SPRING ULTRATRAVEL 2013

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ultratravel The Daily Telegraph

YOUR GUIDE TO HEAVEN ON EARTH

SPRING 2013

FRONT MAN

IS THIS AFRICA’S TOP GUIDE?

+

10 of the best safari guides

TOM HARDY JOHN SIMPSON ANTHONY HOROWITZ DAVID DOWNTON

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SRI LANKA

HONG KONG

HAMILTON ISLAND

PARIS

POSITANO

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e e T h e wo r l d f rom a

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The WonderS

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on this incredible journey you’ll spend two nights in oman before flying on to india where you’ll explore Udaipur, see the stunning amber fort in Jaipur and discover the holy city of varanasi on the Ganges. enjoy three nights in nepal’s capital Kathmandu in the himalayas, and the spectacular landscapes of Bhutan’s paro valley. You’ll also visit bustling delhi, and, of course, the Taj mahal in agra. 19 Days: 25 September – 13 October 2014. Price from £17,865pp (twin share).

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Rose-tinted spectacle Yachts compete inKicker Audi Hamilton Caption Island Race Week off Queensland, Australia (page 28)

CONTENTS

69

Features 28 Sailing to win Bob Oatley, the billionaire owner of Hamilton Island, Queensland, does not race yachts in order to come second. Anthony Horowitz joins him there during Race Week, Australia’s equivalent of Ascot 35 Portrait of a lady When fashion illustrator David Downton was made artist-in-residence at Claridge’s, he captured not just the likeness of his celebrity sitters but of one of the grandes dames of London hotels 40 At one with the Bushmen Nobody knows the locals of the Makgadikgadi salt pans in Botswana better than Ralph Bousfield, naturalist, botanist and archaeologist extraordinaire, says Lisa Grainger 46 Follow my leader Who are the best safari guides in Africa? Brian Jackman picks his top 10 54 Splash landings New routes for seaplanes in Sri Lanka are opening up the best parts of the island, including the beautiful lakeside tea plantations of the interior, says Johnny Morris 65 Win a luxury holiday in Lisbon Vote for your travel favourites, from airlines and cruise lines to cities and countries, in our annual Ultratravel 100 awards

Regulars

11 Editor’s letter Charles Starmer-Smith applauds the leading men of travel, from Ralph Bousfield, one of the top 10 safari guides in Africa, to the intrepid British actor Tom Hardy and our new columnist John Simpson 13 The next big thing News from the world of luxury travel, compiled by John O’Ceallaigh

22

17 Accessories Four pages of essential advice – on beauty, fashion, gadgets and jewellery 25 Up front with John Simpson The BBC’s world affairs editor draws up a list of his favourite travel hot spots, from Iran, Syria and Afghanistan to Paris and Positano 26 Aficionado In the first of a new series about experts and their travels, Cartier’s perfumer Mathilde Laurent talks about exotic places that have inspired new fragrances

14

38 E-scape Download Blippar, point your tablet or smartphone and soar above Paris 69 Intelligence Insider Hong Kong; business classes compared; and a sake masterclass 74 Travelling life Actor Tom Hardy reveals where he likes to head when he’s not filming, from Villa D’Este on Lake Como to a bolthole in Provence and an idyllic resort in the Maldives

© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2013. Published by TELEGRAPH MEDIA GROUP, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT, and printed by Polestar UK Limited. Colour reproduction by groupfmg.com. Not to be sold separately from The Daily Telegraph. Ultratravel is a registered trademark licensed to The Daily Telegraph by PGP Media Limited

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EDITOR’S LETTER

LET US BE YOUR GUIDE

C

ome and rub the lion’s belly,� said my guide. The word lion should have rung alarm bells, but I opened the door to the enclosure anyway. In the African bush, you tend to follow blindly the instructions you’re given. The lock clunked behind me. My Adam’s apple quivered. The lion licked his chops. “Come closer,� said the guide, “he likes you.� Oh, he liked me alright – and I have the scars to prove it. Other guides have made a mark on me for the right reasons. I was bowled over

by cricket legend Michael Holding as he showed me Jamaica from the back of a pickup, bouncing down the dusty roads of Kingston with the smell of jerk chicken and the sound of reggae in the air before winding up and up to the plantation houses of the Blue Mountains. I lived out my own version of Luc Besson’s The Big Blue as I was guided by the freediver Tanya Streeter in the Turks & Caicos, on an underwater journey that was as much spiritual as physical. I once shunned the dude ranches to ride with real Wyoming wranglers and have rarely felt more alive. But nowhere was a guide more essential than in Africa. Without the trained eyes and learned commentary of the conservationist Ian Craig, the fruits of his lifetime’s work in Kenya would have been missed, no matter how hard I stared down from his plane at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. The sweeping cinematography of Attenborough’s Africa may have lit up the small screen, but it is guides who will provide the script and the soundtrack on a safari holiday. And it pays to employ the best. That is why we have scoured the continent to bring you the deďŹ nitive guide to guides. Other leading men in this issue include the British actor Tom Hardy telling us about his travels; BBC broadcaster John Simpson, our new columnist, revealing the destinations on his A-list (Afghanistan anyone?); Anthony Horowitz sailing with an Australian billionaire around his own island; and the fashion illustrator David Downton painting a genteel picture of Claridge’s. Elsewhere, we take a jewel-inspired tour of Paris, y by seaplane across Sri Lanka and join one of the world’s top perfumers on a whimsical journey that is all about scents and sensibility. Welcome to the spring issue of Ultratravel. Let us be your guide. Smooth waters The pool and bamboo stand at Norwood House, on the Tea Trails estate, Sri Lanka (page 54)

Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

Photographer David Crookes Ralph BousďŹ eld, after landing his plane near Jack’s Camp, Botswana

FOR THE LATEST IN LUXURY TRAVEL telegraph.co.uk/ ultratravel

John Simpson Decades of reporting for the BBC have left Ultratravel’s new columnist with a list of favourite travel spots that reads like a list of trouble spots. But, he admits, a quiet hotel, with a sea view and breakfast on the balcony, is becoming ever more alluring

Mathilde Laurent The sensitive nose of Cartier’s Paris-born perfumer has detected inspiration for fragrances all over the world. Her most memorable place to stay? “The Cap Corse region,� she says, in Corsica. “The landscape is savage and has a powerful beauty�

Caragh McKay Our new Ultra expert is the Telegraph’s watch editor and ďŹ ne-jewellery correspondent. Her best ďŹ nd on a trip? “A 99-cent snowshaker from Paris, with the Eiffel Tower inside. I dream that Van Cleef & Arpels will one day make a ďŹ ne-jewellery version of itâ€?

David Downton In preparation for his role as artist-in-residence at Claridge’s, the world’s leading fashion illustrator got to know the hotel intimately. “I became obsessed with the Fumoir bar, where noon felt like midnight and midnight could stretch until noon�

Tom Hardy The British actor has been ďŹ lming Mad Max in Namibia, where he took his family on safari one weekend. Nowhere beats Africa for adventure, he says in our Travelling life interview, while his holiday home in Provence and a ďŹ ve-star resort in the Maldives tick all the boxes for relaxation

ultratravel

Editor Charles Starmer-Smith Creative director Johnny Morris Managing editor Andrew Purvis Deputy editor Lisa Grainger Sub-editor Yolanda Carslaw Photography editor Joe Plimmer Contributing editor John O’Ceallaigh Executive publisher for Ultratravel Limited Nick Perry Publisher Toby Moore Advertising inquiries 07768 106322 (Nick Perry) 020 7931 3239 (Andrew Wiltshire) Ultratravel, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT Twitter @TeleLuxTravel

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the NEXT BIG THING

Aiming high The world’s largest man-made ski centre, with two miles of slopes, will comprise three giant arches

ADAM MĂ˜RK; ANDREW MEREDITH

COMPILED BY JOHN O’CEALLAIGH

What’s coming up in the world of luxury travel, from a sculptural ski slope to a global craze for extreme digital detox

z DENMARK GOES DUBAI

W

inter sports enthusiasts could find themselves drawn to Randers in northern Denmark following proposals to construct the world’s largest ski-dome in the town. Comprising three 3,000ft-long arches, the enormous structure would resemble a snowflake when viewed from above and provide skiers with access to two

miles of indoor and outdoor slopes. Suggested additional facilities at the site of the new landmark – designed by CEBRA, an Aarhus-based architectural firm – include a hotel, restaurant and shops, and the arches’ roofs would serve as further sites for sports and recreation. Skidome Denmark, as the project is called, is one of a number of proposed Danish developments to fuse Nordic design nous with Dubai-style audacity. Blue Plan is a proposal to build five artificial islands in Copenhagen’s harbour to provide cultural

Ahead of the curve The new Blue Planet aquarium, another distinctive Danish project

and recreational spaces for tourists and locals, as well as habitats for wildlife. Meanwhile Copenhagen’s new aquarium, Blue Planet, adds another striking silhouette to the city skyline. Its swirling exterior is supposed to resemble a giant whirlpool.

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ONtrend:

the NEXT BIG THING z HIGH-STREET HAUTE COUTURE

Following collaborations with designers such as Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfeld, H&M is further obfuscating high-street and high-end with the launch of & Other Stories, a new upmarket brand. Flagship shops will open this spring in London, Paris and other European cities. Similar efforts to appeal to higher-spending customers have been made in the past by Adidas, which teamed up with Yohji Yamamoto; Topshop (Mary Katrantzou); and Uniqlo (Jil Sander).

SWITCHING OFF

T

here are clear benefits to be derived from the ubiquity of technology, but if mobile phones, internet access and

multiple social media accounts mean we’re constantly connected – on trains, planes and even underground – how can we switch off? In January Selfridges, the London department store, opened a felt-covered “Silence Room� (below), where shoe-free, phone-free shoppers can retreat from the hubbub of frenetic Oxford Street. Around the same time, free “No Wi-Fi� benches which block Wi-Fi signals within a 16ft radius were erected in Amsterdam. Urging people to “take a break�, they were sponsored by Kit Kat. Other businesses are cajoling customers into switching off. In Los Angeles, Eva Restaurant is offering diners a five per cent discount if they leave their phones with the receptionist. More drastic is the “digital detox� holiday to Palm Island and Young Island in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Guests booking “de-tech� packages are asked to hand over their electronic devices at check-in and can consult a life coach if they need guidance on how to use their free time

z TO RECEPTION – BY BOAT

productively. And at Jongomero safari camp in southern Tanzania, connectivity-craving

Amid the scores of luxury

The opening date was

guests who sneak an illicit smartphone

hotels opening in 2013,

unconfirmed as we went

to their room are still foiled from going

Banyan Tree Kerala

to print, but is scheduled

online. The site offers no mobile-phone

stands out simply for

for early summer. Other

reception, Wi-Fi or television sets.

z FRAGILE WORLDS

the novelty of getting

high-profile openings slated

there – guests cruise in to

for the coming months

travellers who desire tranquillity but aren’t yet

Sebastião Salgado cements his stature as one of the world’s most arresting

the hotel lobby by

include El Encanto, an

ready to tackle their technology dependency?

photographers with the premiere of his new exhibition, in London. Genesis, at the

houseboat. The brand’s first

Orient-Express property in

In November, Akyra Chura Samui in Thailand

Natural History Museum from April 11 to September 8, is the culmination of eight

property in India, the hotel

Santa Barbara, California;

banned children under 12 from staying at

years’ field research. During that time Salgado, a Brazilian, travelled to extreme

is on a tranquil private

the Mandarin Oriental

its property, while Malaysia Airlines has

and remote environments in 32 countries, amassing a collection of stark, sublime

island and has a spa, gym

Pudong, Shanghai; and

attracted attention for banning babies from its

black-and-white prints that capture ethereal landscapes and document the lives

and yoga pavilion, plus

the Torralbenc, Menorca,

first-class cabins and the whole top deck of its

of indigenous communities in isolated regions. A special representative for UNICEF,

54 villas, each with its own

a sister hotel to the Cap

A380s. For some, it would seem, the most

Salgado has long used his talent to draw attention to fragile landscapes, people

pool and sundeck, offering

Rocat on Mallorca and

irksome distractions are those that have

in peril and places that flourish against the odds; Genesis continues in that vein.

expansive views across the

touted as the island’s first

featured in society for quite some time.

palm-fringed backwaters.

luxury boutique hotel.

But what about those stressed-out

z THE BULL COMES OF AGE Ferruccio Lamborghini’s eponymous sports car brand celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2013, with a series of events planned throughout the year. The highlight takes place in Italy from Lamborghinis will navigate a 750-mile route across the country. Cities along the way will provide pit stops for the

FOR THE LATEST IN LUXURY TRAVEL telegraph.co.uk/ ultratravel

vehicles and gathering points for automobile aficionados to admire and photograph the spectacular convoy. The scale of the event is unprecedented – and there are no plans to repeat it – so this is a unique opportunity for Lamborghini-lovers to indulge their passion.

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ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT SHADBOLT

May 7 to 11 when hundreds of vintage and modern-day

ULTRAbeauty 1 Intense sunlight, seawater and chlorine can seriously damage hair, bleaching it and making it as dry as straw. Takeaways Sunshine shampoo by Charles Worthington is formulated to cleanse and rejuvenate post-sun strands.

2 The minute skin is exposed to the sun, cellular damage occurs, and this can lead to wrinkles and skin cancer. Make sun protection easy to apply: Prevage Triple Shield SPF50 by Elizabeth Arden is dispensed from a brush which is simply swept across the face.

3 It’s important to protect the skin around the mouth, which is prone to lines – but regular sunscreen may irritate the lips. Far better is UV protection meant specifically for them. By Terry Baume de Rose SPF15 can be worn either on its own or over lip colour to enhance shine and depth. The secret is to reapply it frequently.

4 UV rays hit skin even when it’s cloudy and are amplified on snow and on water; they reflect upwards to the jaw and neck, one reason why these areas age fast. Defend skin with Chantecaille Light Protection Naturelle SPF46, an aerated powder which also keeps hot skin matt.

As thoughts turn to summer destinations, sea and sun, it’s time to assemble a survival kit for the skin. Kate Shapland gives advice

Feel the heat

“

With winter hibernation over and our bodies exposed to sun for the ďŹ rst time, protection is essential – but who on holiday has the time? The solution is workhorse products that go on with minimal fuss and deliver fast, whether shielding skin from the sun or making it less shiny. Choose sunscreens and cosmetics that offer broad spectrum (UVA/ UVB) defence; even those with high protection factors have light textures now, so they are not gloopy and opaque. The heat ampliďŹ es a fragrance, so opt for a subtle scent. Most important of all is portability, so you can slip products in a sponge bag and not have to lug them home again.

“

TIM PETERSEN/FOLIO-ID.COM

5 Summer heat and wind can leave skin parched, tender and vulnerable to premature ageing. Made for a holiday sponge bag, The Daily Musts mini coffret by Anne Semonin contains hydrating, deep-cleansing mono-dose masks which exfoliate, refresh and replenish tired skin.

4

1

3

2

5

1 Takeaways Sunshine shampoo by Charles Worthington, ÂŁ1.99 (boots.com). 2 Prevage Triple Shield SPF50 by Elizabeth Arden, ÂŁ60 (johnlewis.com). 3 By Terry Baume de Rose SPF15 ÂŁ35 (spacenk.co.uk). 4 Chantecaille Light Protection Naturelle SPF46 ÂŁ60 (Space NK, as before). 5 The Daily Musts mini coffret by Anne Semonin, ÂŁ24 for four mono-dose masks (cultbeauty.co.uk).

