WHEN YOU’RE OUT in the middle of the scorched Serengeti Plains after dark, it’s probably lion-feeding time – and the last thing you want is a flat tyre. “Just keep watch for them while we fix the tyre,” David, our safari guide, tells me casually, flipping me his binoculars. A moment later there’s a rasping roar in the distance that, despite his reassurances of it being “about a kilometre away”, is pretty much the most frightening thing I’ve ever heard. It would be a real shame to get eaten by a lion before nailing the rest of the big five, after all. Safely back at base – if you can call the Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti a ‘base’; it’s the most palatial camp you’ll ever see – we’re mulling over our brush with death over a dawa cocktail made with honey, a Tanzanian speciality. The permanent hotel to the north of the massive national park is the best – and most luxurious – place to break your safari virginity, as there’s not a dusty tent or fire pit in sight. While it’s still strikingly exotic, pitched right in the middle of the bush with safari animals roaming all around, it’s also full of all the luxury Four Seasons comforts you’d hope for, that make the transition to hanging out with the big five in close quarters just that little bit easier. Rooms and suites are expansive and tasteful, with dollops of African style studded throughout: Maasai masks and wicker baskets hang from the walls, and there are colourful printed rugs and wooden four-posters with crisp white sheets. Then there’s the curved infinity pool overlooking one of the Serengeti’s many watering holes. (For the record, in four days I saw nothing – but was reassured that in dry season, elephants regularly come to drink.) Some suites have infinity pools on their balconies too, which – as we learn – make the perfect spots to enjoy sundowners, while spotting animals, overlooking a spectacular sunset. Meanwhile, the excellent spa, set across several stilted buildings, doles out luxury treatments using Maasai traditions – we spend one afternoon being massaged with a kifaa, a Swahili instrument that looks a lot like a wooden salad server – while its restaurants would be considered top drawer in the middle of a busy city, never mind in the middle of one of the world’s biggest ecosystems. The Maji Bar, which overlooks the watering hole (and mile after mile of brown soil and acacia trees, naturally) does cocktails and light dishes, while Boma Grill serves traditional African cuisine – the bobotie, a kind of African casserole, was excellent – with added Maasai dances and entertainment. And if you really want to go all out, the vast private wine cellar, stocked with wine from boutique South African producers, offers a luxury private area to dine in. It’s the safari experience that stuck its hand in a plug socket. But then again, Tanzania knows big. To put it in context, the east-African nation is twice the size of California, and you’d have to roll Denmark, France, the UK and the Netherlands into one to fit inside its huge borders. That goes part of the way to explaining why it takes as long to fly from the Serengeti to the Indian Ocean coast as it does to get back to London – we touched down no fewer than five times, swapping one tinny propeller planes for another, running across one piece of tarmac to the next to make it to Pemba, a tiny desert island just north of Zanzibar. Pemba, known as ‘the green island’ in Arabic, is best known for clove production, and the whole island has a faint whiff thanks to thousands of the spices drying by the roadsides. It’s more rugged and remote than Zanzibar, closer to the border with Kenya, and the beaches are more rough and ready than its neighbour’s. We’re en route to Fundu Lagoon, a boutique hotel on the south-west coast that’s regularly touted as one of the most luxurious beach boltholes in Africa. True to form, it’s only accessible by speedboat, and you’ll arrive bumping across the ice-clear shallow waters – watch out for the jellyfish below – up to the wooden jetty. ▶ The Lion’s Share CATHY ADAMS tries not to get eaten by the king of the jungle while living like royalty in the Tanzanian Serengeti, before finding untouched coral reefs and tropical Maasai island paradise on Pemba Safely back at the most palatial base you’ll ever see, we mull over our brush with death over a dawa cocktail made with honey – a Tanzanian speciality REWARDS HEDGE 103 HEDGE 102 TRAVEL SAFARI