24 minute read
UNDER THE KENYAN SUN
KEITH AUSTIN EXPERIENCES THE MAGIC OF KENYA THREE WAYS AND DISCOVERS THE RICH DIVERSITY THAT TYPIFIES THIS EXTRAORDINARY AFRICAN NATION
THERE’S A WARNING SIGN JUST OUTSIDE MY spacious tented room in the Fig Tree Camp safari lodge on the edge of Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. It sits at the top of a steep embankment which slides at least six metres into the somewhat sluggish Talek River as it curves around the camp. The sign reads: ‘Don’t Go Beyond This Point’.
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Given there is a massive dinosaur (aka crocodile) whiling away the afternoon wedged against the opposite bank and a bloat of hippopotami a little further along, this makes me wonder (a) why such a sign was needed in the first place, and (b) what genius came up with ‘bloat’ as a collective noun for hippos.
We are on day two of an eight-day National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures Kenya Safari Experience – day one being the meet-and-greet in Nairobi where you are welcomed by the guide and introduced to your fellow adventurers. Remembering their names shouldn’t be hard as there is a maximum of six people on the tour, which also means everyone gets a window seat in the pop-top 4WD LandCruiser.
In all, we stay at three lodges in three very different reserves or national parks: Fig Tree in the Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru Lodge in Lake Nakuru National Park, and Kilima Safari Camp in Amboseli National Park.
It’s a jam-packed itinerary with long distances between the parks, but the driving is made fascinating by the colourful cavalcade of Kenyan life that rolls by outside, enlivened by drink stops, lunch stops and, at one point, a visit to Cafe Ubuntu and craft centre, a G Adventures for Good-supported project which trains and creates local jobs for women.
We get to Fig Tree Camp in time for lunch after a bonerattling journey over corrugated roads from Nairobi – a journey which will become infinitely more comfortable when the new freeway is finished.
The camp, like all our lodgings on the trip, is wellstaffed, clean, and luxurious by Kenyan standards –
we’d probably call it 3- or 4-star but that is not to be sniffed at when the wonders of the Kenyan wilderness are just over the threshold. At Fig Tree the accommodation is mostly in large tented rooms which overlook the river, Lake Nakuru is a little more low-key while Kilima is the cream of the crop with huge detached rooms, a viewing platform looking out to Mount Kilimanjaro and a big swimming pool.
After lunch at Fig Tree we return to the 4WD and head off into the Masai Mara, scattering the baboon families that cluster around the outskirts of the camp. As first game drives go, it’s not too shabby. We come across zebra, warthogs, buffalo, giraffe, gazelles, lions, a leopard and a family of hyenas as well as enough exotic birds to send even the most ardent twitcher barking mad.
The drive ends in a scene so perfect that I still question that it happened – and I was there. A couple of buffalo in the distance are dark shapes against a sun the colour of gold and a sky that looks like the kaleidoscopic bruise I once copped after falling off a scooter in Greece. Two of the iconic flat-topped acacia trees, also just black shadows against the fantasmagorical light show happening on the horizon, complete the clich.
The next morning, we are up at oh-my-God-it’s-early o’clock to meet for a pre-dawn hot-air balloon ride across the sweeping plains of the Great Rift Valley. The best times to see the vast numbers of animals taking part in the annual Great Migration are July and August, but we do see elephants, a lone hippo, emus and some wildebeest. The main attraction, though, is the landscape and the re-emergence of the sun that we saw disappear with such magnificence the night before.
Lake Nakuru National Park, about 200 kilometres to the north, is a somewhat different kettle of wildlife thanks to the huge lake which is home, at certain times of the year, to tens of thousands of pink flamingo and other birdlife.
It is more undulating and wooded than the Masai Mara, and we come across Rothschild’s giraffes, a couple of rhinos and more buffalo than you can poke a spear at. Most of the flamingos are off sunning themselves further south but the few who are left are as weirdly beautiful as ever.
