Private Edition Issue 20

ISSUE 20

SKYRUNNING VANESSA HAYWOOD KICKS THE DUST

DOWNSIZING

THE CHARM OF SMALL-SPACE LIVING

SHOOT OUT SNAPPING THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

LIFE UNPLUGGED

LAZARUS IDENTITY LOOKING YOUNGER ON DESERT PLANTS

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

CONTENTS

Roger Dubuis is the only watch manufacture to be 100% Poinçon de Genève. It’s the ultimate signature in fine watchmaking [page 20]

10 ED’S LETTER What catches our editor’s eye and why certain stories (and writers) demand page space.

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PROPERTY SECTOR’S CALL TO ACTION

Listed property increases its appeal to local and international investors.

14 PSST The list that should make it into your little black book and crowd out your diary.

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ON THE OTHER HAND

Our columnist strips to the bare

essentials – privately and professionally.

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AS YOU LIKE IT A man’s signature style can be judged from the bottom up.

P R I V A T E E D I T I O N ISSUE 20

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THE SPLICE OF LIFE

The desire to look young is an ancient obsession, but in the 21st century milk and honey have been replaced by microbiology.

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HOW TO BE REALLY RICH If money can’t buy happiness, perhaps there are more fulfilling ways to find enrichment. It’s the art of intelligent spending.

SMALL WONDERS There are more than a few good reasons to join the small-house movement.

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EXECUTIVES UNPLUGGED

What makes a man turn his back on the boardroom and escape to the wilderness, alone, for weeks on end…

Cover shot of Vanessa Haywood by Craig Kolesky/Nikon/ Lexar. Styling: Luanne Toms. Asphalt XR midlayer and Trail 20 running pack, both Salomon; Radar Lock sunglasses, Oakley. Hair and make-up: Merle Titus, represented by Infidels. Post-production: Blink

CONTENTS

SHOOT OUT

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HIGH SOCIETY

Take a brilliant guide, pack your Canons and Nikons, and head for the bush.

Private Edition and Elizabeth Arden entertain in style.

68 SKYRUN

You don’t have to be a super-fit roadie to cut it in trail running.

What you definitely do need is mental stamina.

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MY BIG FAT SEDUCTION

Warm ocean currents, silky wind, superior service. It’s blissful at One&Only Le St Géran in Mauritius.

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KEEPING UP WITH THE (INDIANA) JONESES

The Peruvian Amazon jungle has an allure of its own. The sleeping arrangements are exotic and the animals rather odd.

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THE REAL BEA TO BEA

Bea Tollman counts service as the sixth star in the hospitality industry.

[Far left] This little house in Marine Drive, Struisbaai, aptly named Pondjie Botter, sold recently for around R6 million [Below] The interior of the award-winning home that was described as a ‘boat’, ‘peanut house’, ‘cinnamon submarine’, ‘forest zeppelin’ and ‘whale belly’

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED; PHYLLIS RICHARDSON

Success is no longer measured in square metres. Now, less is more (page 52).

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CONTRIBUTORS

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JIM FREEMAN is a Cape Town photojournalist who has been happily plying his trades around the world for 30-something years.

He is passionate about travel, motorcycling, sport and – now and again (and again and again) – consuming the waters of life.

MEG DE JONG is a writer and editor currently on a year-long round-the-world adventure. After six incredible months in South America, she’s rather taken by the idea of being a professional vagabond. Her passions lie in food and travel, and learning to cook the local dishes of the far-flung places she visits. She has written for publications on three continents, including Getaway, Marie Claire, the Weekend Argus and the Calgary Herald, among others. One day when she grows up, she hopes to write a book about her crazy culinary experiences.

DANIEL TING CHONG is an illustrator, designer and artist based in Cape Town. He is emerging as one of the city’s top creative talents following a series of art exhibitions, talks, commissions from clients and design collaborations with leading international brands such as Nike, The New York Times and Discovery Channel. He studied graphic design at Vega.

LEX HES began his career in wildlife at Londolozi Game Reserve in the Sabi Sand Wildtuin. He was instrumental in implementing a culture of guiding there that combines fun, sensitivity and education – a hallmark of his work today. During that time, Hes filmed wildlife documentaries for Londolozi Productions and later completed research work with the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria on the subantarctic islands of Marion and Amsterdam.

On his return to Londolozi, he began to collect photographs and data on the behaviour of leopards in the area and this culminated, after a 12-year study, in his highlyacclaimed book The Leopards of Londolozi. Hes is also co-owner of a nature-guide training school called EcoTraining.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

IAN GLENN really understands the Superman/Clark Kent dual personas. Most of the time he works as a harried, fairly mild, bespectacled professor of media studies at the University of Cape Town. Occasionally, however, he gets to don his Superjournalist suit and be a sports reporter (in his youth, for the Sunday Times and Durban’s Daily News), travel journalist, environmental writer, and even aspirant wildlife photographer.