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ULTRA fashion Leave your tired old beach bag at home – a dream trip deserves a bag that turns heads for the right reasons, says Belinda White, our online fashion editor

Farrah Maillot swimsuit in black neoprene, ÂŁ293 by Lisa Marie Fernandez (mytheresa.com). White and black leather hoop bag ÂŁ6,240, Chanel (020 7493 5040, chanel.com). Handmade acetate frame sunglasses ÂŁ216, Agent Provocateur by Linda Farrow Collaboration (uk.lindafarrow.com)

Hoopy days

“

If you’re holidaying somewhere ultra-chic this season, this is the bag you should be carrying. Chanel’s quilted leather handbag, nestling between two hula hoops, was the standout accessory of the spring/ summer 2013 shows. Fun, stylish and, as Karl Lagerfeld noted, practical: ‘It’s for the beach. You need space for the beach towel, huh? Then you can put it into the sand and hang things on it.’ And if you get bored with sunning yourself, you can even indulge in a spot of hula-hooping to pass the time

“

HAIR AND MAKE-UP: KRYSTLE GOHEL; MODEL: NELL AT SELECT MODELS. KRYSTLE G USING CHANEL S2013 AND LES BEIGES

STYLING AURELIA DONALDSON PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE PLIMMER

DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT‌ Stella McCartney’s plexiglasssoled sandals (below), which take you from poolside to party in one stylish step. Black plexi wedge £590 (stockists 020 751 83100, stellamccartney.com)

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ULTRA tech

Mark Wilson, Ultratravel’s gear and gadgets guru, chooses the most innovative kit for travellers this season

1

22 1 Musto LPX jacket ÂŁ275 (01268 495824, musto.com). Perfect for sailors and race spectators alike, the lightweight LPX has a three-layer Gore-tex shell which lets heat escape while keeping moisture out; a zip-on hood and water-resistant pockets make it truly storm-proof. 2 Braven BRV-1 Bluetooth speaker ÂŁ115 (001 801 851 5070, braven.com). Designed for outdoor trips in inclement weather, the BRV-1 is rugged and resistant to generous splashes of water. Weighing 400g (14oz), it plays wireless music for about 12 hours and can be used to charge a smartphone. 3 Oru kayak ÂŁ540 (orukayak.com). This origami triumph converts from a suitcase-sized box into a 12ft paddler in five minutes. Made from a single sheet of plastic, it weighs 25lb and is seaworthy. Pre-order now for delivery in June 2013.

Spring collection 33

4

5

6 4 DÜttling Guardian travel safe £10,270 (00 49 7031 437 4560, doettling.com). This portable Fort Knox is the ultimate way to protect valuables on the move. Thieves will be deterred by its double-walled shell of metal and polycarbonate, resistant to sledgehammer blows. If the worst happens, a built-in GPS transmitter helps police track it down. 5 Fujifilm XF1 camera £340 (08445 532 321, shop.fujifilm.co.uk). With its manual controls, this 12-megapixel compact is ideal for experimental snappers. A large CMOS sensor means it performs well in low light, while a 4x optical zoom and 1,080-pixel video recording make it versatile. 6 Lehmann LA100 drone £850 (00 33 254 33 10 10, lehmannaviation.com). To capture bird’s-eye videos of outdoor adventures, mount a GoPro camera (not included) on this autonomous drone. It can fly on a pre-set trajectory for five minutes, at a height of 260-330ft, before returning to the same spot. It’s legal in Britain, but users should seek Civil Aviation Authority permission if flying within 500ft of congested areas.

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ULTRA jewels What better memento of Paris than a jewel or watch designed to reflect the city’s landmarks? Caragh McKay picks some gems

1

Champs-ElysĂŠes necklace by Louis Vuitton Designed to evoke “a stroll through Parisâ€?, Louis Vuitton’s Escale Ă Paris high jewellery collection includes this dazzling necklace. Its trails of gemstones represent the familiar view of cars traversing the Champs-ElysĂŠes at night – back lights in red towards the Arc de Triomphe, white lights travelling towards the Place de la Concorde. Necklace in white gold, diamonds and red spinels, price on application (020 7399 4050).

City of Light The Place Vendôme from the air (above); an iconic street sign; and Louis Vuitton’s flagship store

Paris dazzles once again

“

The opening, last year, of Louis Vuitton’s flagship boutique on the Place Vendôme signalled the resurgence of one of Paris’s grandest arrondissements. At the turn of the last century, the octagonal square was the world’s go-to address for exquisite jewels, for it was here that the esteemed maisons of high jewellery congregated, from Boucheron and Chaumet to Van Cleef&Arpels. Now, with a flurry of haute horlogerie brands also setting up shop there, a gorgeous array of Paris-inspired designs pays homage to the intrinsic beauty of the city itself

2

Lady Arpels Une JournĂŠe Ă Paris watch by Van Cleef &Arpels The “Journey Through Parisâ€? watch takes in the Jardin des Tuileries, Notre Dame, the boutiques of the Avenue Montaigne, the Eiffel Tower, a ballet at the Opera, and Place VendĂ´me – in one delectably romantic timepiece.

“

Watch in white gold with diamond, onyx and mother-ofpearl with alligator strap, ÂŁ50,800 (020 7493 0400).

4

Première watch by Chanel No word evokes Paris fashion quite like Chanel – and this, the first ever watch design by the great house, has a dial that imitates the stopper

design on the shape of the Place

5

VendĂ´me. This just-launched model

flower of chief Parisian couturier Christian Dior, a keen gardener.

with a chain-link strap also reflects

Victoire de Castellane, the current creative director of Dior fine

the design of a Chanel handbag.

jewellery, is also partial to roses: this ring was inspired by her

Watch in yellow gold and diamonds,

wanderings through the Parc de Bagatelle gardens in Paris. Ring in

from ÂŁ13,525 (020 7499 0005).

pink gold and fancy pink diamonds, ÂŁ123,000 (020 7172 0172).

of the iconic Chanel No 5 bottle. Coco Chanel, who stayed at the Ritz Paris, modelled the stopper’s

3

Quatre ring by Boucheron The chocolate-gold band of Boucheron’s signature four-tier ring is a direct reference to the Clous de Paris cobblestones of the Place Vendôme, spied by the designers from their workshop windows. Ring in yellow, white, rose and chocolate gold, £2,690 (020 7514 9170).

Bagatelle ring by Dior Joaillerie The rose was the favourite

FOR A VIRTUAL TOUR OF PARIS, SEE E-SCAPE ON PAGE 38

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BEYOND EXPECTATION Finally drawing a line in the sand between business and leisure.

With the help of a butler who specializes in poolside rituals, one of the many reasons why.

stregis.com

a legacy of luxury. now at over 30 of the world’s finest hotels & resorts. africa the americas asia europe the middle east ©2010–2013 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Preferred Guest, SPG, St. Regis and their logos are the trademarks of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., or its afliates.

JOHN SIMPSON

UP FRONT

a 10-year-old, and caused a riot from which I had to be rescued.) With hindsight, it was fun – but rather less so at the time. That is the deďŹ ning nature of the foreign correspondent’s life. These things make great tales afterwards, but I’ve often been rigid with fear as they happened. I’ve been boat-wrecked in a tributary of the Amazon by starlight, and swum to the shore where the biggest jaguar in the region prowled with her cub. I’ve climbed to the top of the mountain, in the most remote corner of Afghanistan, which is the only source of gem-quality lapis lazuli. I’ve knocked at the door of the nastiest cocaine baron in Colombia, by the name of “El Vaticanoâ€?, and asked for an interview. My hand trembled as I rang the bell, and I fully expected to be shot. But real life being the let-down it often is, I was given an excellent cup of coffee and a delicious little cake instead, and had it explained to me that El Vaticano, though a great fan of the BBC, was away on business. Still, I wouldn’t put the Congo or Colombia on a list of countries I wouldn’t revisit. Colombia, with its beaches, boutique hotels and baroque churches, is a civilised spot these days, while the Congo now has safari lodges with “tree suitesâ€?, ensuites and candlelit dinners under the stars. If the well-dressed magazine editor rang to ask if I were willing to go back, I’d go like a shot. I might not return to the Arctic quite so readily; at 68 I feel the cold, and when I was last there, with Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston for a BBC series in 2009, I got frostbite. By contrast, Fiennes, also 68 and (as I write) trekking

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ave bee I hhave been boat-wrecked in a tributary of the Amazon by starlight, and swum to the shore where the biggest jaguar in the region prowled with her cub

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efore you start complaining, I might as well admit it: I’m a travel snob. Dubai, the Maldives, Bali, Florida, CancĂşn and Acapulco don’t cut it for me, though I do love Southern California and the wilder parts of Mexico, like Chiapas and Chihuahua. Two of the countries I’ve enjoyed going to most have been Syria and Iran, but look what happened to them. And my favourite, whose name alone makes my heart lift? That can only be Afghanistan. But I’m not just a snob, I’m a cheat. The reason I’ve been to these places is because I’ve been paid to, not because I’ve been in search of somewhere to have an enjoyable time. The BBC, newspapers and magazines have sent me everywhere from the Arctic to Cape Horn via the Amazon, with a tendency to push me towards the rougher end of the business. “We’d like you to go to the nastiest place you know on Earth,â€? said the editor of a classy men’s magazine, sitting in his superbly appointed ofďŹ ce. “Sounds like the Congo,â€? I mused, sipping a dry martini. “Precisely,â€? he said. My brother-in-law, Mark, who races cars and advises famous people but is an adventurer at heart, came with me to take the pictures. We were nearly lynched three times: once when we went to look at the grand house in Kisangani where Bogart, Hepburn and Huston stayed during the making of The African Queen; again when Mark took photographs of a train with about a thousand people clinging to it, who jumped off, tried to scrag us, then got back on board; and ďŹ nally when I popped out of our hotel in central Kinshasa for a newspaper. (I refused to buy a map from

across Antarctica in the dark, seems not to mind the temperatures. But if I have to put myself in harm’s way these days, I want it to be somewhere reasonably warm. And where do I go to have a good time? I own a at in Paris, which is the best way to understand a city. Only when you pay your taxes and do your shopping there do you stop being a tourist. But as Boris Johnson reminded the French recently, it rains more in Paris than it does in London, so the weather is hardly perfect. Although my wife and I have a seven-year-old son, we avoid taking him to Disneyland; fortunately, he is keen on battleďŹ elds and archaeological sites. There’s no shortage of those within reach of London and Paris. Apart from France, there are two places I love, much visited by holidaymakers and rightly so. One is Cape Town in my wife’s native South Africa, where we stay at the Mount Nelson Hotel, painted a genteel pink and in the shadow of Table Mountain. If there is better service anywhere, I haven’t found it. Even if you stay somewhere else, go to the Mount Nellie for your meals: you will feel all the better for it. But my favourite place of all is run by close friends, so you might feel you should ignore my praise of it. Don’t. I have never stayed anywhere as good as Le Sirenuse in Positano, on the AmalďŹ coast. Sitting on your balcony having breakfast with the incomparable sea in front of you is one of the best experiences available. I think I’d give up going to Afghanistan for that. John Simpson is the BBC’s world affairs editor. His television news programme, The Editors, starts on BBC1 at the end of March.

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ROMY BLUMEL; MARTIN POPE

Afghanistan to AmalďŹ , Colombia to Cape Town – the world’s best-travelled correspondent picks his favourite spots

AFICIONADO

MATHILDE LAURENT Perfumer

Parched soil on Corsica, ylang-ylang owers on Mayotte and limes on RÊunion have provided fragrant inspiration on island journeys

I once tasted limes on the island of RÊunion in the Indian Ocean, and understood how the scent of a lime was formed. When I got home, I was inspired to create L’Heure Brillante for Cartier.

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The most memorable scent I have experienced while travelling is of frangipani and ylang-ylang trees in Mayotte, an island that sits somewhere between Madagascar and Mozambique. It is a volcanic island and I remember it as quite a poor place. The sea that surrounds it is incredible. I crossed the island in a jeep at 3am so I could smell the trees, which look strange – their branches made me think of witches’ hands. The ylangylang flowers are so perfumed – the island women cut them from the trees by hand.

efore she decided to study the alchemy of scent, Cartier’s in-house perfumer, Mathilde Laurent (right), was set on becoming a photographer. But when, as a science and chemistry

student, she was asked to become an apprentice to Jean-Paul Guerlain, grandson of the great Jacques Guerlain, her path took a more fragrant turn. “It was the 1990s and perfume had become big business,� she recalls, “so most of my fellow students wanted to work with the big industry names. Guerlain was old-fashioned to them. But that’s what made it wonderful to me. Working for the great house of Guerlain was like entering a school of art.� Since joining Cartier in 2005, Laurent has created a series of perfumes for the French luxury house, developed the Bespoke Fragrance service at its Rue de la Paix home in Paris, and earned two Fragrance Foundation of France awards. Throughout her career, she has travelled the world and taken inspiration from sensory experiences along the way. Here she recalls

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her journeys through scent.

You cannot capture anything as a scent; not the spirit of a country any more than the soul of a person, and it would be pretentious to claim otherwise. But sometimes, by chance, a scent will come back and revive the memory of a journey. That is how you fall in love with a fragrance.

The smell of Paris, where I grew up, is the aroma of street-corner florists. I love the fragrances of the flowers at Odorantes, at 9 rue Madame. It is a very ornate little florist, with stuffed birds and butterflies placed around. It smells exclusively of fragrant flowers.

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two places as it warms all the different

scents, which then unravel. Sand smells

I have fond memories of family holidays in Corsica [pictured, right]. It smells of fir and balsamic and the sun makes the soil very dry. On my last trip, the scents that struck me were of autumn, the earth, dead leaves and wood. For me, the best places to stay are the small villages up in the mountains as they are the oldest and have remained authentic. The Cap Corse region is one of the most amazing places I’ve stayed, with views of the sea to both sides. The landscape is impressive: it is savage and has such a strong and powerful beauty.

ALAMY; GETTY

different in each place, too.

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My latest scent, La Treizième Heure, is inspired by Chartreuse, the green alcoholic drink made by Carthusian monks since the 18th century. It is a homage to a time when perfumery was medicinal.

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The sun never smells the same in any

MY DAY AT THE RACES WITH AN AUSTRALIAN BILLIONAIRE

For Bob Oatley, the owner of a world-class racing yacht, Audi Hamilton Island Race Week is the equivalent of Ascot. Aoat and in the air, Anthony Horowitz (inset) experiences the lifestyle of the man who owns the whole island too LCKI8KI8M<C

Summer sails The fleet runs downwind, with spinnakers hoisted, towards Henning Island during Race Week. More than 150 yachts compete in the regatta, which is held every August MAIN PHOTOGRAPH BY JACK ATTLEY

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THE BOAT, WITH ITS 140FT CARBON-FIBRE MAST, CAME CUTTING THROUGH THE WATER TOWARDS US AT 34 KNOTS

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ustralian billionaires may not be our favourite kind of people right now, but 84-year-old Bob Oatley (or “Popeyeâ€?, as he is known) is a benign example of the breed. He is not associated with hacking, or intent on dominating every medium we use, but has made his living peddling pleasure. First he traded coffee and cocoa in Papua New Guinea, then made his fortune founding, and ultimately selling, Rosemount Wines. He now heads up the dynasty that owns Qualia resort on Hamilton Island, two hours by air from Sydney and nudging the Great Barrier Reef. The family owns the rest of Hamilton Island, too, a place largely inspired by Porto Cervo in Sardinia, where Bob owns a holiday home and has spent many a summer. Created by the Aga Khan in the 1960s, Porto Cervo, with its exclusive Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, is a playground for the rich and nautical – as is Hamilton Island. I was there last August for the annual Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, Australia’s largest offshore keelboat regatta and one of the must-sail events in the southern hemisphere. Some 168 boats were taking part, from sportsboats to multi-million-pound “supermaxiâ€? yachts such as Wild Oats XI, the 100ft monster owned by the Oatleys – and competition was ďŹ erce. It made me wonder why James Bond never went sailing. If you want to see the super-rich battling the elements – and each other – by day while canoodling in six-star luxury by night, head here. “Once you get racing in your blood, you can’t lose it,â€? Bob Oatley told me – and throughout his life, he has never done business on a Wednesday, refusing to miss the weekly races in Sydney Harbour. I watched the Race Week action from Oatley’s other yacht – a mere 65ft in length – bobbing along with dozens of fellow spectators, on private vessels or on tour boats that set off daily from the main harbour. You can charter a skiff or a maxi yacht of your own if you want to take part. It’s a spectacular sight, with the tide rushing between the islands and trade winds gusting up to 30 knots. I loved watching the bowmen, tacticians and navigators in their colourful gear. Is there any sport so laid-back and yet so ruthlessly professional? The greatest thrill came at the end when Wild Oats XI,

with its astonishing 140ft carbon-ďŹ bre mast, came cutting through the water towards us at 34 knots. I wish I could have gone on board the A$10 million (ÂŁ6.7 million) machine, built with the sophistication of a jet ďŹ ghter, crewed by two dozen of the best sailors in the world and capable of sailing upwind faster than the wind itself. It has won the Sydney to Hobart yacht race six times and would win everything, but for the number of handicaps it has been given to level the playing ďŹ eld. But there was more to Race Week than the yachting, not least a glittering parade of cocktail parties, lunches and dinners. It began with a champagne reception at the brand-new A$30-million yacht club, where I mingled with

Ocean assets Wild Oats XI (above), owned by the billionaire Bob Oatley. Below: the Pebble Beach pool at Qualia resort, his other passion

