Where do you go when you want to escape the madness we call "life"? Where your cellphone won't ring because there's no signal and where wifi is a luxury, not a right? Where your creative juices get all frisky and you feel the need to paint, or write, or blog, or take photographs of anything and everything? We asked our pet award-winning writer, Sharon Gilbert-Rivett, to pen some words for us on places in Africa that stand out and meet the criteria for "retreat". This is what we got...

Before I come over all boho, windswept and interesting and dig out the old kaftan and flowing scarves, let me tell you that my notion of a retreat might not be yours and that what I'm about to share is entirely subjective, based on things I love and the way different places have "spoken" to me (without a ouija board, I might add) over the almost three decades I've spent exploring Africa.

I love a good old digital detox - places where I know I'm not going to be pestered by insurance salespeople, inane Facebook posts, disturbing reels and downright bonkers Tik Tok videos. Where I can actually turn my phone off and pretend the internet doesn't exist, even if only for a few short days. But the truth is that a lack of internet and cellphone signal doesn't always do the trick when it comes to getting my writing mood on. Sometimes it needs more than just digital downtime to connect me to my muse.

So, if you're a digital nomad looking for somewhere to do your thing and be ultra productive, you're in luck because the places I'm recommending are definitely perfect for crystal-clear focus, but if you're wanting off-grid and off-net you may be disappointed. The thing that I've found is that even though there is wifi doesn't mean you have to use it! And if the place is special enough, the urge to stick your nose in front of a phone screen becomes non-existent (unless, of course, you're taking photos!)

So, here we go...

Singita Boulders and Sabora Tented Camp

I'm going to start with one of the most celebrated brands in the safari industry - Singita. I'll admit I'm a bit of a tart when it comes to being waited on hand and foot, accommodated in superlative levels of luxury and having to eat mind-blowingly amazing food three times a day. Not to mention experiencing some of the most incredible game viewing on the continent. But there's one thing I'm not, and that's a sell-out, so when I say Singita is the mutt's nuts, you better believe that it is.

In particular, Boulders Lodge in South Africa's Sabi Sand private game reserve stands out. As does Sabora Tented Camp in Tanzania's Grumeti Reserve. Both have an imperceptible something special that makes their heads pop up above the parapet of superb-ness. It's like a soft tickle on the back of your neck - a feeling of belonging even though you're hundreds, if not thousands of miles from home.

Singita's success lies in its ability to dish up service so impeccable it's hardly noticeable. It just "is". There's nothing to distract you from where you are and that incredible feeling of complete immersion in wilderness. At Boulders, curling up on the couch in your living area, looking out over the Greater Kruger National Park, watching elephants and other wildlife glide by, opening up a laptop and writing comes naturally. It's impossible to stop, actually. The words just spill out.

At Sabora Tented Camp you're in the thick of it, especially when it's time for those wonderfully odd wildebeest to put in their annual appearance and do the migration thing all around you. Literally. Being in the middle of a herd of migrating wildebeest a few thousand strong is off-the-charts mindblowing. And all without leaving your tent. Which you can easily by just stepping off the deck onto the grassy plains. That's what immersion is all about. Being in the moment, not just watching it pass by.

Selinda Camp

Next up is another unfathomably wonderful safari brand - Great Plains Conservation - whose Selinda Camp is forever etched on my heart. It was here that I had one of those incredible life-changing moments when out walking with legendary safari guide Kani Motswana, suddenly being surrounded by a pack of African wild dogs (painted wolves) who had just polished off a kudu. The next hour was spent in the company of said dogs, just the two of us, in the middle of one of the most remote wilderness areas in Botswana, beside the Selinda Spillway. Sitting, laying and walking with wild dogs.

Again, Selinda has a way of communicating subliminally with you. It's as if the place has its own consciousness. Yes, I know, cue the X-Files music and call the crew from Stranger Things... But as a wordsmith I have no other way of describing the way Selinda makes me feel. And it's a feeling that pushes my fingers towards my keyboard, even now as I remember it. 

Of course, you're spoiled with the usual high levels of luxury you'd expect from Great Plains, but none of it detracts from where you are, and the silent song that echoes over the vast expanses of the Selinda Reserve.