He has a deep love of the bush and can be coaxed into khaki at the mere hint of a trip north. The photo safari with Lex Hes featured in this edition has resulted in an alarming drain in funds for a camera and lenses, so he plans to drive his old car a few years longer.

FROM THE ED’S HEAD

EDITOR LES AUPIAIS privateedition@tppsa.co.za PUBLISHER MELANIE FORTUIN-DURR CREATIVE DIRECTOR LUANNE TOMS MANAGING EDITOR DEBBIE HATHWAY

In the Karoo, where low-maintanance living equals high rewards

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and unplugs for weeks at a time, finding peace and bucket-list experiences from Hluhluwe to Botswana.

You can do that here in South Africa – and perhaps, with the rand free-diving, making money stretch here is not a bad thing. We are resourceful, if nothing else, in SA. Ask Professor Jill Farrant (page 42). The scientist is behind major research on the Lazarus plant that has cosmetic houses in a fine lather. Plant DNA, it seems, holds the key to skin regeneration.

If you must travel, why not make it a green adventure? Meg de Jong takes us to the Peruvian Amazon jungle (page 82) for relative luxury in the tree tops. As for me, I’ll stay here a while. Our vines need to be tended, the strawberries protected from the frost, and my son’s artisanal beer sampled… and then there’s that indigo Karoo sky that seems to hang the stars within reach. There can be worse ways to live well.

ADVERTISING MANAGER NIC MORKEL 021 488 5926 082 468 6490 nmorkel@tppsa.co.za ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES CLAIRE JOOSTE 021 481 3518 083 453 5539 cjooste@tppsa.co.za JUSTIN LYONS 021 488 5944, 072 567 1654 jlyons@tppsa.co.za SAMEEGHA WOLHUTER 021 488 5938, 078 356 9521 swolhuter@tppsa.co.za AD SALES COORDINATOR JANICE MCLEAN 021 488 5928 jmclean@tppsa.co.za EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS MARK BEARE, JOHN MORKEL HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER JOLINDA KEMP FINANCIAL MANAGER NAEEMA ABRAHAMS ACCOUNTS LAETITIA BOTHMA ELMON SEARLE MICHÉ STEVENS OFFICE AND FACILITIES MANAGER MARCHÉ JASON

PRIVATE EDITION IS PUBLISHED BY

AD EDFINITUM • Test-drove the new Mini Cooper S Countryman. It is the car version of Heinrich Brüssow and strictly for grown-up children. A design and performance delight.

• Noted that the savvy and creative Luke Dale-Roberts won the Cacao Barry One To Watch Award for The Test Kitchen. It’s part of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants competition and gives you the short odds on the chef most likely to make it to the top.

• Was gleeful to find bottles of 2009 Duckitt CabernetMerlot-Cabernet Franc (a Platter four-star) at R50 a bottle on a road trip up the West Coast.

Private Edition is published by The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd, 9th Floor, Tarquin House, 81 Loop Street, Cape Town 8001. Copyright: The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd 2013. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent from The Publishing Partnership or the authors. The publishers are not responsible for any unsolicited material. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Publishing Partnership or the editor. Editorial and advertising enquiries: PO Box 15054, Vlaeberg 8018; tel: 021 424 3517; fax: 021 424 3612; email: privateedition@tppsa.co.za.

Reproduction: Hirt & Carter. Printing: Paarl Media Paarl. ISSN: 2218-063X Private Edition is produced using certified paper from GOLDEAST PAPER CO LTD, an accredited company committed to environmental protection.

The paper is made from legally harvested trees using environmentally friendly materials. The supplier is subjected to regular environmental audits.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

THIS ISSUE is all about paring down, buying singularly beautiful things, from a gorgeous diamond necklace to a limited-edition watch, rather than a clutter of nice-to-haves. Some of us, though, have set aside sparkly things for an eyeful of equally dazzling stars. But before the heavens, a bit of bush. I spent five exceptional days on a photo safari in Sabi Sand with a top wildlife photographer and co-wrote a feature that links strongly with Tabitha Lasley’s ‘How to be Really Rich’ (page 48), where she researches the move to living in the moment rather than simply buying stuff.

Mind you, I have some explaining to do. Above I am pictured in my bush hat in the garden of a house I’ve just bought for the price of a medium-sized car.

I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with the Karoo and found a classic old house with a windmill, two acres of property, fruit trees and a grapevine terrace that proved irresistible. I sent my son to live there, and in two weeks he grew in so many ways that I wonder why we ‘failure-to-launch-em’ parents don’t do this more.

Those with spare 20-something boys may call me.

The idea of a pared-down, smaller-space living forms the core of another feature, Small Wonders (page 52). Ten years ago my family invested in what most South Africans would consider a modest beach shack, a 65m2 double-storey bush-lodge-style place that perches on the edge of a lagoon in a nature reserve.