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dozens of little islands scattered across the sea. Qualia was designed by Chris Beckingham, a local architect who is also a Buddhist. I’ve seldom stayed anywhere so serene. Not everything on the island is perfect. Although you can’t see them from Qualia, it would be unfair not to mention the 485-room Reef View Hotel or the Yacht Harbour Tower apartments, both built by the island’s former owners and variously described as “old-fashionedâ€? and “unsympatheticâ€?. Frankly, if the island were mine, I’d blow them both up. But the Oatleys like it just the way it is – and they have a point. You don’t have to be super-rich to come here; you can ďŹ nd a room or rent a house at many price points, and it was good to see lots of families with children on the lively, slightly Disney-esque harbour front. Just about anything you can do in, on or under the water is possible here – from swimming and diving to paragliding and, of course, sailing. But for me, the real highlight of the trip was a helicopter ride to Hardy Reef in a four-seater Robinson R44, swooping as low as was legal over the islands and the sea. We were close enough to pick out stingrays, turtles and pods of humpback whales. Every year they come here to give birth – and the sight of a mother with her new-born calf balanced on her ipper, which is how they learn to swim, was one I won’t forget. Before arriving in Hamilton Island, I had spent some time at the Oatley family vineyards in Mudgee, New South Wales, in a beautiful spot north of the Blue Mountains. With its soft rolling hills, wooden houses and rusty metal windmills, it could have been Kansas 100 years ago. As I was treated to a superb barbecue on a windswept hillside, I kept expecting Dorothy or Toto to join us at the table. From there I was own to Hamilton Island on board the Oatleys’ Falcon 2000. It was the ďŹ rst time I had travelled this way, and I loved it. It’s not just the leather seats and the leg-room. It’s the sense of empowerment, the delicious informality, the way you can stroll on to the plane without the ritual humiliation of clearing security, take off when you want and even sit in the cockpit as you come in to land. Plastic forks? I don’t think so. I used the journey to chat to the steely-eyed but Island style Clockwise, from top left: Alastair Waddell, Qualia’s chef, in transit; a Collette Dinnigan show; the Great Barrier Reef; high tea at Qualia smiling Sandy Oatley, Bob’s ďŹ ftysomething son. He is the man who runs Hamilton Island, looking after its 1,000 staff and such details as the 200,000 litres of water sailors, celebrities, fashion designers, Olympic heroes and needed each day to keep things running, the design of entrepreneurs. Past guests have included Oprah Winfrey, the new golf course, and even the position of the shower Naomi Watts and Dannii Minogue, but the atmosphere mats in the rooms. The one thing he wouldn’t discuss was BVI SPRING REGATTA, West Indies was unexpectedly casual – no ties, no VIP areas. Celebrity the disastrous sale of the family business, Rosemount March 25-31 From their base at Nanny chefs had been own in, including Kylie Kwong, co-owner Wines (“We don’t like talking about thatâ€?), which went to Cay Marina, Tortola, 150 boats compete of Billy Kwong in Sydney. I have never tasted better crispy Southcorp Wines for A$1.5 billion in 2001. The Rosemount across three couses. Level-three match duck, and her steamed scallops with ginger and spring brand, once synonymous with the burgeoning Australian racing – one-on-one competition in equal onions were sensational. There were also beach parties, wine industry, headed fast downmarket where it effectively boats – is a highlight. bvispringregatta.org a fashion show by the Australian designer Collette shrivelled and died. But now the Oatleys are back with ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK, West Indies Dinnigan and a pop-up bar provided by the Keystone a range of wines carrying the Robert Oatley Vineyards April 27-May 3 For the spectacle of Group, which runs some of Sydney’s best-known clubs (ROV) label. Some of them have already won major hundreds of boats on the water, be there and restaurants. How does anyone get up to sail? awards, although I wonder how names such as for the Yachting World Round Antigua The executive chef at Qualia is Alastair Waddell, “Tic Tokâ€? and “Wild Oatsâ€? will go down at Claridge’s. Race on the first day. As it’s open to all, originally from Glasgow and a master of “sous-videâ€? At Mudgee and on Hamilton Island, I began to expect to see cruisers and classics as cooking, which uses airtight plastic bags and very precise understand this great Australian dynasty and what makes well as sportier vessels. sailingweek.com temperatures to create pretty much perfect textures and it tick. What motivates the Oatleys – whether in their wine COWES WEEK, Isle of Wight, UK tastes. Perhaps that was only to be expected at Australia’s business or in tourism – is a burning sense of national August 3-10 The regatta has taken place ďŹ rst six-star resort, located on the northernmost tip of pride and a determination to sell Australia to the world. since 1826 and is the largest of its kind in Hamilton, with views over the Coral Sea towards the I asked Bob Oatley if he was religious. “No,â€? he replied. the world, with 1,000 boats and 100,000 neighbouring Whitsunday Islands. There are 60 private “But I’m a very proud Australian. That’s my religion.â€? He spectators. aamcowesweek.co.uk pavilions dotted around gardens that are gorgeous and means it quite seriously, and Qualia is his high altar. AMERICA’S CUP, San Francisco, US well-established – it’s difďŹ cult to believe they were created September 7-21 The fastest boats and relatively recently. And there are no cars. Guests trundle This year’s Audi Hamilton Island Race Week takes place best sailors compete as the defender, around the island in electric buggies at a cheerful 5mph. from August 17 to 24. Mr & Mrs Smith (0845 034 0700, Oracle Racing, meets the winner of this At times I felt like a character in The Prisoner, the cult mrandmrssmith.com) can arrange a 10-night stay at Qualia summer’s Vuitton Cup. americascup.com 1960s television series set in a mysterious seaside (qualia.com.au) during Race LES VOILES DE SAINT-TROPEZ, France “villageâ€? – but hopefully with better dress sense. Week from ÂŁ3,245 per person, September 29-October 6 Modern My room had oor-to-ceiling windows, and the views based on two sharing. The price supermaxis – as long as 100ft – provide were so striking I could have spent my entire visit lying on includes breakfasts and transfers glamour all week, but the Rolex Trophy is the capacious bed or immersed up to my neck in the bath, but excludes international open to smaller boats. Last year’s winner which is shaped like half a bird’s egg. Against an everights. Qantas (qantas.com) ies was the gaff-rigged cutter Avel, built in changing sky, the landscape appeared as a series of paper from London Heathrow to 1896. lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr cut-outs: the hillsides plunging down to the beaches, the Brisbane from ÂŁ1,305. Further spiky palm trees silhouetted against the setting sun, the information: australia.com

5 MORE RACE WEEKS

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ARTISTE D’HOTEL

When Claridge’s opened its doors to the illustrator David Downton, it was the start of a very stylish relationship

G Martini man David Downton (above) at ‘his’ table at the Fumoir bar at Claridge’s (top), where guests such as Christian Louboutin (centre) and Laura Bailey (top right) sat for their portraits

ood things happen to good people, but I was never this good. In February 2011, Paula Fitzherbert, the public relations director for Claridge’s, called and suggested a meeting with the hotel’s general manager, Thomas Kochs, with the vague notion that we might “work on something together”. After a martini or two in the Fumoir bar, an idea began to take shape: what if I were to be appointed the first ever artist-in-residence (or more specifically, given my background, fashion-artist-in-residence) at the hotel? It sounded good, but what did it mean exactly and how would it work? We didn’t know. Clearly it was not going to be a precise science. But the central idea was simple; instead of photographing the hotel’s illustrious guests – as had happened in the past – we would ask them to sit for a drawing. There was a lot to live up to: images of Jackie O, Winston Churchill, Audrey Hepburn and the Queen stand sentinel in the

lobby, reminders of a time when glamour went with gravitas and the world looked better in black and white. Over the coming months we made a list of potential sitters, which quickly became the fulcrum of debate. (More martinis.) Being famous was not enough; it was the connection with the hotel that counted. Most of these high-profile guests were juggling schedules that would give a cabinet minister pause, which meant that persuading them to pose for a portrait might be an uphill struggle. But that would come later. First my job was to get to know the hotel. Let’s just say that I took my research seriously. I stayed in the dazzling new Linley suites and in the room once occupied by the previous manager’s dog. I addressed the hotel’s quarterly staff meeting. I sat in the lobby and watched the passing parade. I haunted the halls. I propped up the bar. And the conclusion I came to is that Claridge’s is Claridge’s and everywhere else is everywhere else. There might not be an outside

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space, a helipad on the roof or even a swimming pool (they are working on the pool), but what Claridge’s has is something you cannot buy or replicate: a sense of wellbeing. Push through the revolving door and up the steps – there are three – and by the time you are halfway across the black-and-white chequered floor, I doubt that you will remember what you were worrying about. If you watched the BBC documentary Inside Claridge’s (and millions did), you will know that, in addition to the elegant Kochs, who was the lynchpin of the film, the hotel’s other secret weapon is its staff. The service at Claridge’s isn’t seamless; it’s better than that, delivered with brio by a cast of characters who combine humour with discretion (and a dash of hutzpah) and give every impression of loving their jobs. Robots need not apply. Given the time I spent shooting the breeze with the lift operators, the butlers and the doormen, it seems unfair to single out anyone in particular, but how can I resist mentioning Martin Ballard who, after 30 years at the concierge desk, knows not only where the bodies are buried but who fired the fatal shot? Or the gentlemen barmen of the Fumoir (step up João, Lucasz, George, Maurizio and Charlie): my best friends in a bow tie. When the time came to begin the drawings, the first person to sit, fittingly enough, was the fashion designer

5 OTHER ART RESIDENCES The Savoy, London Claude Monet was the first artistin-residence here in 1901, painting Thames views from his top-floor room. Since last year, the British artists Stuart McAlpine Miller and David Downes have been invited to follow in his footsteps – the latter using the lobby as his studio, to the delight of guests (fairmont.com/savoy). Corinthia, London The second year of its artist-inresidence programme sees the Look Left Look Right theatre company perform “immersive theatre” with guests, from March 18 to April 14 (corinthia-air.com).

CARMEN DELL’OREFICE PERCHED IN A BATHTUB, AND DAPHNE GUINNESS POSED LIKE A LOUISE BOURGEOIS SPIDER ON THE CHEQUERED FLOOR

Pfister Hotel, Milwaukee This historic American hotel has a large collection of Victorian art. For the past three years, it has run a studio in which a chosen artist can work and exhibit (thepfisterhotel.com). The Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai Based on the premise that “The real luxury in life is art”, this

TIM PETERSEN

Shanghai hotel invites up to

Diane von Furstenberg, who designed a number of suites at the hotel. “We’ll go Orientalist!” she announced, piling on gold chains and posing amid her signature clash-and-clang prints. Alber Elbaz, the creative director of Lanvin, had only 15 minutes to pose while guests gathered for the unveiling of the Christmas tree he designed last year. Sarah Jessica Parker, whose relationship with the hotel predates Sex and the City, was the calm centre of a Mexican wave of mobile phones all taking pictures in the lobby. Modelling super-legend Carmen Dell’Orefice perched in a bathtub (the tiles went with her Philip Treacy hat). Paul Smith was briskly and charmingly efficient. Daphne Guinness posed like an elegant Louise Bourgeois spider on the black-and-white floor, and Dita Von Teese, feeling she didn’t have anything spectacular enough to wear, suggested she be drawn naked. Did I mention the job was fun? In parallel with what might be called the “Hall of Fame” drawings, I began another series, in colour this time, using the Fumoir bar as a location. I had become quietly obsessed by this darkly confessional space with its velvet banquettes and original Lalique glass, where noon felt like midnight and midnight could stretch until noon. I asked people I admire to join me at “my” table (No4, since you ask) where they gamely submitted to being both drawn and interviewed. I raise a glass to Erin O’Connor, Stephen Jones, Laura Bailey and Christian Louboutin, among others, for being such willing guinea pigs. The role of artist-in-residence certainly fascinates people. I have done interviews in New York and in Hong Kong, in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East. I have been quizzed about it on breakfast television in Sydney and on local radio in Perth. I suppose what it comes down to is that everyone envies me. But the truth is, I envy myself. Spencer Tracy famously said that, when he died, he didn’t want to go to heaven, he wanted to go to Claridge’s. I’m ahead of the crowd.

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18 international artists to stay – in return for a piece of art from each Strike a pose Clockwise, from below: David Downton at work on a portrait of Daphne Guinness; his drawing of Lanvin‘s Alber Elbaz; the hotel’s grand lobby; and the fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg

(swatch-art-peace-hotel.com). The Gershwin Hotel, New York A room and a studio are offered to artists ranging from film-makers to dancers, for up to two months (gershwinhotel.com).

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AIRPANO: HOW IS IT DONE?

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en years ago, aerial panoramic photographs like this were rare: the technical wizardry required to create and stitch together hundreds of images was time-consuming and extremely expensive. But today, thanks to a small team of dedicated, adventurous and well-travelled Russian photographers who have at their disposal four synched cameras and aircraft ranging from helicopters to radio-controlled models, the world is now ours to explore from above, using a laptop, iPad or mobile phone. Since setting up AirPano in 2011, the people behind it have created more than 60 virtual tours and 500 panoramas of 100 destinations on all seven continents, from Manhattan to Machu Picchu to the Matterhorn, with the aim of “creating 3D tours of the most interesting places on our planet”. Some of their missions have been particularly intrepid: they have soared 19 miles into the stratosphere by balloon, captured volcanoes erupting on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far east of Russia and, with the aid of the National Geographic photographer Viktor Lyagushkin, filmed inside the world’s longest underwater gypsum cave, in the Russian Urals. The next project? Hotels. So far, AirPano has completed panoramas of 300 of them in Turkey, on behalf of one of Russia’s largest travel agencies. Sergey Semenov, one of AirPano’s founders, says: “Russian tourists will have the opportunity to choose their holidays after seeing the places from the air on the travel agency website. Once that’s up and running, perhaps we’ll do the same in other countries.” See airpano.com

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The salt pans of Makgadikgadi in Botswana are extraordinary – and more so in the company of Ralph Bousfield, the naturalist, botanist and archaeologist who is at one with the Bushmen. Lisa Grainger is a willing disciple

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THESE GLAMOROUS SHELTERS ON THE EDGE OF THE DESERT LOOK LIKE SET PIECES FROM A MERCHANT IVORY FILM

F

lying in a tiny Cessna over the Makgadikgadi o Pans – the world’s biggest bigg salt flats, in the centre of Botswana – is an odd experience. Through the cockpit windscreen, the view w is so extensive I can see the curvature of the earth, the outline which delineates our round, solid planet from the ever-darkening blue of outer space. On the far side of the desert, a great pipe of white dust spirals into the atmosphere like a giant straw of sherbet. Below, in the midday sun, the salt-encrusted pans twinkle, our plane’s fly-like shadow the only sign that we are in fact on Earth – and that man exists here at all. The experience of soaring above such an other-worldly part of our planet is made more surreal by the company I am keeping. My expedition through Botswana is with Ralph Bousfield, the co-owner of Jack’s Camp and San Camp, and one of Africa’s most experienced guides, who in 1990 was so badly injured in an air crash that doctors weren’t sure he would live. The pilot was his father, Jack, listed in the Guinness Book of Records for the dubious distinction of having hunted 53,000 crocodiles. When a cable snapped and the plane plummeted into the bush, Ralph was so burnt trying to extract his fatally-injured father from the wreckage that he spent two years in hospital in a protective pressure suit. Everything but his face was fried. Surgeons were able to construct new ligaments in one arm and rebuild the palm of a hand from skin on his buttock, but his upper body and feet were so damaged in the fire that he can never expose them to the sun again or go without shoes. That he survived is both a medical miracle and a blessing to those who love the bush and Africa. Jack Bousfield brought Ralph up to be not just a keen naturalist (he found a hippo fossil from the Pleistocene era when he was 14, to the delight of the Smithsonian Institution) and botanist (he can tell you more about the prickly hoodia xerophyte than you might care to know) but an ethnographer who regularly talks at Harvard. From early childhood, he was surrounded by Zu/’hoasi Bushmen, speaking their complicated click-based language, and learning from them how to hunt. To experience these communities with someone who knows them intimately is the main reason for going to his camps. A small group of Bushmen live nearby, and it is with them that guests can walk into the desert, discovering extraordinary uses for ordinary-looking

Chez Ralph Clockwise, from above: San Camp, ‘a romantic collection of creamy canvas tents set among a scattering of palm trees’; a bedroom at San; and the baker, purveyor of still-warm scones and freshly baked bread

plants (the Kalahari sand raisin bush to make bows, rare blood-red bulbs to treat upset stomachs) or learn how to hunt or squeeze water out of a desert melon. For centuries, the Bushmen were treated badly. Local tribes captured their golden-skinned women, Boer farmers wanted them as intelligent, bush-savvy slaves, and their own governments seemed intent on “educating” them in formal classrooms rather than leaving them to be taught by elders in the biodiversity-rich Kalahari. What they all failed to recognise is that Bushmen are one of the last connections we have to our original African ancestors. They are living links to the skills we had – and have lost. As Ralph admitted, “If I knew a quarter of the things these guys do, I’d be a seriously knowledgeable man.” Walking with them in the morning from Ralph’s newly built San Camp – a romantic collection of creamy canvas tents set among a scattering of palm trees – we get a sense of how connected they are with nature and how instinctively they react to it. Spotting a porcupine burrow, a loin-skinned man dives, and furiously digs with his spear, to try and excavate a creature (to our relief, without success). Young hunters shyly show us how to make rope with tree bark, and create little traps. Women lure us, chatting excitedly, to bushes, to gather little bitter

red fruits, which they chew with gusto (and we quietly spit out). We stumble across ancient stone arrowheads scattered in the sand: among the hundreds that Ralph has found in their private concession, including three of the biggest Stone-Age axes ever discovered. And, best of all, that night we sit with Ralph under the stars around a fire, as the desert dwellers celebrate as they have done for millennia: stamping their feet, singing, drumming and ululating, as their children watch, curled up beneath blankets, from beneath a velvety roof peppered with stars. Ah, the stars. One of the great treats of a trip to Africa is being in the middle of nowhere. This part of Botswana was once Africa’s largest super-lake, and is now encrusted with salt pans the size of Switzerland. With 31,000 square miles of wilderness all around me, it is not just quiet; it is also so dark you can barely see your hands. Having driven into the desert one evening on quad bikes, zooming into the darkness like modern-day Lawrences of Arabia, kikois wrapped round our heads, we are told by the aptly named Super Sande, a genial 6ft 6in Zulu who has been guiding here for 20 years, to stand in a circle with our backs to each other, walk outwards and count to 40, then lie down. “Don’t talk,” he instructs. “Just lie and take it in. I’ll call out in 40 minutes.”