Finally, we head south east, back past Nairobi, to Amboseli National Park and a flattened landscape dominated by Mount Kilimanjaro. Known for its elephants (and there are plenty of them), this small park – it’s just 392 square kilometres – also boasts more than 400 bird species, including the grey crowned crane, the cheeky superb starling and the startlingly elegant secretary bird.
Our guide points out that, although Kilimanjaro is actually across the border in Tanzania, “we have the best views”. It’s hard to argue with that.
Kenya Safari Experience
WITH G ADVENTURES
Tap into the essence of East Africa on an eight-day safari in Kenya. Take daily wildlife drives in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, discover the Maasai way of life, and learn about elephant conservation from a representative of the Kenya Wildlife Service. With endless plains teeming with wildlife and dotted with acacia trees, you won’t want to blink let alone put down your camera.
READER ITINERARY
DAY 1 NAIROBI Arrive at any time. A driver will be at the airport to pick you up and take you to the hotel. Feel free to explore before your welcome meeting in the evening, a chance to meet your fellow travellers and your Chief Experience Officer (CEO).
DAY 2 NAIROBI TO MASAI MARA After breakfast, we depart for the world famous Masai Mara National Reserve. With its vast open plains and flat-topped acacia trees, no visit to Kenya would be complete without a visit here. In the afternoon, we will arrive in the area and get settled at our safari camp. Then we’ll make our way into the reserve for an afternoon wildlife safari drive, with an excellent chance of seeing the Big Five: buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, and rhino.
DAY 3 MASAI MARA Set off on an early morning safari with our driver/guide and keep your eyes and ears peeled for movement and memories. Watch elephants and giraffe grazing, photograph zebras and wildebeest, and with a little luck, you’ll even spot animals feasting on a recent kill. The day continues with more wildlife viewing as you cross the rolling hills of the African savannah. Also enjoy a late afternoon/evening safari. Opt to fly over the Mara River, plains, and forests of the Masai Mara in a hot air balloon. Toast your return to earth with a Champagne breakfast, cooked wherever you land.
DAY 4 MASAI MARA TO LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK Depart early on a long but beautiful drive to Lake Nakuru. En route, stop in at a G Adventures for Good-supported project, Ubuntu Cafe — an initiative that trains and creates more than 400 sustainable local jobs for mothers of children with disabilities, and supports paediatric health and education programs in the region. Visit the craft centre, meet some of the ‘Mamas’ in the program, learn how their lives have been impacted and, in turn, their communities empowered through this initiative, then sit down to a delicious farm-to-table lunch. Continue to our safari lodge inside the Lake Nakuru National Park. Enjoy a late afternoon wildlife safari drive, keep an eye out for the resident black and white rhino, buffalo, impala, and the elusive leopard.
DAY 5 LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK TO AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK Enjoy a morning wildlife safari drive, heading to the shores of Lake Nakuru to see pelicans and cormorants. The park is also rich in other bird life, including grebes, white-winged black terns, stilts, avocets, and ducks. In the afternoon, venture south to famed Amboseli National Park, located at the foot of Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro. The snow-capped peak of the mountain dominates every aspect of the park, providing the ultimate photo backdrop.
DAY 6 AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK Enjoy morning and afternoon wildlife safari drives. Visit with some of the 1500 African elephants that roam the park. Look for other wildlife and meet the resident Maasai along the journey. Marvel in the beauty of Mount Kilimanjaro, the world’s highest free-standing mountain, as it reigns over the landscape of this uniquely African location. During your down time, relax at camp, enjoying views of Mount Kilimanjaro and the wildlife visiting the camp’s watering holes. Gain a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding poaching and elephant conservation during a lecture by an accredited speaker from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), an exclusive activity to the National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures itineraries. The KWS strives to sustainably conserve and develop Kenya’s wildlife and its habitats, as well as create programs to enable communities living in wildlife areas to benefit from wildlife revenue.
