Hot List Hotels 2007
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The first privately owned lodge in this 556-square-mile park in Uganda's dry northeastern corner, Apoka Safari Lodge overlooks the Narus River Valley, whose permanent water supply draws large herds of elephants and buffalo as well as more obscure mammals such as Jackson's hartebeests and Rothschild's giraffes. Thankfully far from the park's tsetse fly hot zones, Apoka's ten huge thatched bandas, set on stilts and walled off from bug life by canvas and sheer metal screens, have open-air verandas with daybeds and private outdoor rock tubs filled each night with hot water and surrounded by candle lanterns. A lovely infinity pool is set into a natural granite basin (staff gently warn dozing guests when elephants approach for a sip). Dining is communal, but there are also private niches, including the observation tower, which provides a breezy perch from where you can survey the yellow savanna, rolling foothills, winding river, and distant mountain backdrop. Though at first it seems an eyesore, the pre-existing Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger barracks near the lodge serve a beneficial purpose: In addition to antipoaching duties, the rangers protect guests from dry-season brush fires. The reasonable rate is, alas, offset by the $1,600 charter flight from Entebbe.