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up an aqueous wilderness the size of Devon. Although a fraction of the land is taken up by Motswana villages, a sizeable area is set aside as the Moremi Game Reserve – and it is to the edge of this that we head with Ralph, to visit the watery part of his homeland. Having explored Africa with demanding clients for decades, Ralph has ensured that everything is just so. As we fly in, buzzing the tiny dirt airstrip before landing, to ensure there are no elephant or buffalo in the way, a vehicle is waiting beneath a shady tree to collect us, its coldbox packed with gin and tonic. A 20-minute drive away, the boat’s cheery crew have loaded ice buckets, wine and pre-packed lunches for our day’s adventure. etting off through narrow river channels, at first all we can see is reeds, riverine forest and sky. Then Ralph begins to alert us to the teeming life amid the greenery: the rarely-seen sitatunga, with a two-toed hoof to help it walk in the mud; grazing buffalo, harrumphing as we glide into their territory; an elephant, swimming, its trunk raised like a submarine’s periscope; a malachite kingfisher, with iridescent sapphire chest; pale waterlilies that open like little pink powder puffs in the sunlight. Close to nature Clockwise, After a few hours of gliding through channels, we take from above left: nightfall in the a swim in a crocodile-free pool, then lunch on Niçoise bush, before the sky is filled with a panoply of stars; home salad as we sit on camping stools, trailing our toes in the comforts for guests on a cold cooling water. Finally, we reach our destination – night; and Ralph Bousfield a densely forested island on which a simple but sharing his knowledge on comfortable camp has been set up. Around a fire, a ring of a trip to the Okavango Delta mosquito nets has been erected to form a space furnished with thick downy mattresses, duvets and hot-water bottles. Later, at a dining table set with lamps and pressed linens, we are served a three-course dinner prepared by two chefs who have even baked bread in a makeshift oven comprising an old school trunk filled with coals. Every bit of this mobile camp has been driven by road then brought by boat to the middle of nowhere – a place where the only other signs of red-blooded life are the roar of lions in the moonlight and the crashing of elephants in the trees behind our tents. It is wild luxury in the wilderness, a combination that clearly works. Returning guests have included filmmakers Joel and elegant four-posters, chests of drawers littered with Ethan Coen, Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson (who silver-framed family photographs and books, and faded said the experience was “even better than driving an Enzo Persian carpets. There are capacious rainshowers and Ferrari”) and aristocrat Henry Dent-Brocklehurst, who elegant colonial washbasins in the bathrooms. The spent his honeymoon here. All of them want Ralph to communal areas are equally cinematic: a circular tea tent guide them, which costs an extra £1,600 per day but is at San, with floor cushions on which to while away the well worth it. What you get for your money is a few days afternoon with old African maps; elegant dining tables with a man who looks like Jim Morrison, has the brain of adorned with white linen cloths and silverware; museum David Attenborough, and is as happy rolling up the cases filled with treasures such as leopard skulls, sleeves of his bespoke jacket to dig a Land Cruiser out of fossilised bones and Stone-Age arrowheads. And there is the mud as he is pouring fine wines. He really is a one-off. very good food: orange-yolked eggs for breakfast, I still wear my ostrich-shell bracelet, made by still-warm scones for tea, morning coffee delivered to your a Bushman, to remind me of the trip’s highlights: the bedside in a silver pot covered sparkling Milky Way; the sounds with a red velvet tea cosy. of goat-skin drums and voices Not that I had much time to reverberating in an otherwise silent BOTSWANA BASICS luxuriate in all this. I was African night; the intoxicating smell When to go April to August, when zebra and accompanying Ralph on of campfire smoke and fine whisky. wildebeest migrate from the Okavango Delta, a private escorted safari – of It conjures memories of a remote and the days are warm and nights cool. From which he does about three place and its ancient people, November to March, San Camp is closed, as a year – and the next stop was the main reason for visiting this the pans often fill with water. Jack’s Camp is the Okavango Delta. It might be bewitching region of Africa. open during the wet season, when thousands just an hour’s flight away on of waterfowl and flamingoes come to nest. a small plane, but the delta is Red Savannah (01242 787800, Practicalities Visas are not required. a world away from the crunchy redsavannah.com) offers five nights Getting around Fly to Johannesburg, then desert sands of Makgadikgadi. on the Okavango Mobile Expedition Maun, by commercial aircraft, then small Created by the Okavango River and three nights at San Camp private charter. Road trips are long and dry flowing into a shallow (in dry season only, from April and desert navigation tricky even with GPS. depression in the earth, it looks to mid-October) from £9,785 per Currency The Botswana pula (£1 = BWP12), like a jigsaw of greens from the person all-inclusive, based on two although most camps deal in US dollars. air: islands covered in olive people sharing. The price includes Time difference +2GMT. Flights from London trees, pools fringed with international flights with British to Johannesburg take 11 hours, and flights to lime-coloured reeds, channels Airways, all domestic flights, Maun from Johannesburg just over 1hr 30min. coloured with lurid algae, and guiding and light-aircraft transfers. Tourist information botswanatourism.com dark tributaries inhabited by crocodiles. Together, these make ON PAGE 46, THE TOP 10 SAFARI GUIDES

DAVID CROOKES; LISA GRAINGER; RUSSELL SMITH

S

At first, it is hard to concentrate in the unfamiliar silence. Every sound appears to be magnified: the crunch of sand under my boot and the rustle of my cotton shirt, making me wriggle and inadvertently open my eyes. Slowly I relax, my breaths deepen and I begin to appreciate the silence throbbing in my ears. And as I look into the night, the stars appear: one, then 10, 100, 1,000, then millions, in patterns and constellations that whirl and twinkle endlessly across the sky. I recognise the curved tail of Scorpio, and the guiding lines of the Southern Cross. A satellite whizzes overhead, then a shooting star. I start to spot planets, and black holes. The next thing I know, I’m being shaken by Super. I’m so utterly chilled out, I have passed out, lulled into semi-consciousness by the rare deliciousness of silence, blackness and nothingness. Here, you can not only hang out with the Bushmen but quad-bike into the desert, spot desert lion, watch skulking hyena and hunt with habituated meerkats (one of whom sat on my head). And you can do it all in such comfort that you can relax – and even fall asleep in the middle of nowhere, knowing someone will take care of you. When Jack Bousfield set up camp here in the 1960s, it was to get away from western civilisation. (He apparently asked locals what was out there, and when they replied “Nothing – only idiots go there”, he said: “Great, that’s the place for me.”) What Ralph recognised, with the help of his former partner Catherine Raphaely, is that while many travellers wanted to experience this wilderness, they also wanted to be cosseted in comfort. At Jack’s and San, the pair have created what look like set pieces from a Merchant Ivory film: glamorous shelters on the edge of the desert that seamlessly combine romance and nature. Each is furnished in the manner to which a maharajah or British officer might be accustomed: Jacks in military khaki and rusts, San in pale creams, furnished with

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THE TOP10I SAFARS GUIDE LCKI8KI8M<C

LEADING MEN

Africa’s best guides won’t just protect you. They will bring to life, with charm

Beauty and the beasts Garth Hovell leads barefoot guests along the Luangwa River bed in Zambia, home to large numbers of elephant and lion

and intelligence, Earth’s biggest wildernesses. Brian Jackman picks 10 at the top of their game LCKI8KI8M<C

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THE TOP10 SAFARI GUIDES BOTSWANA

RALPH BOUSFIELD

KENYA

JACKSON OLE LOOSEYIA “Most of my relatives were killed by wild animals,” says Jackson ole Looseyia, casually. “For my father’s generation, that was the norm. Two of my uncles were killed by the same buffalo.” Tall, graceful, powerfully built and looking every inch a Maasai in his blood-red shuka,

Where to find him unchartedafrica.com

Jackson moves effortlessly between the

How to book See main story, page 44.

traditional pastoralist lifestyle of his Maasai

MAP IVES

H

Growing up in the bush is tough, as Jackson

Keen eyes fixed on the trail ahead, this burly,

discovered when he started school. “I was

bearded bushman is everyone’s idea of the

eight years old and the school was five miles

archetypal safari guide. What he is doing is

away and we didn’t walk,” he says. “We had to

reading the news of the previous night’s

run all the way.”

wildlife encounters – unravelling the maze of

ow vividly I remember my own first footsteps in the bush, tiptoeing with thumping heart through the 10ft-tall adrenalin grass (so-called because you never know what is around the corner) in search of lion. But I knew I was safe because I was in the company of Norman Carr (pictured above), the Zambian game warden who reinvented walking safaris 50 years ago. Since then, by foot or Land Cruiser and sometimes by camel and dugout canoe, it has been my privilege to be guided by the best in the business: Richard Bonham and Calvin Cottar in Kenya, Mothupi Morutha in Botswana, Rod Tether in Zambia. Some, like Louw Schoeman in Namibia, are no more, and others like Phil Berry, the “Leopard Man” of Kuyenda Bushcamp in Zambia’s magical Luangwa Valley, are now veterans. So what does it take to excel at this most glamorous of outdoor professions? First comes safety, especially on walking safaris, which require a cool head, a respect for dangerous game and a thorough knowledge of animal behaviour. A good guide can read situations, react in an instant and avoid putting his clients in harm’s way. John Stevens, perhaps the finest guide to come out of Zimbabwe, once described to me how he was forced to shoot an elephant. “When I am walking I always carry a rifle, but I’ve only had to use it a couple of times,” he said. “This time I fired a warning shot, but it still kept coming and I had no choice. It dropped 6ft in front of me. There was no time to be afraid. But afterwards I held out my arm to show my clients how it was shaking. I wanted them to know that even guides are human.” The point he was making is that we all know what it is to feel fear. The difference is that professional guides are trained to handle it. Most of the time, though, your guide is there to interpret the natural world in which he grew up, a bush-wise genius who can read animal tracks as others peruse a newspaper, put a name to every bird and be an inspirational source of knowledge on everything from elephant behaviour to the secret world of the termite mound. Added to which he or she will be the perfect host, a born raconteur with an inexhaustible fund of stories to keep clients entertained around the campfire. Such expertise doesn’t come cheap. Seeing Africa through the eyes of a top-dollar guide undoubtedly costs more than your average package safari, but the rewards are well worth it. Here is my pick of the very best, based on personal experience.

mother and the western world.

When he was 16, he went hunting with his

animal tracks freshly printed in the white

father and saw him gored by a buffalo. “He

Kalahari sands. Elephant, lion, buffalo – their

survived,” says Jackson, “but I never wanted to

stories are all written there, but Map prefers to

go hunting again.” It was soon after this that

look at the big picture. He likes to present

he met Ron Beaton, one of Kenya’s most

a more holistic view of the Delta’s wildlife, to

respected safari tour operators, and began

explain the connectedness of everything, from

working for him as a spotter. That was in the

termites to leadwood trees, and help his

1980s when there were no Maasai guides

clients to reconnect with nature.

working anywhere in the Mara.

Map – aka Martin Anthony Paul – was born

Today Jackson is one of the most

in 1955 and grew up near Francistown in

successful guides in Kenya, a former Big Cat

Botswana. He worked first at Rhodesia’s

Diary TV presenter and a partner with the

National Parks Department, then as a safari

Beaton family in their safari enterprises. Now

guide at Londolozi Private Game Reserve,

45, he has travelled widely in the United States

South Africa, in the late 1970s. His endgame,

and Britain – always dressed in his traditional

though, was to return to Botswana – and by

Maasai clothes. “I live with one foot in both

1981 he was guiding clients deep into the

cultures,” he says. “I have my own blog site,

Okavango by mokoro, the traditional dugout

laptop, cell phone and video camera, but

canoe. Today, there is nobody in Botswana

wherever I go, I am a Maasai first and last.”

with a greater understanding of the Delta. Map is now happily employed by

While we are talking, his keen eyes miss nothing: a striped kingfisher in the tree above,

Wilderness Safaris as its environmental officer

the drag marks where a leopard had hauled its

and is also deeply involved in returning rhino

kill through the grass. “All cats fascinate me

to the Okavango. “My life has been so

but the leopard is my number one,” he says.

interesting and so much fun,” he says, “that

“It’s a thing of beauty. There is something

30 years seems like a few months to me.”

about its eyes, and the way it walks so lightly,

Where to find him Wilderness Safaris

as if it doesn’t want to hurt the grass.”

(wilderness-safaris.com).

Where to find him Rekero Camp

How to book Safari Consultants (01787

(asiliaafrica.com).

888590, safari-consultants.co.uk) offers

How to book Africa Exclusive (01604 628979,

a six-night Botswana safari, staying three

safari.co.uk) offers a five-night safari, staying

nights at Selinda and three at Duba Plains,

at Rekero or Naboisho, from £2,440, excluding

from £5,570 per person. Guiding by Map

international flights. Guiding by Jackson ole

costs around £775 extra per day.

Looseyia costs £600 extra per day.

Real bush men Norman Carr (top left), who reinvented walking safaris 50 years ago; Map Ives (far left) and Jackson ole Looseyia

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TANZANIA

RICHARD KNOCKER A founding member of Nomad Safaris, Richard Knocker is also its chief guide, most often found at Lamai Serengeti, the camp among the spectacular granite kopjes of the park’s north-west sector. Time spent in his company is an education in the lore of the wild. I watched him re-assemble a wildebeest skeleton in a matter of minutes, fitting together its scattered vertebrae like a jigsaw puzzle. It’s a party trick that demonstrates his profound knowledge of Africa and its wildlife. Polymath he may be, but he is no dry-as-dust academic. He leads what he describes as “a charmed existence, doing what I love best, looking at awesome animals in the most beautiful parts of Africa”, and is renowned for his outrageous puns. “You need a sense of humour for this job,” he says. Hence his perfect description of the vultures we had seen near camp, waddling towards a lion kill with their “John Wayne walk”. “Patience is the key to the larder” is another favourite Knocker phrase – uttered as we searched for a black rhino he knew to be hiding somewhere in the thickets. And of course, in the end, he found it. “Enjoy him while you can,” he Animal magic (from top) Robin Pope, Richard Knocker, Steve Edwards, and (inset below) Garth Hovell, who are all as adept at mixing a martini in the bush as they are at tracking giraffe, spotting birds or identifying bones

said sadly. “With rhino horn selling at $60,000 a kilo, I just don’t think they are going to survive.” His favourite animal is the cheetah. “It’s that blend of grace and vulnerability that gets to me,” he says. But he also talks eloquently about what he describes as “cathedral moments” – such as the time when he hid in a bush while 1,500 buffaloes wandered past. “Incredible,” he says. “They never knew I was there.” Where to find him Nomad Safaris (nomadtanzania.com). How to book Africa Odyssey (020 7471 8780, africaodyssey.com) offers a six-night Tanzanian safari, with three nights at Lamai Serengeti and three nights at Sand Rivers, from £3,970. Guiding by Richard Knocker costs from £350 extra per day.