DAY 7/8 AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK TO NAIROBI/DEPART Rise early for a final morning wildlife safari drive, enjoying the African sun as it rises over the savannah of the Amboseli plain. Return to Nairobi in the late afternoon and opt to join the CEO in a farewell dinner.
WHERE TO STAY
The luxury tented camp accommodations on this tour are situated centrally, with easy access to the park for wildlife safari drives. Tents are spacious with mosquito-proof netting around the comfortable, canopy bedding and ensuite bathroom with flushing toilets and hot showers.
WHEN TO GO
For the strongest chance of seeing the wildebeest, the best time to go is from July to October, before they start plodding back southward to the Seronera Plains in Tanzania for calving in January. They typically start to head north again after the long rains, in May.
TOUR INCLUSIONS
Hotels (two nights), safari lodge (one night), comfortable tented camps (four nights) Seven breakfasts, six lunches, five dinners (allow US$100-130 for other meals) Transportation: seven-seat 4WD safari vehicle
Our trips throughout Kenya and Tanzania have a maximum group size of six travellers in addition to a Chief Experience Officer (CEO/tour leader) and a driver who are both trained safari guides. That means everyone gets a window seat and twice the insight about the astounding wildlife all around you.
$3,799PP
To book, please contact G Adventures | Call: 1300 180 969 | Email experience@gadventures.com For a more detailed itinerary, search ‘African Safari’ at luxurytravelmag.com.au/experiencesbyluxurytravel
|QUEENSLAND
GARY ALLEN CHECKS IN TO QUALIA, ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S MOST CELEBRATED RESORTS, WHERE NATURAL SPLENDOURS AND UNMATCHED SERENITY AWAIT
AS I PULL UP MY EYE MASK AND DIG OUT MY EAR PLUGS, I am greeted with panoramic views of the Whitsunday Islands and wonder why, exactly, I was trying to block out such beauty at all. Yet, with help from those sleep aids, I am well rested and quickly decide this vista is too good to pass up with any more down time. I make a coffee and return to my nest, taking in the caffeine and the pristine surroundings, both with great satisfaction.
I am cosied up in a Windward Pavilion at qualia, one of the country’s premium resorts, and it wouldn’t be hard to stay put. For the day, for the week, for eternity. But I am not a lounger by nature and so I decide to hit the gym. After all, I can’t fathom the idea of breakfast. The previous evening’s dinner – a culinary adventure at Long Pavilion, one of two in-house dining options – is still front of mind.
One of the Luxury Lodges of Australia, adults-only qualia typifies serenity and calm. In Latin, qualia means “a collection of deeper sensory experiences” and the name could hardly be more fitting. Qualia is located on the sun-drenched northern-most tip of Hamilton Island, one of the 74 islands that make up the Whitsunday archipelago in the Great Barrier Reef National Park. It is a picture-perfect destination, which is why it has been recognised countless times through industry awards and ‘best-of’ lists.
Glistening views and a soft, warm breeze shape my introduction to qualia, and the welcome is just as warm. Efficient, too. My luggage is taken care of from the airport and in my room before I am. Meanwhile, I am en route within five minutes of leaving the plane and, at the resort, my carriage awaits. I am escorted to my room in a four-seater electric buggy, which will be with me for exclusive use throughout my stay.
In this instance particularly, ‘room’ is just a figure of speech. Modern and expansive with floor-to-ceiling windows, my room is indeed a pavilion and it blends beautifully in natural tones of timber, stone and glass. The light-filled bathroom is almost as big as the bedroom with a bathtub that surely lures even the most active traveller. The large lounge room leads to a private deck with a huge comfortable daybed, plunge pool and a couple of lounge chairs.
All 60 of the resort’s ‘rooms’ promise peace and relaxation in genuine privacy. They all have water views and are surrounded by lush native bushland, making the resort as tranquil for the wildlife as it is for guests. The ‘cockies’ don’t always surrender to the tranquillity, though. These large cockatiels are prepared for even the slightest opening in search of snacks so don’t forget to close your doors when you leave.
