gawped at a pack of lionesses hunting or a leopard having a snooze, or felt the fear of being a migratory beast yourself on a morning walk, there's nothing else to do but hang out at camp. It's all contemporary and lovely, with pods of modern sofas scattered with tribal cushions, a bar with stools made from tractor seats and a pool with shaded nooks and raised decks for mooching.

Suppers are served outside under the blindingly bright night sky; your escort afterwards is armed with a big knobbled stick to ward off the wild things en route. Unless, that is, you're in the private villa, where the chef comes to you, in which case you can eat on your own, swim under the moon, howl if you feel like it, and go to sleep listening to the sounds of cackling hyena telling each other what must be very dirty jokes.

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