ZAMBIA

GARTH HOVELL Like many of Africa’s best guides, Garth Hovell (below right) is from Zimbabwe. It was there that he learned such guiding skills as dealing with crop-raiding elephants and buffaloes. Having dreamed of becoming a safari guide since he was

THE TOP 10 SAFARI GUIDES

as tough as old boots, and in Zambia, in his

ZIMBABWE

beaten-up bush hat and with a rifle over his

STEVE EDWARDS

shoulder, he is the consummate professional

The bear-like owner of Musango – a 12-bed luxury

safari companion. His knowledge of Zambia’s

safari camp on an island in Lake Kariba on the

wildlife is unrivalled and comes with a natural gift

edge of the Matusadona National Park – was

for enthusing clients, who return year after year.

warden there for many years. He is also chief

In 1988 he founded Robin Pope Safaris, Zambia’s acknowledged market leaders, whose

guide, leading his guests on walking safaris while Wendy, his wife, runs the camp.

six, he finished his apprenticeship at 21 – the

four camps – Nsefu, Tena Tena, Nkwali and

youngest to do so – and now splits his time

Luangwa River Camp – are among the best in

a year old when he came to Southern Rhodesia

between Zebra Plains, in South Luangwa National

Southern Africa, and it was under a huge fig tree

with his parents in 1955. It was during a school

Park, Zambia, and a new guiding venture in

near Tena Tena that he and his wife Jo were

outing that he signed up to join a birdwatching

Panama. “We specialise in walking safaris and our

married three years later.

group headed by a national parks warden, and

camp is in a fabulous corner of the park,” he says.

Like all true professionals he appears relaxed,

He was born in Margate, in Kent, and was only

from then on all he wanted to be was a ranger.

“It has everything: great game, tall trees, huge

yet all his senses remain on high alert, suddenly

views; and best of all, it’s the only one in the area.”

breaking off a conversation to point out a bird in

Department of National Parks and Wildlife

a tree or the flick of an ear in the long grass.

Management in 1972 – its youngest ever recruit –

Now 37, he has guided all over southern Africa, including a spell as head guide at Matetsi,

This dream came true when he joined the

I asked him which animals he respected most.

as a cadet ranger based at Victoria Falls. From

Zimbabwe’s largest private game reserve, and

“Elephant and hippo,” he said, without hesitation.

there he steadily rose through the ranks to the

tracked tigers in India as well as plying his trade in

“Elephants because of their sheer size and

post of provincial warden.

the wilder parts of Malaysia, Russia and Australia.

Where to find him Zebra Plains Safari Camp

unpredictability; hippos because they have this

“I’ve been charged by buffalo and lion and had my

(abercrombiekent.co.uk).

nasty habit of hiding in thick bush.”

vehicle flung into an acacia tree by an angry

How to book Abercrombie & Kent (0845 485

Now in his early 60s, he takes more of a back

and found himself guiding in the Zambezi Valley,

elephant who was protecting her young, but it’s all

1561, abercrombiekent.co.uk) offers a seven-day

seat in the business but remains as fit as ever and

where canoeing and walking in the magnificent

just a walk in the park for me,” he says.

safari in the Luangwa Valley, with three nights

still leads walking safaris to the remote and

Mana Pools and Matusadona national parks

at Zebra Plains and three at Chichele Presidential

spectacular Liuwa Plain National Park, 900

convinced him where his future lay. Twenty years

respect and never walks anywhere in the bush

Lodge from £2,750. Garth Hovell costs from

miles away in western Zambia.

ago, he set up his own safari business and finally

without an armed scout. He loves getting close to

£825 extra per day.

Where to find him Robin Pope Safaris

built Musango – the camp of his dreams.

Even so, he treats all big game with the utmost

nature with his clients. “We track lions on foot, watch them feeding and hear them scrunching on

ROBIN POPE

their kill,” he says. But he also likes them to share his holistic view of the bush. “For sure, we’ll show

(robinpopesafaris.net).

When politics within the department became too much for him, he left to pursue his own career

Here, whether you are tracking black rhino on

How to book Rainbow Tours (020 7666 1250,

foot, star-gazing in the clear Kariba skies or

A true Zambian, born and bred in the Copperbelt,

rainbowtours.co.uk) offers a seven-night safari

sneaking up on a herd of buffalo, a walk with

Robin Pope grew up running wild in the bush with

in the Luangwa Valley, walking from Nkwali to

Steve is a revelation. “There is so much more to

them lions and elephants, but it’s not just about

a pellet gun and a fishing rod. In London, dressed

Nsefu or Tena Tena with five nights’ mobile

the bush than what you read about or see on

the big charismatic animals,” he says. “There’s

in a suit and tie, he could pass for a librarian; but

camping in between, from £4,850. Guiding with

television,” he says. “My job as a guide and wildlife

magic in birds and butterflies and plants as well.”

don’t be misled. Under that diffident exterior he is

Robin Pope costs from £410 extra per day.

enthusiast is to introduce you to its wonders.”

LCKI8KI8M<C

A real adventure. An African safari. It was always my childhood dream. Now I have the perfect excuse. Something really big to celebrate. Happy birthday, me.

Your special occasion. Your holiday.

in store • in travel agents • online at kuoni.co.uk • call 01306 747020

Wild at heart Juan Pinto (left), Pokkie Benadie (below left) and Garth Owen-Smith. Bottom: springbok in NamibRand Nature Reserve, Namibia

Having clocked up more than 30 years’ of guiding in the wild (including a near-death experience with a hippo), he is also a decent photographer and a mad-keen birder. His other abiding passion is

POKKIE BENADIE Known and respected in conservation circles throughout Africa, Karel (Pokkie) Benadie was born in 1963, on a farm in the Great Karoo – the

palaeontology; he recently discovered a fossil site

lonely semi-desert of the Western Cape province.

in Matusadona with four species of dinosaur.

His father worked as a shepherd and his mother

Where to ďŹ nd him Musango Safari Camp

SOUTH AFRICA

(musangosafaricamp.com).

was a direct descendant of the Khoi people. His nickname comes from the word kapok, meaning

How to book Expert Africa (020 8232 9777,

JUAN PINTO

snow in the local Afrikaans dialect, and was

expertafrica.com) offers a nine-day safari in

The best guide in South Africa?

chosen because his birthday was the coldest day

Zimbabwe, with four nights at Musango Camp and

No contest. It has to be Juan Pinto,

ever in the Great Karoo, with snow on the ground.

two nights at Bumi Hills, from ÂŁ3,329.

director and head ranger at Royal

NAMIBIA

He grew up helping his father look after the

Malewane, the glitziest game lodge in

sheep, setting traps for predators. This kept him

the Kruger Lowveld. He works with

out of school but provided him with an education

GARTH OWEN-SMITH

Wilson Masiya, a master tracker

of a very different kind – learning the ancient art

With his silver beard and thousand-mile stare,

with whom he has developed an

of tracking and the secrets of the veld.

Garth Owen-Smith has the look of a desert

almost telepathic understanding over

prophet, which is not far from the truth: his has

the years, making this keen-eyed duo

venturing into the Karoo by himself, and three

been a voice in the wilderness, crying out to

the ďŹ nest guiding team in Africa. He

years later he joined South Africa National Parks

protect the Kunene Province thirstlands of

was born in Johannesburg, got

(SANParks), which was in the process of setting up

north-west Namibia.

involved in raptor research in the

the Karoo National Park and recognised his

Kruger National Park while at school

expertise. In no time, instead of mending fences,

For years he fought the ignorance of

By the time he was 11, he was already

government ofďŹ cials with their leftover views from

elephants in the Hoanib River Valley, explore Puros

and, as soon as his school days were over, headed

South Africa’s apartheid regime as he championed

Conservancy – home to Himba and Herero

straight back to the park. Two years after his

the rights of the indigenous Himba, Herero and

pastoralists – and spend time in the remotest part

guiding career began in 1993, he had become

Liebenberg, known as “The man who wrote the

Damara people, pursuing his dream of allowing

of the country along the wild Kunene River.

head ranger at Thornybush, leading his clients

book� on tracking. With Liebenberg as his mentor,

around this 13,000-hectare private wilderness

Pokkie soon became a junior tracker and was

wildest places, a safari in the company of this

adjoining the Kruger’s western boundary. Here he

given the job of following the park’s reclusive and

remarkable man has to be one of the most

helped Liz and Phil Biden build Royal Malewane,

potentially dangerous black rhinos. Three years

poaching was rife and elephants and rhinos were

worthwhile experiences that money can buy.

which opened in 1999 and has been attracting the

later he had passed all the tests to become

being driven close to extinction – a situation that

Where to ďŹ nd him Kunene Conservancy Safaris

world’s celebrities ever since.

a senior tracker, and after a further 10 years, at

was turned round only when Garth was grudgingly

(kcs-namibia.com.na).

allowed to involve local communities in wildlife

How to book The Ultimate Travel Company

of Elton John and Nicolas Sarkozy, he is a hugely

only three in the country to be recognised by the

conservation. “I felt that involving the local people

(020 7386 4646, theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk)

talented photographer and speaks four languages:

Field Guides Association of Southern Africa.

was the only way to save what wildlife was left,�

offers a 14-night Namibian safari in the company

English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Tonga. He is also the

he says. “They wanted the wildlife but they also

of Garth Owen-Smith, staying in the Skeleton

only ďŹ eld guide in South Africa to hold the

on the Samara Private Game Reserve with his wife

wanted to beneďŹ t from it, which was fair enough.â€?

Coast, Hoanib River Valley and Etosha National

country’s SKA qualiďŹ cation (Special Knowledge

and children. “I’m a happy man,� he declares,

Park, from ÂŁ4,466.

and Skills – Dangerous Game) as well as senior

“doing what I love best, training young trackers in

spends much of his time at Wereldsend, a desert

tracker status. All this, plus the ability to wax

the skills my father taught me.�

oasis whose Afrikaans name translates as World’s

lyrical about ecology or spell out the grim

Where to ďŹ nd him Samara Private Game

statistics of rhino poaching while mixing your

Reserve (samara.co.za).

favourite sundowner cocktail.

How to book Red Savannah (01242 787800,

Where to ďŹ nd him Royal Malewane Safari

redsavannah.com) offers a seven-night South

Lodge (royalmalewane.com).

African safari, staying at the Samara Private

How to book Audley Travel (01993 838500,

Game Reserve, from ÂŁ2,655.

them and their livestock to live in harmony with Namibia’s desert-adapted wildlife. Those were the days when commercial

Today, with his partner, Margaret Jacobsohn, he

End. But every year he leads small groups of clients on what are best described as “limited editionâ€? tours run by Kunene Conservancy Safaris, a community-based organisation involving ďŹ ve Kaokoveld conservancies whose members receive all the company’s proďŹ ts. In 12 days he will show you Cape fur seals on the Skeleton Coast, walk you up to rare black

For anyone with a passion for the world’s

THE T0P 10 SAFARI GUIDES

rhinos, help you to look for desert-adapted

Besides tracking down the big ďŹ ve for the likes

he was helping to stock the new park with game. At the age of 27, he was discovered by Louis

the age of 40, became a master tracker – one of

Today he still lives and works in the Great Karoo

audleytravel.com) offers a nine-day South African safari, with four nights at Shumbalala

All prices are per person, and include full-board

and two days’ guiding with Juan Pinto at

accommodation (based on two sharing), ights,

Royal Malewane, from ÂŁ5,140.

transfers, guiding and park fees, unless stated.

FRANS LANTING; BRIAN JACKMAN

‘THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO THE BUSH THAN WHAT YOU READ ABOUT OR SEE ON TELEVISION’

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Abercrombie & Kent has been perfecting the art of tailor-made travel for 50 years. To talk travel with people who have first-hand experience please call

0845 485 1215 or visit us in Harrods abercrombiekent.co.uk

following the herd had never been our thing. Until we encountered this one.

LCKI8KI8M<C

FLOATS MYBOAT

As a network of new seaplane routes opens up parts of Sri Lanka that were hard to reach, Johnny Morris relishes his escape from teeming Colombo to the lush interior and the ocean-fringed jungles of the south

Splash landing Simplifly’s amphibious Cessna at Koggola in southern Sri Lanka PHOTOGRAPHS BY SCOTT A WOODWARD

LCKI8KI8M<C

A JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME WITH

The cAll

of

AfricA

And

beyond

An epic journey from Cape Town to Mauritius aboard the luxurious Pride of Africa and the all suite MS Island Sky 12th January to 13th February 2015 TANZANIA

Zanzibar

Selous Reserve

Dar es Salaam

Chisimba Falls

INDIAN OCEAN

Makambako

Kasama

Ibo Island

Comore Islands

MOZAMBIQUE

ZAMBIA

Nosy Hara Diego Suarez Ambohitralanana

Nosy Mangabé Livingstone Ile St Marie

Victoria Falls

ZIMBABWE MADAGASCAR BOTSWANA

La Reunion Madikwe Reserve

Zeerust

Pretoria

Kimberley

SOUTH AFRICA Pride of Africa Cape Town

Mauritius

In spite of all its regional difÀculties, Africa still captures the imagination like no other continent. Its varied cultures and people, its extraordinary wildlife and perhaps most of all, the majesty of its landscapes cast a lifelong spell on all who visit. If you enjoy travelling on trains and small ships and have a hankering to explore Africa in some depth, then this may be the ideal trip for you. Our journey unites the most luxurious of trains with the all-suite MS Island Sky, a perfect marriage for genuine travellers.

MS Island Sky

J

oin us for one of the greatest journeys in the world as we explore Africa from Cape Town to Dar es Salaam aboard the most luxurious train in the world, the Pride of Africa. In the coastal city of Dar es Salaam we leave the Pride of Africa and begin the second leg of our journey aboard the MS Island Sky. Our voyage will take us along the coast of Tanzania before crossing over to the island of Madagascar and ending on Mauritius.

The Pride of AfricA Since its establishment in 1989, Rovos Rail has earned an international reputation for its truly world class travel experiences. Step aboard the wood panelled coaches and enjoy fine cuisine in five-star luxury as some of the most varied scenery imaginable unfolds beyond the windows. The train carries a maximum of 72 passengers in 36 superbly appointed suites. The sleeper coaches contain the most spacious train suites in the world, offering every modern convenience and comfort. The epitome of luxury, the airconditioned suites accommodate two people offering the option of twin or spacious double beds. There is also a bar fridge filled with beverages of the passengers’ choice and room service is available 24 hours a day.

MS iSlAnd Sky The MS Island Sky is one of the finest small ships in the world. With a maximum passenger capacity of only 114, the all-suite vessel has the benefit of unusually large accommodation, public areas and spacious outside decks. All suites feature a sitting room area and some have a private balcony. The spacious and finely decorated public rooms include a lounge, elegant bar, library and a single seating dining room. Outside there is a rear sun deck where meals are served in warm weather under shade, a bar and comfortable deck furniture. On the top deck there is a Jacuzzi, further observation and sun deck.

The iTinerAry in brief Day 1 London to Cape Town, South Africa. Fly by scheduled flight. Day 2 Cape Town. Arrive this morning and transfer to the Cape Grace Hotel (or similar) for a four night stay. Day 3 Cape Town. Join a full day excursion to the famous Cape Winelands. Day 4 Cape Town. Enjoy a full day tour with lunch at the beautiful Cape Peninsula including Groot Constantia, Fish Hoek, Simonstown, Cape Point, Chapman’s Peak and Hout Bay. Day 5 Cape Town. A day to yourself in Cape Town to relax or explore independently. Day 6 Embark the Pride of Africa. After breakfast in the hotel we transfer to Cape Town station and board our private train. Lunch is served in the dining car/s as the train travels towards Worcester in the Hex River Valley.