Golf enthusiast are in luck, thanks to the vision and commitment of qualia’s owners, the Oatley family. The Oatleys own and run Hamilton Island, and purchased neighbouring Dent Island for the sole purpose of installing a golf course. >>
And what a golf course. Designed by five-time British Open winner Peter Thomson, the Hamilton Island Gold Club is Australia’s only championship island course and a quick private ferry ride will put you on the green.
Pebble Beach is the resort’s private beach, although the branding is slightly off the mark. The ‘pebbles’ are more like rocks as far as my feet are concerned. It’s not a beach for going barefoot.
For the genuine beach experience, a visit to Whitehaven Beach will satisfy the craving. This slice of paradise is well-renowned, so you will be among plenty of other sand and sun worshippers, but it’s a beautiful spot with clear, calm water and fine-as-powder sand. A private helicopter will whisk you there in minutes.
Closer to home, the resort’s slick infinity pool overlooking the sparkling Coral Sea will have to do. You’ll even get some sand between your toes with the poolside set-up, complete with sand and lounge chairs. And for guests staying between June and September, the possibility of spotting migrating whales from this position is a very real one.
During a stay as luxurious as this, pampering beckons and Spa qualia is every bit the indulgence you would expect. You’ll find Australian brands Sodashi and LaGaia Unedited on the shelves and a comprehensive menu of treatments including holistic and wellbeing therapies.
For signature experiences of a different kind, the Sake and Sashimi tasting is informative and delicious. This is one of three Epicurean Food Experiences on offer, along with Champagne and Oysters, and Wine and Cheese. Three perfect pairings.
The private buggy proves helpful throughout my stay, particularly with the hilly terrain, both on site and beyond. A trip to town takes just 10 minutes and it’s a collegial drive, given the only vehicles on Hamilton Island are resort-owned. It’s lovely to have a little cruise to town for a bite or spot of shopping. Be careful of the mobile breathalyser traps along the way. Only kidding! I wonder if you can get caught driving under the influence here. I might be curious, but I don’t plan to find out first-hand.
As I was privy to immediately on arrival, service at the resort is second to none. All of the employees I cross paths with are eager to please and interested to chat, if you are that way inclined. Travelling solo, I am that way inclined and enjoy many conversations with staff from all over the world and in various stages of hospitality careers. But I never got to speak with the ‘turn down fairies’, who arrive each evening when I head out for dinner. I wish I did. I would have thanked them for the daily Zokoko artisan chocolates and the small gifts, such as a Maison Balzac candle.
It’s lovely to have these physical mementos of such a magnificent stay, but I leave with so much more. As I am walking out of my oasis for the last time, I linger a moment to catch that view once more. The brief pause triggers a telling exhale. ‘I’m gonna miss this,’ it seemed to whisper. And I do miss it... very much.
The Details
Direct flights to Hamilton Island are available daily from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns. Passenger ferries to Hamilton Island depart Shute Harbour, near Airlie Beach. Windward Pavilion rates start from $2000 per night, including breakfast and based on a minimum stay of four nights. For a two- or three- night stay, the rate is $2100 per night. For more information, visit qualia.com.au.
SPRING 2019 Main Features
114
LT / EXPLORE A Sardinian Gem 122
LT / DISCOVERY Adventures in the Clouds 130
LT / ADVENTURE Highland Fling
© Photograph courtesy of Belmond Royal Scotsman
A Sardinian Gem
A SLOW-LIVING ETHOS AND UNABASHED GLAMOUR COMBINE TO CREATE A DESTINATION OF BEGUILING ECCENTRICITY ON THE ITALIAN ISLAND OF SARDINIA
Words by MADELIN TOMELTY
Church of San Paolo Apostolo, Olbia
If you want to live a long life you should live in the mountains, not too far from the sea, and drink lots of red wine. This was one of my key takeaways from Sardinia, an Italian island known not only for its rugged good looks, but also for being home to some of the world’s longest-living people.
