South African fast-food tycoon Adrian Basson opens $760-a-night luxury safari lodge

South African fast-food tycoon Adrian Basson, who built the Hungry Lion fried-chicken chain, has opened a luxury safari lodge in the Pilanesberg, about two and a half hours' drive from Johannesburg.

Tsholo Safari Lodge sits in the Black Rhino Game Reserve, a private section of Pilanesberg National Park in North West province. It has 14 suites, including a two-bedroom villa and a free-standing honeymoon house with its own boma and hot tub, along with three elevated viewing decks, two swimming pools, a sauna, a spa and a venue for weddings and conferences.

"I have spent most of my career building stores. This year, I built something quieter," Basson wrote on social media.

Standard rates for the lodge's luxury suites are R6,370 ($382) a person a night for two people sharing, or about $765 a night for the room, and R9,555 ($574) for a single guest. Prices include three meals a day and two game drives, which run in the early morning and late afternoon in silent electric vehicles. The two-bedroom villa costs R19,110 ($1,147) a night for exclusive use, and guests must stay at least two nights. Residents of South Africa and other southern African countries can book from R5,915 ($355) a person.

Basson said he wanted to create a place close to Johannesburg and Pretoria where guests could see the Big Five and eat well. The reserve is malaria-free and is home to elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard and both black and white rhino, as well as wild dog and cheetah.

Basson is the eldest son of Whitey Basson, who ran Shoprite Holdings Ltd. for almost four decades and built it into Africa's largest retailer before retiring as chief executive at the end of 2016. The following year, Shoprite shareholders approved a plan for the company to buy back about 8.68 million shares from the elder Basson for about R1.75 billion, worth $135 million at the time.

Hungry Lion began in 1997 as a single Shoprite-owned outlet in Stellenbosch selling large pieces of fried chicken, and its early stores were placed inside or next to Shoprite supermarkets. Adrian Basson joined as general manager in 2001. In 2005, Shoprite sold half of the business to a member of the Basson family for R22 million, and he indirectly held that 50% stake while the retailer kept the rest.

From 2008 he gave the chain its own brand, supply chain and standalone stores. "Our plans are to take over southern Africa," he said in 2014. Shoprite sold its remaining interest on July 1, 2018, and Hungry Lion became an independent company with Basson in charge.

The chain now has more than 500 stores and about 10,000 employees across southern Africa, with expansion backed by Standard Bank. Basson told the bank in 2024 that Hungry Lion would open 100 stores a year. It has since reached a pace of about 250 a year and is on track for 750 stores by the end of 2026.