Day 14 Victoria Falls & Livingstone, Zambia. Day at leisure at Victoria Falls. In the late afternoon re-board the train for the short journey to Livingstone. Days 15 & 16 Zambia. We have two days onboard as we journey through Zambia. Day 17 Chisimba Falls. After breakfast we disembark for a morning excursion to Chisimba Falls, a combination of three successive falls in the Northern Province of Zambia. Day 18 Makambako, Tanzania. After breakfast we will arrive in Makambako and commence our descent through the spectacular pass to Kisaki in the Selous Game Reserve, the largest on the continent and a vision of timeless Africa. Day 19 Selous Game Reserve. This morning if time permits we will disembark for a game drive at Selous before we descend into the valley through the Udzungwa Mountains.

some of the beauty spots. Day 25 Nosy Hara, Madagascar. Our first stop in Madagascar will be at Nosy Hara, an archipelago of 12 uninhabited islands off the northern coast. We will use our Zodiacs to explore the fascinating limestone cliffs. Later in the afternoon we will relocate to one of the remote beaches to either snorkel over the magnificent coral reefs or take a nature walk. Day 26 Diego Suarez. At day break we will enter the dramatic Diego Suarez, a stunning natural harbour. After a brief tour of the town we will make our way to the Malagasy rainforest at the Mount Amber National Park and go in search of lemurs and explore the rainforest. Day 27 Ambohitralanana, Cap Est. After a morning at sea we arrive at Madagascar’s easternmost point, Cap Est, which lies near the lush wilderness of the Masoala Peninsula National Park. Here there will be an opportunity to walk in the forest searching for wildlife.

Day 7 Kimberley. This morning we continue our journey arriving in Kimberley in the early afternoon. Visit the ‘Big Hole’ and Diamond Museum with an historic tram ride.

Day 20 Dar es Salaam/Embark MS Island Sky. After breakfast arrive in Dar es Salaam. Here we say goodbye to our private train and enjoy a morning’s guided tour and lunch before embarking the MS Island Sky in the afternoon.

Day 8 Pretoria. This morning we journey past the goldfields before arriving into Pretoria, one of the most picturesque South African cities. After lunch a guided tour will include the famous Voortrekker Monument.

Day 21 Zanzibar. Here the colourful harbour will be crowded with dhows, very much setting the scene for our visit to the Arab style city. On a morning tour, soak up the timeless atmosphere of Stone Town. The afternoon is free to relax.

Day 9 Zeerust. Arrive this morning at Zeerust and transfer to the Madikwe Game Reserve for a two night stay at the Tau Game Lodge. Enjoy lunch at the lodge before an afternoon game drive.

Day 22 At sea. Relax onboard.

Day 30 At sea.

Day 23 Ibo, Mozambique. Land this morning at Ibo, a former Portuguese island of once-elegant palatial mansions. Local guides will escort us around the fort.

Day 31 La Reunion. We will visit the central highlands where spectacularly rugged peaks of dormant or extinct volcanoes cradle huge amphitheatres known as cirques, where mountains tower to over 10,000 feet.

Day 10 Madikwe Reserve. Enjoy an early morning and late afternoon game drive in the 4th largest reserve in South Africa. Relax during the day enjoying the lodge’s excellent facilities. Day 11 Madikwe Reserve. After an early morning game drive we will depart for Gaborone and rejoin the train for a mid-day departure. We continue to Plumtree for border formalities with Zimbabwe and overnight here. Day 12 En route. Spend the day travelling through Zimbabwe. Day 13 Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Arrive in the morning and drive to the Victoria Falls Hotel or similar for an overnight stay. The afternoon is free before we meet in the late afternoon for a Sunset cruise on the Zambezi River.

Day 24 Anjouan, Comore Islands. This morning finds us in Nzwani, better known by its French name of Anjouan. It is an incredibly picturesque island with forested hillsides and rivers tumbling down to the sea. An island drive will include

Day 28 Nosy Mangabe. We have a full day to explore Nosy Mangabe a 520 hectare island reserve in Antongil Bay and part of the Masaola National Park containing one of the most diverse areas of virgin rainforest in Madagascar. Day 29 Ile Sainte Marie. We make our last call in Madagascar on Ile Sainte Marie, a lush tropical island offering us sandy beaches.

Day 32 Mauritius to London. Disembark this morning and transfer to the airport for your scheduled flight to London. Day 33 London. Arrive this morning.

PRICES START FROM £13,995 PER PERSON based on double occupancy. Price Includes: Economy class scheduled air travel, four nights hotel accommodation in Cape Town with breakfast daily, dinner on day 2 and lunch on days 3 & 4, 11 nights aboard the Pride of Africa on a full board basis including drinks, overnight accommodation at Victoria Falls, two nights accommodation at Madikwe Reserve, 12 nights aboard the MS Island Sky on a full board basis with house wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner onboard, expedition team, excursions, gratuities to crew and whilst on excursions aboard the MS Island Sky, transfers, port taxes, airport taxes. Not Included: Travel Insurance, visas, optional excursions, gratuities on the train. NB. Itinerary subject to change.

Call us today on 020 7752 0000 for your copy of our brochure. Alternatively view or request online at www.noble-caledonia.co.uk

SMALL SHIPS - BIG EXPERIENCES

Air time (from left) Pre-flight tea at Dikwella; an Air Taxi at Mawella Lagoon; Amangalla hotel; the south coast near Tangalle

‘Look, a crocodile!’

exclaims a German passenger, pointing at a prehistoric creature swimming across the palm-fringed Mawella Lagoon. The uniformed guard joins her on the jetty and reassures us that it is just a monitor lizard. I’m sure I have read somewhere that these giant reptiles – second in size only to the Komodo dragon – eat baby crocodiles for breakfast, but I decide not to mention this. People are usually a bit jumpy before a flight. Welcome to Dikwella jetty airport, close to Tangalle on the sandy southern coast of Sri Lanka. The check-in is at Lloyd’s Lagoon Side, a tin-roofed restaurant where scales are borrowed from the kitchen to weigh your luggage. Kumara, the smiling waiter, asks the important pre-flight questions: “Tea? Coffee? Milk and sugar?” No queues, no security scans, no stress – just three fellow passengers and myself sitting under the shade of the large-leafed kottamba tree, waiting for our seaplane to buzz into view. If only flying from Heathrow were this easy – bar the carnivorous lizards, of course. Thirty-five minutes later, we are touching down on the Kelani River in the suburbs of the capital, Colombo, beside a Buddhist

temple. Dozens of life-sized statues seem to be praying for our safety as we disembark and prepare to hit the hellish city traffic. Already, the Air Taxi we arrived on – a 15-seater Twin Otter floatplane – is spinning its propellors and waterskiing down the river towards its next ascent. The plane is operated by the state-owned SriLankan Airlines, and was relaunched two years ago to help kick-start the island’s internal aviation scene after the end of the brutal civil war in 2009. It is a pioneer service with a style that is part international carrier, part Indiana Jones and part village bus. On board, the only in-flight entertainment is the spectacular views of the green island below. The cabin is as noisy as a wonky spin-dryer and temperatures veer from chilly at 8,000ft to boiling hot on the ground. I loved every non-digital, screw-shaking second. As you descend into Colombo in the Air Taxi, what catches the eye is the massive construction work on the new Chinese-funded ring road. When the circuit is completed later this year, it will link with the new Southern Expressway to Galle and Matara, further

LCKI8KI8M<C

Tea party Women at work in the Bogowantalawa Valley, home of the 1,000-acre Ceylon Tea Trails estate, where accommodation is in renovated planters’ houses, linked by walking trails. Below: Norwood Bungalow

reducing journey times to the touristic south. Domestic air travel in Sri Lanka is following a similar plan of shifting visitors far from the congested hub of Colombo. The first section of a brand-new international airport in Hambantota, in the south-east, is due to open this year and scheduled flights to the troubled north have resumed. All good stuff, but the really exciting news for aviation romantics is the launch this month of the fragrantly titled Cinnamon Air, a new domestic carrier using small amphibious planes – nine-seater Cessnas with pontoons and wheels – scheduled to connect with international flights. If all goes to plan, Cinnamon will be running daily flights to embrace the east coast beaches of Trincomalee and the world heritage site of Sigiriya, and offering access to the wilds of Yala National Park. A serious rival to the Air Taxi, Cinnamon will open up a whole new network of casual, Dikwella-style airports and jungle jetties for travellers to explore (see map, page 60). Back on the ground, Lakmini, my driver, is reflecting on more traditional ways of touring the country. “In Sri Lanka, distances are short but journeys are long,” he sighs, as we overtake another tuk-tuk on yet another bend twisting through the hills. Higher up, the topography opens to reveal an even green carpet of manicured tea bushes punctuated by mimosa shrubs, eucalyptus trees and occasional clusters of Tamil tea-pluckers in their colourful saris. The landscape has a unified beauty and resembles one big topiary garden. It is, in fact, a working crop established by British planters in the mid-19th century, when millions of tea bushes replaced the original coffee crop. These picturesque hills have been producing a good proportion of the world’s finest tea ever since. I’ve enjoyed a perfect travel day, getting to this green heaven via another quick flight in the Air Taxi from the capital to Kandy, followed by a charming chug through palms and pines in the observation carriage of the local diesel train. Lakmini has had a tougher time of it, with a hard four-hour drive from Colombo to pick me up at the local railway station of Hatton. Ten miles further on, as we

LCKI8KI8M<C

arrive at my accommodation on the Tea Trails estate, we agree to update his well-worn saying: “In Sri Lanka, distances are short but journeys are… a complete delight if you travel like Tintin, not a frustrated Jeremy Clarkson.” Ceylon Tea Trails is described as “the world’s first tea bungalow resort” and Norwood Bungalow, where I will be staying, apparently “abounds in Fifties character”. Neither phrase whets my appetite or prepares me for this excellent new concept in luxury travel. Accommodation is in four renovated tea-planters’ bungalows dotted around the 1,000-acre estate, each with four to six rooms and discreetly attentive staff and chefs. Each has its own colonial style, with period furnishing and exotic English gardens combining giant bamboo stands with croquet lawns, swimming pools and incredible vistas of the surrounding Bogowantalawa Valley. The bungalows

5 OTHER SEAPLANE ADVENTURES ALASKA

CANADA

208 Caravan. Trips afford unique

Alaska Seaplane Services (001

Travelling by seaplane on the west

views of the Burj Khalifa (the

907 789 3331, flyalaskaseaplanes.

coast of Canada is an everyday way

world’s tallest building), the Palm

com) makes daily round trips from

of getting around. Westcoast Air

and the man-made World islands.

Juneau to 10 places in south-east

(001 604 274 1277, westcoastair.com)

Seawings also offers flights linking

Alaska. In winter, its amphibious

offers a commuter and business

Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi with Dubai.

floatplanes (right) land on snow and

service from Vancouver Harbour

ice, and it offers tours over glaciers

to several destinations across the

TURKEY

and trips to Admiralty Island.

Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island.

Sea Bird Airlines (0090 212 310

Its adventure flights include transfers

2330, flyseabird.com), launched last

SCOTLAND

to Victoria for whale-watching

summer, is Turkey’s only seaplane

Loch Lomond Seaplanes (01436

expeditions and seasonal day trips

transfer service. From its base

675030, lochlomondseaplanes.com)

to Whistler for mountain-bike rides.

on Istanbul’s Golden Horn, Seabird’s

offers scenic flights from its bases

19-seater transports visitors

on the banks of Loch Lomond and

DUBAI

to the holiday destinations

the River Clyde in central Glasgow.

Seawings (seawings.ae, email

of Bozcaada, Alacati

It has gourmet packages that include

enquiries only) offers scenic flights

and Bodrum, with

dinner or lunch at remote loch-side

over the emirate’s futuristic

glorious views of the

restaurants and flights both ways.

architectural projects in its Cessna

Aegean en route.

adventure

Enjoy new pleasures

The journey is just the start of the

GREAT RAIL JOURNEYS

Venice

Bardolino & Lake Garda

- With so much included 10 DAY HOLIDAY

Delight in the stunning scenery and medieval towns of Lake Garda, staying in charming Bardolino and enjoy full-day excursions to the magical city of Venice and ancient, unspoilt Verona. Day 1: London to Paris. Depart St Pancras International by Eurostar for one night in Paris, with the evening free to enjoy the romantic French capital. Day 2: To Italy by train. Travel First Class on the high-speed TGV towards the Alps and cross into Italy to continue via Turin to Milan. Transfer to Peschiera on Lake Garda and follow its shores to Bardolino for seven nights. Day 3: At leisure in Bardolino. Enjoy a relaxing day to stroll through Bardolino’s cobbled streets and pastel-painted architecture or along the waterfront to the harbour, with the 9th century Church of San Zeno and San Giovanni Gate. Day 4: Isola del Garda. Cruise to the wooded Isola del Garda for a guided tour of an elegant neo-Gothic villa and free time to explore the manicured terraced gardens full of exotic flowers. Enjoy a tasting of local olive oils and wine before cruising back to Bardolino. Day 5: To Venice by train. Today’s excursion is to the floating city of Venice where a private boat awaits to travel along the Giudecca Canal to the magnificent Piazza San Marco. A guided walking tour includes St Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace

EXCELLENT VALUE

followed by free time to explore the maze of cobbled streets, canals and squares at leisure. Day 6: A day at leisure. Enjoy a relaxing day or perhaps take a boat to Malcesine, set between sheer cliffs, to visit the 14th century Scaligeri Castle and ascend Monte Baldo by cable car, which revolves near the summit for panoramic 360° views. Day 7: Sirmione. Cruise to the fairytale town of Sirmione on a picturesque peninsula, featuring medieval streets and piazzas, a 13th century castle and ruined Roman villa, Grotte di Catullo.

First Class rail and coach travel (Standard Premier Class on Eurostar journeys with meals and drinks) 9 nights’ hotel accommodation with breakfast each day 7 dinners Visit to Isola del Garda with a guided tour of the gardens and house Excursion by rail to Venice, including a guided tour Lake cruise to Sirmione Trip to Verona including a guided tour Dinner and wine at a local agriturismo wine co-operative in Valpolicella All transfers

Day 8: Verona. Today’s excursion is to the walled town of Verona which was the setting for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. A guided tour includes beautiful medieval buildings, a Roman Arena and Juliet’s iconic balcony. There is also free time to explore before returning via a wine co-operative in Valpolicella for a traditional dinner with local wines.

Accompanied by a professional Tour Manager

Day 9: First Class rail to Lausanne. Travel to Milan to join the service into Switzerland for an overnight stay in Lausanne.

£1,545

Day 10: To Paris and London. Travel by TGV to Paris and transfer onto the Eurostar to London.

- MORE FROM OUR ITALIAN COLLECTION -

9 departures between 21st April & 6th October 2013

10 day holiday from

You couldn’t organise the same inclusive holiday yourself for less.

- BOOK NOW or request a free brochure Florence, San Marino & The Adriatic

Beside Lake Como

Italian Riviera

14 DAYS FROM £2,298

10 DAYS FROM £1,698

10 DAYS FROM £1,525

On this exciting adventure we discover Roman landmarks, Imperial cities and some truly beautiful natural landscapes.

Lake Como, pretty Italian towns and mountain scenery provide the setting for this spectacular tour.

Enjoy the contrast between the sparkling Mediterranean and the pretty buildings of Lucca and Pisa in northern Tuscany.

BOOK WITH 100% CONFIDENCE FLIGHT-INCLUSIVE HOLIDAYS ARE ATOL PROTECTED, NON FLIGHTINCLUSIVE HOLIDAYS ARE FINANCIALLY PROTECTED BY ABTA

Dates and prices are subject to availability. Prices shown are per person based on 2 sharing. Terms and conditions apply. Calls will be recorded.

