Ah, the joys of camping! My first taste of an African safari was a budget ten-day jaunt to Lake Turkana in the 1980s. Our minibus was so dilapidated that somewhere between Maralal and Baragoi the suspension collapsed, showering us with glass as the windows imploded. By day seven our food had dwindled to a few over-ripe bananas, while our tents were apparently designed for hobbits. None of the zips worked properly and it was inevitable that one morning my girlfriend should wake to find an army of ants bivouacked in her boots. Later, when the local baboon mafia made off with her mascara, I realised that Africa was probably not for her - at least not as an impoverished backpacker.

However, the trip had quite a different effect on me. For all its discomfort, hunger and the frequent arguments between the driver and guide (who couldn't tell their dipsticks from their dik-diks), that ten days to Turkana and back revealed to me the magic of spending a night in the African bush - that multi-sensory experience supercharged by a starlit sky, a crackling fire and the strange, wild orchestra of the night shift.

It doesn't matter whether you rough it with your own tent or splash out £200 for a night of five-star pampering at a lodge - the basic feelings of remoteness, atmosphere and intimacy are trademarks of wild Africa that every discerning traveller can enjoy, regardless of budget.

Having said that, with the waning of my backpacking years, I have been fortunate enough to patronise some of Africa's less ant-ridden accommodation. The continent boasts an incredible diversity of quality places to stay - from budget to bank-busting, simple to sophisticated. Whether you are looking for barefoot island luxury, city chic, self-catering or no-expense-spared at a designer eco-lodge, you'll find it in Africa. There are world-class city hotels, award-winning spas, superb value guest houses, romantic bush camps and exotic island resorts. You can stay up a tree, in a cave or on a houseboat. You can recline in a plunge pool in the Namib Desert, sip tea in a Moroccan kasbah or watch elephants from your tent in the middle of the Serengeti. Or you can go mobile, with a fully-serviced camp waiting for you each night.

One aspect of African accommodation, however, that stands out above all others is the extent to which operators will go to overcome logistics in pursuit of quality and comfort.

One of my first brushes with luxury Africa was at Chibembe - a cluster of tents nestling beneath mahogany trees in Zambia's South Luangwa National Park. I use the word ‘tents' loosely. Camping at Chibembe did not involve bouncing around on an inflatable mattress, grappling with multi-jointed tent poles or traipsing half a mile to a hygienically-challenged toilet block. ‘Tent-house suite' better described Chibembe's mini-marquee marvels with their mosquito-netted beds, rattan chairs and en suite bathrooms. Modestly screened, but open to the elements (and elephants), the latter boasted flush toilets, showers and hot and cold running water. Each china washbasin even came complete with its own endearing little tree frog. A nice touch.

Chibembe's satellite group of rustic bush camps were eco-masterpieces where everything, from the reed walls to the mopane poles lashed together with bark from the monkey bread tree, was sustainably harvested by local villagers.

But it's only when you consider the remoteness of the Luangwa Valley, and the fact that much of it becomes inaccessible during the wet season, that you can fully appreciate the remarkable achievements of constructing and servicing camps like Chibembe. Africa boasts hundreds of other equally enticing camps and lodges - and the inspiring people that, against the odds, have gone out and created them.

There is something almost precocious in the way in which accommodation is crafted in some of Africa's wildest places. Take Jack's Camp in Botswana's Makgadikgadi Pans. Can you imagine camping next to a Kalahari salt pan the size of Switzerland without a little brass box for your toilet paper? Or rolling out of bed and not feeling the soft warmth of a Persian rug beneath your feet? Of course not. That's why Jack's Camp is one of Africa's finest and most unique safari destinations. Confronted by some of earth's harshest conditions, it responds with feather duvets and a silver tea service. In classic 1940's style, the camp's canvas tents languish in the shade of a palm oasis. Each one contains sturdy wrought-iron beds fussed over by clouds of mosquito netting. There is a writing desk in one corner and, outside in the porch, a canvas wash stand and copper water pitcher. All tents have an en suite shower consisting of a palm tree into which a canvas bag of hot water is hoisted.

Ultimately it's these small touches - the attention to detail - and the magical, even surreal, moments that often leave the most lasting impressions of where you stay in Africa. Whether it's waking in a cramped tent to find your boots full of ants or pulling back the mosquito netting to find a fresh pot of Earl Grey beside your four-poster, you will rarely leave Africa having stayed somewhere ordinary.