Bartholomeus Klip

Back to South Africa now and the surprising, delightful and downright beautiful Bartholomeus Klip in Riebeek-Kasteel, just outside the farming town of Hermon in South Africa's Western Cape. A working sheep farm that also breeds TB-free buffalo, is part of the attempts to revive the long-lost quagga and protects and rehabilitates endangered geometric tortoises. All of which speaks directly to my inner conservationist, never mind my penchant for churning out prose.

Bartholomeus Klip is just salivatingly gorgeous from start to finish. Tucked away at the foot of the magnificent and uber-dramatic Elandsberg, which take your breath away every time you look at them, staying here is like being tucked into the world's most comfortable bed with the best mug of cocoa ever on a dark and stormy night... Whether you're staying in the gorgeous retro rooms of the farmhouse itself or one of the ab-fab cottages in the grounds, this places oozes old world charm and elegant luxury.

It's also full of delightful nooks and crannies where you can climb onto your laptop and wax lyrical effortlessly, not to mention the countless vignettes you can create through a camera lens and the larger-than-life landscapes begging to be captured photographically. And when the canola fields are in bloom it's just jaw-dropping. Or do like I did and go when it's sheep shearing season and watch Shaun and his buddies get relieved of their wool!

Chongwe River Camp

Finally, I want to tell you about my happy place. My go-to bolthole where life makes sense and I find peace, forgetting what day it is and the outside world completely. It's Chongwe River Camp in Zambia's Lower Zambezi Valley. I've been going there for 24 years now and am blessed to be considered part of the furniture. 

It started out as a rustic camp at the confluence of the mighty Zambezi and Chongwe Rivers where the Chongwe - for the most part a backwater of the Zambezi - forms the western border of the Lower Zambezi National Park. Today it's one of Zambia's best-loved safari destinations and a lot more sophisticated than its early incarnations, but it hasn't lost its ability to reach out and embrace your soul so tightly you think you'll never be able to leave. 

Maybe it's the towering albida trees overhead, filled with a cornucopia of birdlife, or the gentle washing of the river against the jetty, or the mountain peaks that dominate the north-eastern horizon... I haven't been able to pin down any one thing that sets Chongwe apart and makes it such an important part of my life. It just is. And has been since the moment I first arrived in camp all those years ago, an eager travel writer determined to make her mark. 

Over those intervening years I've done some writing at Chongwe, but it's the seeds it has sown in my imagination and the often-overwhelming feelings it produces that have fuelled my creativity and spurred me onwards. Nowhere else has yet come close to making such an impact on me, calling me back again and again to get my fix of African magic. These days, of course, there's internet connectivity throughout the camp, which means I can be a real digital nomad and work wherever I like, be it at the campfire, in my tent or back of house, where the beating heart of the camp and its comings and goings often inspire me. 

More than two decades down the line, Chongwe still has a large part of my heart. I leave little bits of it behind every time I have to wave the camp and its amazing people goodbye. Eventually my whole heart will be there, in that dappled shade on the banks of "my" river. As will the rest of me when I pop my socks and have my ashes sprinkled there. 

There you have it. My personal fave retreats. Each unique. Each special. Each deserving of your visit.

But wait, there’s more…

Before I go, I'm going to share one more place that I am desperate to get to, that's been on my radar for some time and that appeals to my wandering soul... Emboo River Camp in Kenya's Masai Mara. It's whispering to me over the distance between us, urging me to come and decamp in its studio and write my heart out. 

Specially designed with digital nomads in mind, the studio is surrounded by trees overlooking the river in the heart of the Mara. It's a sexy little converted container with a custom-designed work area, living space, deck, bedroom and bathroom. It's a perfect creative space and comes equipped with lots of tech and gear for photographers, writers, painters, graphic designers, and generally anyone who wants to drop off the map and do some serious work, far from the distractions of everyday life.

Now that's what I call a retreat! Kudos to founders Valery Super and Loic Amado for tempting me to go back out there into wild Africa and find the perfect wilderness workspace! Now, pass me my bag and book my ticket!

Text: Sharon Gilbert-Rivett