01904 734 009 Our UK tour advisors are here 7 days a week

www.GreatRail.com

makes a perfect home for exploring the south coast. Elegant antiques, Victorian bathroom fittings and acres of crisp linen combine seamlessly with modern services, spa and pool. Unusually for an Aman property, Amangalla is open to

are linked by scenic paths, and I discover the genius of the place when I take an eight-mile hike, past traditional villages, small Hindu temples and a maze of laurel-green tea bushes, from Norwood to the lakeside bungalow of Castlereagh, where I have booked a table for lunch (guests can eat at any of the bungalows). The estate lies at an altitude roughly equivalent to the top of Ben Nevis, so it is temperate and breezy, but the tropical sun can still be punishing. After my hot hike, the gardens of Castlereagh appear before me like a scene from a Noël Coward play. Smartly dressed honeymooners loll about on lawn armchairs, sipping spritzers and weighing up the merits of mint-crusted lamb (delicious) or tarragon-infused chicken (divine) for lunch. Chaminda, the charming manager, ignores my dusty trainers as he

the public for dining and drinks. Doubles from £332. Ceylon Tea Trails (0094 117 745700, teatrails.com), a working tea estate, offers accommodation in four restored colonial bungalows amid a romantic, rolling landscape. Each property has four to six rooms and countryhouse comforts. Norwood, at the centre of the valley, has superb views and offers the best trail access to the other

MAP: TANIA WILLIS. PHOTOGRAPHS: JOHNNY MORRIS; 4CORNERS

IF THE AIR TAXI IS THE INDIANA JONES WAY TO FLY, THE NEW CESSNA IS PURE JAMES BOND greets me as though I’m an Olympic champion, offers me a huge towel and suggests a dip in the lap pool followed by an ice-cold local beer. “Will you be staying for high tea after lunch, Mr Morris?” If all of Castlereagh’s five rooms had not been occupied, I would have stayed the night. I settle for lunch and a round of croquet, but before that I need to visit a significant spot for the future of flying in Sri Lanka. With my trousers tucked into my socks to avoid leeches, I paddle in a dugout canoe with a fisherman to the middle of Castlereagh lake. The view up the valley is reminiscent of Loch Lomond as the dark waters mirror the mists creeping over the conifer uplands. Hopefully the Scottish weather won’t descend too far into the valley this month, because this watery spot is set to be the landing site for a newly commissioned flight bringing guests from the south to the Central Highlands. The launch of the chartered service, run by the civil aviation experts Simplifly, will link the regal experience of the Tea Trails with the lavish villas and luxury hotels around Galle and beyond. The flying experience is designed to match the quality of the destination, too. If the Air Taxi is the nostalgic Indiana Jones way to fly, the new four-seater Cessna, with air conditioning, elegant livery and touchscreen controls, is pure James Bond. As new highways roll out over Sri Lanka, and as more roadside restaurants and cheap hotels are built on the linear routes to paradise, the floatplane services should become even more attractive for visitors. Who wouldn’t want to skip the complications of Colombo for a direct hop into a jungle resort, or avoid the irritation of being stuck in traffic when there are dreamy beaches and tea hills to enjoy? Yet there is more to the aerial experience than speed and convenience. Flying low in the tropical sky, these hard-working planes allow us to appreciate the natural beauty of this gem-green island. Look down and enjoy the views of virgin forest and palm – but just watch out for monitor lizards when you land. Experience Travel Group (020 3627 6970, experiencetravel group.com) arranges tailor-made tours of Sri Lanka. A similar seven-night itinerary to the above, with three nights at Ceylon Tea Trails (all-inclusive) and three nights on the south coast, starts at £2,540 per person, based on two sharing. The price includes return flight with SriLankan Airlines, two seaplane journeys, private car and driver.

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bungalows on the estate. Prices include full board, alcoholic drinks and an estate tour. Doubles from £324 – minimum two-night stay. Amanwella (0094 472 241333, amanresorts.com/amanwella/ home.aspx), in Tangalle, on the southern coast, is a luxury beach resort with striking architecture that combines angular design with traditional materials. The Ocean Suites are the most successful of its 30 contemporary villas and have

FLYING THE ISLAND IN STYLE

the best views of the resort’s lovely cove. Doubles from £360.

WHEN TO GO

(for Ceylon Tea Trails); three

of convenience. Close to

The Last House (0094 815

The east coast is driest from

passengers from £950. Simplifly

Bandaranayke International

638006, thelasthouse.com)

May to September. November

also offer sightseeing flights

Airport, north of Colombo, the

was the final design project

to April is the best time to visit

over Galle, day trips to Yala and

14-room Wallawwa offers vast

of Sri Lanka’s most influential

the south-west and the interior.

Sigiriya, and whale-watching

verandas, tropical gardens and

architect, Geoffrey Bawa, who

flights via Mirrassa.

aromatic curries. Its traditional

died in 2003. A bohemian beach

GETTING THERE

Cinnamon Air (0094 112

design and its spa provide

villa, it features his trademark

SriLankan Airlines (0330 808

475475, cinnamonair.com),

a sensual introduction to Sri

airy open verandas, polished

0800, srilankan.com) flies direct

which launched this month,

Lanka and make it a perfect

concrete floors and pared-down

from Heathrow to Colombo

has the highest number of

place to recover from a flight.

natural materials. Vivid colours

from £570 return. Passengers

scheduled routes; from £84.

Doubles from £100.

and an irresistible courtyard

international flight connecting

WHERE TO STAY

Amangalla (0094 912 233388,

feel. The Cinnamon Hill Suite

with a domestic Air Taxi are

The Wallawwa (0094 773

amanresorts.com/amangalla/

is the best of the six tastefully

allowed the same baggage

638381, thewallawwa.com)

home.aspx), pictured below,

furnished bedrooms, which

weight on both (40kg, not 10kg).

breaks the rule that hotels near

a 28-room, colonial-style grand

can be booked individually or all

From April 14, British Airways

airports are just corridors

hotel at the heart of Galle Fort,

together, as a complete country

travelling on a SriLankan Airlines

pool complete the tropical arty

(0844 493 0787, ba.com) will fly

home. House from £500 per

from Gatwick to Colombo via

night, doubles from £88.

Male in the Maldives. Buckingham Place (0094 473 SEAPLANE FLIGHTS

489447, buckinghamplace.lk)

Flights can be subject to last-

is a 12-suite boutique hotel at

minute changes due to weather.

Rekawa, six miles east of

If you are planning international

Tangalle. With an open-air

connections, arrange all flights

restaurant – the Pavilion –

via a tour operator.

a modest swimming pool and

SriLankan Air Taxi (0094 777

lush grounds which are home

771979, srilankan.com) offers

to monkeys, abundant birdlife

scheduled, charter and scenic

and a pet donkey, it provides

flights in Twin Otter floatplanes;

a comfortable way to

single fares from £25.

experience rural Sri Lankan

Simplifly (0094 777 703703,

village life. Doubles from £148.

simplifly.com) provides the new charter service between

FURTHER INFORMATION

Koggala and Castlereagh Lake

See srilanka.travel

Istria. Green Mediterranean.

1

Istria. Green Mediterranean. 2

Istria offers much more than sun and wonderful beaches set along 450 km of coastline. This peninsula, with its countless natural and cultural attractions, is a destination to visit all year round. An “active holiday” is the best way to describe a stay amongst the wonders of Istria, as you can practice all kind of sports: sailing, explore the underwater beauty with reefs, caves and shipwrecks, trekking, riding, paragliding, play tennis or golf.... And that‘s not all.... Istria also has an excellent reputation for cyclists, with its quiet roads during Spring

and Autumn and amazing views, enchanting bays and scented pine forests. For those who want exclusive relaxation, Istria offers spas and wellness centres that are a pleasant alternative to a classic holiday. The region is particular wellknown for exceptional gourmet experience, as for truffles, Istrian malvasia and olive oil, in an area full of wholesome produce and atmospheric medieval villages on the top of green hills. Sea, nature, cultural heritage and typical products - all demonstrate that Istria is the ideal destination for great cuisine, great wine and a great lifestyle. More information: www.istra.com

3 1. Enjoy a seaside holiday. 2. Charming small towns. 3. Explore Istria on two wheels. 4. Family-friendly accommodation both on the coast and inland. 4

0845 0779 207

Find out more

d a i ly c o m m u t e 10 days Maldives from £2,375pp inc flights

© Com o Hote l s

steppestravel.co.uk

school run 10 days Baja from £2,995pp inc flights

© R i ta D aub e ne y

rush hour 8 days Tanzania from £2,495pp inc flights

See the world from a diferent perspective...

PICTURE CREDIT

WIN A LUXURY HOLIDAY FOR TWO

Kicker caption ptionptionptionption and again when you thainks ao and again when you thainks aoonptionption and again when you thainks ao and again when you thainks ao

ALAMY

HOW TO ENTER

Ticket to ride The Sky Bar (main picture) at the Tivoli Lisboa hotel in Lisbon, where /WIN? winners can take a city tour in a vintage sidecar (below)

Nominate your travel favourites – from hotels to cruise lines – in our annual awards for the chance to win a five-night break in Lisbon THE PRIZE

THE VOTING CATEGORIES

A five-night stay for two in a suite at the Tivoli Lisboa hotel in Lisbon, including daily breakfast, flights from London with TAP Portugal and one Local Experience award – a unique

AIR TRAVEL

glimpse of local life and customs provided by the host hotel.

Best short-haul airline

TIVOLI LISBOA HOTEL, LISBON

Best long-haul airline

Located on Avenida da Liberdade, this elegant five-star is set

Best cabin crew

right in the heart of the city and is a hub of local social life.

Best airline lounge

Enjoy city views and Portuguese specialities at the top-floor

Best airport

Terraço Restaurant, or opt for classic French cuisine at the Restaurant Brasserie Flo Lisboa.

LOCAL EXPERIENCE AWARD

HOTELS

The winners will take a city tour of their choice on a replica

Best in Europe

1930s motorcycle and sidecar, taking in the Graça Belvedere

Best in the Americas

and St Jorge’s Castle or a scenic ride up the coast to Cascais.

Best in Asia

TAP PORTUGAL

Best in Australasia

The leading airline to Portugal from Britain, TAP Portugal operates 74 flights per week to Lisbon, Porto and Funchal from Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester. See: flytap.com

Best in the Middle East Best in Africa and the Indian Ocean Best in the world

HOW TO ENTER

Best luxury chain

Nominate a winner in each of the 20 categories (right) and enter them, with your name, address, postcode, year of birth, telephone number and email address at telegraph.co.uk/theultras by Saturday March 23, 2013. In May, the winners will be announced at the

OTHERS Best large luxury tour operator

Ultratravel 100 Awards and, in June, published in Ultratravel. Full

Best small luxury tour operator

terms and conditions can be found at the web address above.

Best luxury cruise line Best river cruise line Best golf resort Best city Best country

LCKI8KI8M<C

JAMAICA

SAINT LUCIA

ANTIGUA

BAHAMAS

GRENADA

ONE OF A KIND RESORT O N E

O F

A

K I N D

E X P E R I E N C E

Sandals Royal Plantation, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

MORE QUALITY INCLUSIONS THAN ANY OTHER RESORTS ON THE PL ANET Sandals Royal Plantation sits on a bluff soaring 25 feet above the shimmering Caribbean, granting each and every one of its 74 suites awe-inspiring views of the ocean. Every suite in this charming retreat comes with its very own Personal Butler, who are trained to the highest standards by the Guild of Professional English Butlers and will cater to your every whim. Its hallmark of excellence, coupled by a range of amenities including a comprehensive scuba diving programme ensures every guests’ needs are catered for. Golf lovers can even enjoy complimentary green fees at the nearby 18-hole course, Sandals Golf & Country Club. For your dining pleasures, the award-winning Le Papillion serving French cuisine in one of the three gourmet restaurants, while the chic CBar is the island’s only champagne and caviar bar. Neighbouring this boutique hotel is Sandals Grande Riviera offering 15 alternative speciality restaurants, all of which are included for Sandals Royal Plantation guests. Looking for the ultimate in all-inclusive luxury? Then look no further.

TO BOOK THE WORLD’S LEADING ALL-INCLUSIVE RESORTS

Call 0800 742 742 | Visit sandals.co.uk See your local travel agent

Scan for more details

17 YEARS RUNNING

Visit sandals.co.uk for full terms and conditions. ABTA & ATOL protected.

THE WARMEST PLACE IN THE BRITISH ISLES

“ The early morning sunlight illuminates the rocks. And lights up my whole day.” Being a painter in Jersey is like being a kid in a toyshop – everywhere you look there’s something to excite you. The warm golds of the wide sandy beaches. The vibrant greens of the wooded valleys. The shimmering blues of the crystal-clear sea. And the intense light that casts a sense of optimism and warmth over the whole island. To find out how Jersey can light up your day visit jersey.com

ARTIST

g intelligence ULTRA

EDITED BY LISA GRAINGER

Good spirit Kaoru Izuha (left), the award-winning sake sommelier at the Sushi Sora restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo (below)

MASTERCLASS

Lessons from global experts Kaoru Izuha, from the Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo, was the most recent winner of the Kikisake-shi (“sake sommelier”) category of the Kikisake-shi World Championship. Here she provides key tips on preparing and drinking the Japanese rice spirit. At what temperature should sake be served? That depends on the type; there are four groups, each of which is served at a different temperature. Soshu (simple, light and fresh) is served between 5C and 10C; Kunshu (rich, with a fruity aroma and flavour) between 8C and 15C; Junshu (traditional, rich and dense) between 15C and 18C, or heated to between 40C and 55C; and Jukushu (the most expensive, spicy and full-bodied) between 15C and 25C. The premium brands? Sake is made by more than 1,600 producers, A roof of one’s own The teNfflclcls niii the most popular brands being Hakkaisan, tiii Biiitlsh-bcckxd Siiirrc Liiinx giiixr niiint Kubota, Dassai and Dewazakura. The two hiiix biiin siiicllng tiiis niii miiillnns niii premium brands are Kakunko Junmai Daiginjo and the 23 or “Niwari Sanbu” Dassai Junmai Daiginjo, for which the rice is milled to 23 per cent of its original size. The latter goes particularly well with Western food such as white fish served with herbs and lemon. Any etiquette involved in drinking it? Sake is served in measures of 180ml or 360ml from a decanter called a tokkuri, and drunk from a small cup called a sakazuki. It is

FOR THE LATEST IN LUXURY TRAVEL telegraph.co.uk/ ultratravel

considered well-mannered to pour first for your partner – and if someone is pouring for you, to hold your cup with one hand, and place your other hand underneath. After every sip, the cup should be put back on the table. John O’Ceallaigh

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Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Alfred Sisley Flood at Port-Marly, 1876 (detail) Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection on deposit at Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

From Corot to Van Gogh 05/02 — 12/05

2013

www.museothyssen.org

COUNTDOWN to Hong

Kong

As the East’s ďŹ rst Art Basel approaches, Fionnuala McHugh gives an insider’s view of the city. Below, getting there in style

5

REASONS TO GO

KOWLOON

Hong Kong is easy China: no visa requirements for European passport holders, a good

public transport system and enough English spoken to be accessible. A new cruise terminal is

The Ritz-Carlton

due to open later this year, and two agship hotels have anniversaries: The Peninsula (peninsula. com) turns 85 and the Mandarin Oriental (mandarinoriental.com) is 50. The cultural scene is burgeoning: in May, Art Basel Hong Kong (artbasel.com) will be ofďŹ cially launched. The food and

The Peninsula

shopping are terriďŹ c. Best of all: there’s a real buzz on the streets of this safe, vibrant city.

4

Spoon restaurant, InterContinental

Mandarin Oriental

RESTAURANTS Some of the best food is found in hotels. The InterContinental

(intercontinental.com) is the only venue with three Michelin-starred restaurants under one roof, one of which is Alain Ducasse’s Spoon (00 852 2313 2256). Caprice (00 852 3196 8860) is one of two

Yin Yang

The Upper Caprice House restaurant, Four Seasons

Michelin-starred restaurants at the Four Seasons (fourseasons.com). For organic food in a heritage house, try Yin Yang (00 852 2866

HONG KONG ISLAND

0868, yinyang.hk). And for dumplings, try Din Tai Fung, either in Causeway Bay (00 852 3160 8998) or Tsim Sha Tsui (00 852 2730 6928); both have been awarded a Michelin star.

3

CHINA

HOTELS The variety of accommodation has greatly improved in recent years. The world’s tallest hotel,

The Ritz-Carlton (00 852 2263 2263, ritzcarlton.com) offers spectacular views and a stunning pool

Airport

on the 118th oor. Slightly lower is The Upper House (00 852 2918 1838, upperhouse.com): super-chic and popular. And almost at sea level on Lantau island is the Tai O Heritage Hotel

2

Tai O Heritage Hotel

2 miles

(00 852 2985 8383, taioheritagehotel.com), formerly the island’s police station, with nine rooms.

ESSENTIAL READS The classic book on post-1997 Hong Kong

has yet to be written (in English, at least) but a

HONG KONG

NEED TO KNOW

memoir of a 1950s childhood, Gweilo by Martin

WHAT Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China with its own

Booth, and Jan Morris’s excellent Hong Kong both

currency, language (Cantonese), police force, legal system and civil service.

convey the city’s intoxicating energy.

WHEN The autumn months (September to November) are usually the driest and coolest. Summers

1

are hot and humid but hotels offer special deals then, and it’s less polluted.