Just five places in the world can claim to be a ‘Blue Zone’ region – where there is an unusually high percentage of people over 100 years old – and Sardinia was the first to be identified. On this unspoilt island, there are nearly 10 times more centenarians per capita than in the United States, and its central eastern province of Nuoro is known for having the planet’s healthiest and longestliving men. You won’t find these gentlemen playing bingo and canasta in a pastel, Florida-style retirement village, either. It’s far more likely you’ll catch them walking peacefully in nature or sitting at a restaurant, chatting with friends over the catch of the day and a bottle of cabernet sauvignon.
I can’t say I was terribly shocked to discover Sardinians live longer, healthier and happier lives than the average person. If you took 30 seconds to Google the destination you’d see a screen filled with perfect turquoise water and fine-sand beaches, sheepcovered mountains and yacht-dotted marinas. Sardinia is part of Italy, but it is also considered a semi-autonomous region with its own indigenous languages and traditions, and a rich culture rooted in the connection between people, land and sea. For those that were born and bred here, they’re not just Italian, they’re Sardinian, and they make the distinction proudly – there are, clearly, worse places to grow old.
And yet, for all its dramatic beauty and fascinating culture, Sardinia still flies under the radar of many travellers, and of course this just adds to its appeal. There is a sort of delicious satisfaction in holidaying in a place that isn’t overrun by tourists, and my partner and I fell hook, line and sinker for Sardinia’s quiet charms when we first visited in 2015. We did as the long-living Sardinians do on that trip – we took our time and let each day unfold naturally as we road-tripped on an itinerary-free journey across untamed, mountainous hinterland, breathing in every moment of the island’s unique sense of peace and isolation. It felt like the island was ours and that we were its first explorers as each day we encountered yet another flawless beach along the almost-2000-kilometre coastline, and stopped at a different seaside town for another Sardinian long lunch. >>
Below, clockwise from
top: Porto Cervo harbour; Hotel Cala di Volpe; Stella Maris church, Porto Cervo.
It continues to be one of our most fondly-remembered trips, and so there is heady anticipation as I arrive at Olbia airport for Round Two, four years later. Sardinia is known for its incredible diversity, so I know this trip is likely to be completely different from my last, especially since this time I’ll be spending five days in Costa Smeralda. Sure, Sardinia might celebrate the Mediterranean diet and living in harmony with the environment, but the ‘Emerald Coast’ reminds you that you’re allowed to let your hair down while doing it – la dolce vita and all that.
One of Europe’s most celebrated playgrounds of the rich and famous, Costa Smeralda’s flashy, 55-kilometre stretch of coast on the north of the island has long been a glitterati go-to destination for high-summer good times. The main town of Porto Cervo is the region’s beating heart, and its piazzetta – a main square not large enough to warrant a Rome-style ‘piazza’ – is peppered with restaurants, bars and boutiques that overlook a harbour filled with super yachts worthy of a rapper’s charttopping music video.
This is where the rich go to see and be seen, to party and also to repose. It feels a bit like an adults’ Disneyworld, where the rides are replaced by hidden, invitation-only nightclubs and souvenir shops are replaced by designer fashion boutiques that could drain your bank account faster than the time it takes to get through an Aperol Spritz. And yet for all Costa Smeralda’s prestige, there is a palpable light-heartedness that is utterly unique for the historically ostentatious Mediterranean. This is one of the very reasons celebrities have flocked here for the past 50 years.
Before the 1960s, Costa Smeralda was nothing but farmland, with shepherds and their flocks more or less the only inhabitants. But when flamboyant Arab millionaire Karim Aga Khan flew over the unspoiled coastline and its vivid teal waters in 1962, it was love at first sight. He rallied a handful of investors and together they bought the land, developing the area into an exclusive resort consortium for the super wealthy. The rest, as they say, is history.
