Making its way into Swahili and later English from the Arabic word “safar” for “making a long journey,” safari emerged in East Africa during the late 19th century as the term for a guided overland trip that let visitors access large animals such as elephants, hippopotamuses, and lions.
Amid a better, modern understanding of the damage that colonialism and trophy hunting brought to many local populations, modern-day safaris have largely evolved away from hunting and toward conservationism and photography of animals.
And while the term is indelibly associated with East Africa and the animals found there, safari trips are also offered to see everything from tigers in India to jaguars in Brazil.
Husband-and-wife Danish retail billionaires Anders Holch and Anne Povlsen are now hoping to bring the safari vision to the Scottish Highlands with the opening of the new Hope Lodge resort on a historic 100,000-acre estate.
Hope Lodge opens as safari-style wilderness reserve in Scottish Highlands
The Povlsens founded the conservation company and ecotourism project Wildlands in 2006 and have since grown it to 13 castles, lodges, and cottages across hundreds of acres of remote Scottish nature.
The Danish businessman is the largest private landowner in the United Kingdom. His vision set off 20 years ago was to regenerate large areas of local native woodlands back to their wild state by replanting local species of Caledonian pinewoods, restoring damaged peatlands, and generally keeping the land free of development.
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The new Hope Lodge property in the far northern Scottish Highlands in the Sutherland region opened in May 2026 as a luxury retreat around two cottages, the larger of which was originally built in 1867 as a shooting lodge for the 3rd Duke of Sutherland.
The Hope Lodge is presented as a “Scottish safari” that surrounds visitors with the hills, forests, and valleys of the Scottish landscape while allowing them to observe animals in the natural environment.
The 100,000 acres the property sits on are home to animals ranging from the area’s native red deer species to birds of prey such as buzzards and golden eagles to rivers full of trout.
WildLand
What’s a Scottish safari, and how do visitors book one?
The main cottage and adjacent An Cala cabin for private groups were renovated to evoke the same safari-lodge aesthetic. Room-length gabled windows overlook the nearby Loch Hope and surrounding woodlands. Other natural finishes include the lodge’s original oak furniture and flax, hemp, and oilskin textiles used throughout the seven guest rooms.
Cecile & Boyd, the South African design firm that led the redesign, is also behind multiple luxury lodges and private villas for safari ecotourism brand Singita in several countries across southern Africa.
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Starting at £1,100 ($1,456 USD) per night for a room inside the cabin, Hope Lodge is currently available to book for individual stays between August and October. Those who rent out the entire property at £21,000 per night can do so year-round.
“The safari essence is about being immersed in nature,” Cecile & Boyd Design Director Paul van den Berg described to Suitcase Magazine. “The adventure here lies not in conquering a landscape, but getting close enough to understand what’s happening within it.”
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