THING YOU CANNOT MISS The eight-minute Star Ferry across the

FLY British Airways (britishairways.com), Cathay PaciďŹ c (cathaypaciďŹ c.com) and Virgin Atlantic (virgin-atlantic.com) all y direct to Hong Kong from Heathrow in about 11 hours.

harbour costs HK$2.50 (about 25p) and is best

BEST WEBSITE discoverhongkong.com, which lists essentials, plus local festivals.

taken at 8pm, when the skyline is illuminated by

BEST APP Open Rice, with thousands of restaurant reviews and recommendations.

the Symphony of Lights laser show.

TURNING LEFT

Tom Otley tests the best business-class services to Hong Kong

DIRECT BRITISH AIRWAYS

DIRECT CATHAY PACIFIC

DIRECT VIRGIN ATLANTIC

Seat The most unusual layout of all:

Seat Forward-facing in a 1-2-1

Seat The funky Upper Class is a hybrid

Club World seats face backwards by

configuration, with direct access to the

between business and first class, with

the window and forwards by the aisle,

aisle, Cathay’s new seats are stylish

seats positioned in a herringbone

alternating in the middle – so you sit

and comfortable, reclining to an 82-

design, with direct access to the aisle.

beside a stranger at very close

inch bed that increases in width from

The 22-inch-wide seat flips over to

quarters. All navy-upholstered seats,

21 inches to 27.5 inches as the arms

become a 78-inch-long, 33-inch-wide

78 inches long by 25 inches wide,

go down. There is a cupboard with

bed, made up with a white cotton

come with a pillow, cotton-backed

vanity mirror for small items, both

sheet, duvet and pillow by staff.

blanket, drawer and Elemis amenity kit.

a side table and a strong table for

There’s storage for laptops and a

3 4

2

34 Inches

1 Seat reclines to 76 inches as a fullyat bed

Entertainment InFlight Entertainment

working, and an Agnès b amenity bag

strong table at which to work and eat.

(IFE) offerings vary, but even on older

stocked with Murad skincare products.

Entertainment There are several

planes there are more than 200

Entertainment A 15.4-inch screen

different versions of Virgin’s IFE system,

options, viewed on a 10.4-inch touch-

shows Cathay’s StudioCX-system

all viewed on a 10.4-inch screen, with

screen. There’s a socket for laptops

programmes: a rotating library of 100

a wide range of content. The latest,

INDIRECT SINGAPORE AIRLINES

and phones (although a US adapter is

movies, 500 TV shows, 888 music CDs,

JAM, allows you to connect your

Seat The widest in the air (above) at

Seat Either 70 or 79 inches – with

needed) and an in-seat phone.

22 radio channels and 70 games, in 10

phone, USB stick or tablet to watch,

34 inches (1), reclining to 76 inches as

a massage function, a soft-drinks

Food Meals are designed by a culinary

languages. There is a socket to connect

read or listen to your own content.

a flat bed. Extras: light duvet; good side

minibar and a large blanket and pillow.

committee and served on Wedgwood.

iPods/iPhones to the system, to stream

There is laptop power and, on some

storage places, drinks holder, shelf (2).

Entertainment The best in the world,

There’s a self-service British larder, and

content, and a USB port for charging.

flights, mobile-phone capability.

Entertainment The KrisWorld IFE

with 1,400 choices on a 10-inch screen.

a wide selection of wines, including

Food Both European and Asian dishes,

Food High-quality, with a Graze menu

system offers more than 1,000 options,

A plug for laptop and phone charging.

Taittinger Brut Reserve NV champagne.

and a wide variety of drinks, including

for those wanting food to eat at their

viewed on a 15.4-inch screen (3).

Emails can be sent on many flights.

Service Improving. No limousine

Billecart Salmon NV champagne.

leisure, high tea and a long bar serving

Business panel with socket, satellite

Food Up to five courses, with a

service, but its Heathrow lounges (or

Service Very high, both at check-in

Lanson Black Label champagne.

phone, iPod plug and USB port (4).

business-class bar on the upper deck.

“Galleries�) are impressive; the one at

and in-flight.

Service Glamorous and friendly. Extras

Food Devised by a panel of chefs,

Service Excellent; 55 languages

Terminal 5 has a 20-seat cinema.

USP Cathay is constantly updating its

include a limousine service, and lively

including Sam Leong from Singapore.

spoken. Chauffeured pick-up/drop-off.

USP The consistency of its seats (on 95

seats, and its service is among the best

lounges with games, a spa and bar.

Service The world’s best attendants.

USP Polished service and great price.

per cent of aircraft), and its Britishness.

in the world.

USP Unique style, comfortable seats.

USP Big bed and unrivalled service.

Price ÂŁ1,965 (emirates.com)

Price ÂŁ4,286 (ba.com)

Price ÂŁ3,189 (cathaypacific.com)

Price ÂŁ4,286 (virgin-atlantic.com)

Price ÂŁ3,748 (singaporeairlines.com)

Tom Otley is editor of Business Traveller

Uphostered in brown leather

INDIRECT EMIRATES

LCKI8KI8M<C

ACCESS ALL AREAS

TRAVEL BY NUMBERS

32,500

People who ca n get you to places others can’t reach

Cost per night, in dollars, to rent the new Coco PrivĂŠ Kuda Hithi island (below) in the Maldives, during high season (cocoprive.com)

ADRENALINE SHOTS

‘D

avid Attenborough said in the 1970s that he dreamt of entering the jungles below the Kaieteur Falls in Guyana, but it was

impossible,� says Alex Uddin of Epic Tomato. “Our expedition team has found a way – we can now abseil down beside the waterfall, and explore the cave behind it, which has never been done.� Most tourists wouldn’t think to abseil a waterfall, particularly not one this big (Kaieteur, pictured below left, is 740ft high – four times the height of Niagara Falls – with 23,400 cubic feet of water roaring over it every second). But according to Uddin, that’s just what Epic Tomato’s clients, who include wealthy City boys, Russian adrenaline-seekers and adventurous American families, want to do. Having

100,000,000

dropped by rope to the canyon floor and ventured through the waterfall into the cavern behind, they

Number of plastic bottles used every day

have the option of being helicoptered to the 9,000ft Mount Roraima to abseil 1,500ft off its

1,000

summit (another world first). Other once-in-a-lifetime experiences on offer include a trip trekking with the Maasai in the

Years it takes for one plastic bottle to decompose

Mbarika Mountains in Tanzania, across bush little explored since David Livingstone ventured there

10

in the 1850s, and being taken by helicopter into the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea, to rough-camp,

Cost in dollars of a refillable, foldable water bottle for travelling (vapur.us)

raft and meet tribesmen (pictured, top) who have had little contact with visitors. All trips are accompanied by SAS-trained guides who, as Uddin puts it, “prefer travelling to soldiering,

THE BOOK

but still want the adventure�. The cost is about

HIP HOORAY

ÂŁ15,000 for 12 days (epictomato.com).

H

ere’s something completely different from Herbert Ypma, the founder of the Hip Hotels series of travel guides:

a compelling volume of 30 little-known hotels, and guesthouses around the world, called

SUITE DREAMS

Ultratravel’s guide to the world’s most sumptuous hotel rooms

SUPER-CHALET MEETS BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Amazing Places Cost Nothing. Its charm lies in

MASTER SUITE, CHALET N

room (with a lift straight to the piste)

the slopes. The bedroom, which

the fact that there’s not a chain among them;

Oberlech, Austria

and a palatial spa, with La Prairie

has an open fire, offers unbroken

most are owner-run, many remotely located,

(0043 5583 37900, chalet-n.com)

treatments, as well as saunas, pools,

mountain views from the

and all have characterful, quirky interiors.

From â‚Ź270,000 (ÂŁ230,000) per week

rainshowers and relaxation rooms.

bed – or, if the scenery isn’t

Recognising that travellers increasingly

or â‚Ź38,500 per night for up to 24

The details The Master Suite is

enough, there’s a retractable

want authentic and emotive journeys – as well

people, including full board and

tucked on the top floor beneath

television in a crocodile-leather

as basic comforts – Ypma has ventured to

drinks, airport transfers, lift passes

a pitched oak roof. In the living

cabinet. The bureau contains a gift

parts of the world with rich cultures and

and one spa treatment per person.

room (pictured), with its central

of a Mont Blanc pen engraved

traditions, and reports back in text that is both

Suite size 2,000sq ft.

detail is left to chance. There are

glass-encased fire-pit, a banquette

with the recipient’s name; there’s

entertaining and informative. In Brazil, he

USP In spite of its excesses, this

two elegant dining rooms, a sitting

is strewn with silk and fur cushions

a walk-in dressing room; and the

discovers a fishing village three hours’ drive

opulent ÂŁ32 million wood and stone

room, a bar and a wine cellar whose

and throws. There’s a bar, fashioned

capacious bathroom is stocked with

from São Paulo with deserted beaches – and

chalet is decorated in a tasteful

design is as breathtaking as its

from cut glass and wenge wood

Hermès toiletries. The most OTT

a room in a convent. On Ile de RĂŠ in France,

and understated way. Within its

contents. Entertainment comes in

and crammed with vintage

touch? Pillowcases embroidered

he finds it difficult to leave what he calls “an

54,000sq ft interior, serviced by 26

the form of a home cinema, library,

champagne, a snug for watching

with each guest’s name.

aristocrat’s quayside château converted into

staff, from chauffeur to butler, no

outdoor hot tubs, an ice bar, ski

television and a balcony overlooking

Gabriella Le Breton

the most splendid b & b�. Even in the superyacht-infested waters of Portofino, he finds a fisherwoman’s house with rooms, which can be accessed only by rowing boat. Amazing Places Cost Nothing (Thames & Hudson, £24.95)

LCKI8KI8M<C

ULTRA APP

The digital travel organiser TRIPIT (Free for iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone)

SOUVENIR SEARCH

MOROCCAN GEMS

G

iven that the King of Morocco owns the Royal Mansour

hotel, it’s not surprising that its

This intelligent digital holiday assistant,

boutique stocks the most beautiful

which aims to simplify travel

artisinal goods in Marrakesh, made

itineraries, is still the best. You forward

to order for the monarch. They

your confirmation emails for bookings

include Saba wool capes from

(flights, hotels, restaurants, rental

Rabat; hand-embroidered men’s

cars) to a TripIt email address, and the

tops by the designers Abadi Najia

app collects them into a chronological folder and

and Karim Tassi; striking glasswear

downloads it to your smartphone. While the rival app,

by the country’s only female

WorldMate, also imports email bookings automatically, the

glassblower, Myriam Roland-

TripIt Pro service (ÂŁ30 per year) adds extra tools such as

Gosselin; and, a bit easier to take

alerts for airport delays and alternatives for cancelled

home, gold Hand of Fatima charms

flights. The design is a little tired, but for serial globetrotters

by Marie Alexander (00212

it’s as indispensable as a snug travel pillow. Mark Wilson

529 808080, royalmansour.com).

B

orn in Hammersmith, Tom

Hardy trained at Drama Centre London and now

There was hot sun, sand you could pour like water from your palm, coral lagoons and massages every day

acts in film, television and theatre. Nominated for both Olivier and Bafta awards, he has played characters ranging from Charles Bronson to Stuart Shorter, the homeless, disabled man in Stuart: A Life Backwards. His most recent roles have been in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The

Dark Knight Rises; he is currently filming Mad Max: Fury Road (to be released in 2014). He is a patron of Flack, the charity for the homeless, and an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust. How many holidays do you take a year? If I’m lucky, one – for 10 days as a family – plus the odd weekend here and there. Before I got so busy, we went camping a lot, or on package holidays. What do you do now? We have a place in St-Rémy, in Provence, where we go for long weekends. It’s very romantic. We also love Como in Lombardy, northern Italy. Any other favourites? Avignon, Béziers, Nîmes, Sommières and Arles in the South of France, and Sarlat in the Dordogne. Which parts of the world do you know best? As a child, I grew up going to the South of France, to Burgh Island [off South Devon], Plymouth, Yorkshire and Florida with my parents. Now, most of my travels are work-orientated, so I get to look around the cities or countries we are filming in.

TRAVELLING LIFE Tom Hardy

The British actor on African adventures, London kebabs, butler service in the Maldives and his bolthole in Provence

Your favourite city for a weekend away?

The most glamorous room you’ve stayed in?

a good book. Not touching the phone and not

thrills me. The skies, the sunsets and the variety of

London, which is at its best around Christmas

I went to Villa D’Este on Lake Como once,

thinking about work at all would be a dream,

people and music are incredible.

time and in summer. It has great people and great

which for me was totally wow, and glam. Alfred

but it’s almost impossible these days. Doing

What’s the roughest you’ve travelled?

restaurants, and there’s so much to see and do.

Hitchcock used to spend his summers there.

something new and special also gets my vote.

Backpacking and tents, I suppose, taking trains

Favourite spots in the capital?

And the most luxurious?

Do you like adventure holidays?

and staying in YMCAs as a student. It’s only

For breakfast, I love the Monmouth coffee shop;

We once went to Lily Beach Resort in the

My work often involves adventure; films such

recently that I’ve done anything really intrepid.

for clothes, Alfred Dunhill in Jermyn Street. If we

Maldives, which was a first for us as a couple.

as Dark Knight and Mad Max all have a personal

When I do, I go with serious teams such as Olly

fancy a night in town, it has to be the Soho Hotel.

We’re not used to being pampered like that. It’s

adventure built in. And to prepare for a role, I’ll

Suzi Expeditions and Pilgrims Group, who make

And for nightlife?

a beautiful tropical-island hotel, with a suite on

often learn how to use certain weapons and

sure I’m safe in some of the toughest spots.

The Groucho Club, followed by the Karaoke Box

stilts in the lagoon, scuba diving and snorkelling,

vehicles. Last year, I went on several trips to

The most remote place you’ve been?

in Soho and then Maroush II, the all-night kebab

hot sun, sand you can pour like water from

research issues around animal poaching. So, on

Poli Charkhi prison in Kabul, which was just weird.

shop in Beauchamp Place, or Pala Kebab House

your palm, coral lagoons and massages every

holiday, adventure is not really what I need!

Do you travel light?

in south-west London. They make a mean doner

day by Balinese ladies who spoiled us rotten.

Have you been on safari?

That’s always the idea. I say to myself, “I’m just

with chilli sauce, and the owner, Serge, used to

The most decadent perk?

We took Louis to Erindi game reserve, in Namibia,

going to take shorts, a toothbrush and a book.”

look out for me growing up in that community.

A butler called Ishlal who drove us to and from

on a weekend off during the filming of Mad Max.

And then it’s “Oh, and those jeans, and these

It’s a real hub for intelligence and information.

breakfast, lunch and dinner on a little golf cart like

We saw rhinos, crocodiles, elephants and

T-shirts… oh, and those shirts and sneakers, too.”

Favourite restaurants abroad?

the Popemobile and served us candlelit meals on

cheetahs, among other things. It was amazing,

Any specific make of luggage?

When I’m in Los Angeles or New York, Joe’s Pizza.

the beach at night. We watched turtles, fed fish,

watching giraffes licking salt by the waterhole one

A Help for Heroes holdall, a big strong bag I can

Where would you like to go next?

rays and sharks with bread rolls from the pier.

night. And the sight of Louis changing the tyre

fit all my kit in – and which supports a great cause.

Somewhere hot where the air is fresh and smells

It really was out-of-this-world luxurious.

with Tim the ranger was pretty memorable.

The best airline in the world?

of pine, with good food, where I can spend lazy

And your next trip?

What do you make of Africa?

It used to be Virgin. But now I think all the people

days by the pool or next to a cool river with

Center Parcs with my son Louis!

I love it – from Morocco in North Africa to Kenya,

I work with agree that it’s British Airways. Air

a book. I need to chill, really, and take stock.

What makes a perfect day on holiday?

Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique and even

France has a great First Class cabin, too.

A nice long swim in a lake would be fantastic, too.

A lie in. Plenty of sun, fun with loved ones, and

Congo. It’s not just the abundant wildlife that

Interview by Lisa Grainger

LCKI8KI8M<C

ExplorE. DrEAM.

DISCoVEr.

What is it that makes Silversea the benchmark of luxury cruising? The cuisines by Relais & Châteaux? The all-inclusive luxury? The sumptuous suites with Ferragamo soaps... the butler who anticipates your every need? Or perhaps it is Silversea’s European heritage that so appeals to well-travelled, international guests. Aboard our ships you can explore secluded harbours less touched by time and tourists. Insider access in the world’s great cities. Bespoke tours so that you can roam where you please. Hardly what you would expect on an ordinary cruise. But then this is small-ship cruising. And we are Silversea.

For more information or to book, please call Silversea on 0844 251 0841, visit www.silversea.com or contact your travel agent.

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