Country music’s favorite power couple traded tour buses for safari jeeps when Tyler Hubbard and his wife, Hayley, set off for an unforgettable trip to Africa — and honestly, the photos alone deserve their own chart position.
The couple flew by prop plane to Singita Sweni Lodge in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, where “glamping” takes on a whole new meaning. Hayley described their bungalow as a glass treehouse perched above the Sweni River — complete with two outdoor showers, hippos grunting in the background, and decor that could make Joanna Gaines question her career choices.
But this wasn’t just a pretty honeymoon post. Hayley’s writing makes you feel like you’re there — the kind of storytelling that belongs in a country song. She talks about waking up to the sound of wildlife, sipping coffee before sunrise safaris, and falling asleep to hippos splashing below their balcony. It’s pure Southern heart meets African soul.
During their stay, the Hubbards saw elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras — and even had a too-close-for-comfort encounter with a hippo after dinner one night. Hayley admits she froze when the flashlight revealed their unexpected dinner guest, while their guide calmly whispered, “Do not run.” (Country girls everywhere just collectively gasped.)
Their biggest adrenaline rush came later, when they found themselves face-to-face with a lion during a hunt. Hayley’s retelling makes it sound like the opening verse of a modern country ballad — fear, faith, and a whole lot of praying. “Everything in my natural instinct wanted to run,” she wrote, “but Simon kept telling us, ‘Do not run.’” Honestly, I’d need more than prayer — maybe a tranquilizer dart.
Still, the trip wasn’t all near-death moments. Hayley and Tyler spent their mornings on safari, afternoons at the spa, and evenings under lantern-lit trees listening to the Singita Choir sing traditional African songs around a campfire. If you’re picturing a perfect country-meets-culture crossover moment — you’re exactly right.
What really makes Hayley’s story special, though, isn’t the celebrity angle. It’s the way she talks about the people. “The native people exude happiness and a sense of contentment that we can’t describe, but we’re so attracted to,” she wrote. It’s that genuine, grateful tone that makes the whole story sing.
By the time she wraps up her story — recounting sunrise church under a sycamore fig tree, breakfast with hippos in the background, and tearful goodbyes to staff who’d become family — you’re left with the feeling that this wasn’t just a getaway. It was a heart song.
Tyler and Hayley call Singita Sweni Lodge their “dream vacation” — a place they plan to visit every year, long after the spotlight fades. And knowing these two, they probably will.