West India, India

The comforting rattle of a tea tray begins your day at the Lion Safari Camp, as the exquisite colours of an Indian sunrise glow on the Hiran River outside the flap of your canvas safari tent.

This is a perfect spot for an encampment – deep in the wilds, yet close enough to the park for a crack-of-dawn start. Coloured lion yellow, the traditional Gujarati hunting tents are comfortably set up in a stand of slender palm trees, with properly plumbed-in bathrooms and little raised terraces to sit on.

An open-sided pavilion hosts meal times, where guests dine with great views over the water. If you’re lucky, a local folk troupe may appear after supper to perform lively Saurashtran music and dance by firelight.