A big part of this history is Costa Smeralda’s iconic architecture, which is so important to its identity that a committee oversees all building projects, ensuring the epochal aesthetic is never diluted. It was created by a group of world-renowned architects including Swiss-born Jacques Couëlle and Luigi Vietti, and the result is a skyline defined by sculptural, squat buildings with haphazard, rounded lines and irregular shapes. The buildings, in pastel shades as well as Greek Island-white and natural terracotta, were inspired by medieval lodgings and look as though they have been shaped by the Mediterranean’s infamous mistral wind over thousands of years.
Quirky and colourful Hotel Cala di Volpe – which recently refurbished 10 of its rooms – is one of the best examples of Couëlle’s trademark style. Considered the most desirable, luxurious and iconic hotel on the Emerald Coast, it was designed to resemble a traditional Sardinian fishing village. My favourite >>
Hotel Cala di Volpe suite
place to relax here is at the outdoor Atrium Bar, where sculpted arches create vivid open-air windows to a small harbour that truly does feel like one of the seaside villages I visited four years earlier.
It’s a property that is full of character with a melting pot of design influences, from Arabic flourishes nodding to Costa Smeralda’s colonisation, to age-old, indigenous Sardinian craftsmanship. Look around and you’ll find Arabic exposed-beam ceilings; Sardinian granite walls embedded with irregular pieces of stained glass and adorned with traditional handmade baskets; and hand-carved and laid Sardinian juniper tree flooring.
At Hotel Cala di Volpe, everything has a story, and given Costa Smeralda has seen the world’s biggest celebrities, movie stars, Russian oligarchs, media moguls, Arab sheiks and billionaire jetsetters over the decades, so does everyone who works there. But none as juicy, perhaps, as those of the grey-haired gentleman I meet while dining one evening at the hotel’s impressive Nobuowned restaurant, Matsuhisa, who has been working at Cala di Volpe for 50 years. For a start, I find out the restaurant was originally the hotel lobby, and was transformed into James Bond’s suite for the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, featuring Roger Moore. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
My travel companions and I are wide-eyed and hanging to his every word as he tells us he once had to urgently arrange a table at the hotel’s waterside restaurant for Jackie O, who was staying in the marina, and that Princess Diana had been there waving to people from her yacht on the day she was tragically killed. He could go on, but the staff at Cala di Volpe pride themselves
This page and opposite,
bottom: The connection between people, land and sea is key in Sardinia. This is emphasised through the communal spaces at Hotel Cala di Volpe. on their discretion, and lucky for him it’s around this time that fireworks start exploding over the harbour, and not even Lady Di can keep me from glittery sky art.
The food at Matsuhisa, which draws on Japanese and Peruvian influences, is excellent, but my favourite dining experience at Costa Smeralda is of a more modest nature – a shareable farm-to-table spread at The Farm. With a huge vegetable patch and a menagerie of grazing chickens and goats, Cala di Volpe has introduced a paddock-to-plate menu as well as wellness and nutrition programs designed by leading UK celebrity nutritionist Amanda Hamilton. The food embraces Sardinia’s healthy traditions to remind each guest they are a “human being, not human doing”, with ingredients picked straight form the garden. There are colourful, fresh salads, grilled seafood and meats, and cheeses on the table, and of course, wine made from the local cannanou grape, famed for its links to longevity due to its high levels of polyphenols. But perhaps the most Sardinian thing of all is the laughing, as everyone digs into good conversation as well as their nourishing lunch. Because for the Sardinians, spending quality time with people is just as important as what you put into your body for living a long life. This one meal might not guarantee I’ll live to 100, but it’s a delicious start.
The Details
Costa Smeralda is located 28 kilometres north of Olbia. The resort destination is seasonal, with most of its hotels operating from May to October. Rates for Hotel Cala di Volpe start from €394 (around A$650) per night in the low season. marriott.com.au