It is the home of a herd of feral horses and hundreds of flamingos, small buck and giant golden moles. At night we hear Cape Eagle Owls hunting and the sound of the sea at the mouth of the lagoon. Even Lew and Sandy Geffen of Sotheby’s own a small apartment on the Atlantic Seaboard and love its views but mostly its manageable size. This low-maintenance living frees them up to hike and explore the Cape.

If you’ve made your money, you could also untether completely. Managing editor Debbie Hathway interviewed former executive Mark Vinjevold (page 56), who often sets up camp in the heart of the bush

COPY EDITOR CHRISTINE CURTIS

OPINION

Property sector’s call to action

THE COMBINATION OF historically low interest rates, the compression in bond yields and the flight of capital towards safe-haven assets over the past three years created a favourable environment for new entrants to the listed property sector. Should these market conditions persist, it’s likely that the sector will continue to welcome new entrants in 2013.

Since November 2010 the sector has welcomed 14 new counters.

Naturally, with the spate of new listings, management teams may create the expectation that they can grow their portfolios while still maintaining the distribution guidance provided to the market. Their ability to raise capital has seen the value of assets across the newly listed funds rise from about R12,7 billion to about R26,7 billion over the three-year period. Some of these assets came from the tail end of many of the larger funds but, encouragingly, some prime (previously unlisted) real estate has been introduced to the sector. Highly rated paper, thanks to the sector’s re-rating, has supported the completion of what in most cases would be earnings-enhancing or earnings-neutral acquisitions. The competition for quality assets has naturally intensified, making the

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achievement of critical mass across all these companies significantly more difficult.

This, we believe, leaves the sector with a near-term conundrum whereby management teams – who are still looking to grow their asset base and therefore earnings in a limited supply market – may have to turn to corporate action to keep their funds relevant.

A divergence in forward yields between larger companies and their smaller, newly listed peers has begun to emerge and a marginal spread in yields has begun to develop. This means smaller funds will become the target of acquisition-hungry, larger peers, or there will be an opportunity for smaller funds to merge and create potentially significant mid-tier property companies.

The benefits of this include greater liquidity, critical mass (vital due to its ancillary benefits such as in the negotiation of debt, renewal of leases, etc.) and stature within the property index. The newly promulgated South African Real Estate Investment Trust (SA REIT) legislation is expected to enhance the appeal of SA listed property both internationally and locally, which adds incentive to grow and promote the ability to attract capital and become a relevant player within the sector.

Words MABUSE MOJA

Consolidation is not a new phenomenon in the listed-property sector, with historical transactions aplenty, including Emira’s acquisition of Freestone, Capital’s takeout of Pangbourne and Redefine’s merger with ApexHi and Madison.

A potential stumbling block, however, could present itself in the form of external management companies (mancos) that are tied to most of these newly listed funds. Precedent set in recent transactions means that a premium will be sought for these mancos in most cases.

Any potential deals could thus become difficult to execute as they may dilute earnings and be harder to justify to unit holders. Our continued belief is that the introduction of the SA REIT structure, alongside any disappointments with regards to earnings from the smaller funds, could act as catalysts to corporate action.

Mabuse Moja has been with Investec since 2008 and is part of the Wealth & Investment team. He specialises in the local listed property sector.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY INVESTEC WEALTH & INVESTMENT WWW.INVESTEC.CO.ZA/WI

PHOTOGRAPHY AND ILLUSTRATION: SUPPLIED

The knock-on effect of favourable market conditions has been the introduction of several new real-estate listings to the JSE, explains Mabuse Moja.

Psst

UTTERLY RANDOM AND OCCASIONALLY TACTICAL TRIVIA

You get wine routes, art meanders, malls and zones, and you may even believe there’s a Bermuda Triangle, if you’re that way inclined. But there is a region of Italy on the Adriatic Sea, bordering Slovenia and Austria, called Friuli Venezia Giulia, that is known as the Chair District. The modest beginnings of the seat of power, so to speak, expanded to include 11 municipalities of the province of Udine. This is chair heaven: leather armchairs and office chairs are born here, using a mix of tradition and technology. And now they have come to Cape Town. The connection began not over elegant arms and backs… but sweat and muscle! A rugby match between South Africa and Italy in Udine in 2009 led to a busy network of contacts from government and commercial institutions. The result is our very own Italian Chair District showroom in Bree Street, Cape Town, where the best of elegant Italian design, craftsmanship and fine finish meets a rising demand for furniture that goes way beyond the simply practical. Pictured here: the Victoria and Albert sofa by Ron Arad for Moroso.

For further information, visit italian-chair-district.it.

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TEXT: LES AUPIAIS. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

LINE-OUT TO LINE-UP Rugby, scrums, Italian design and artistry – a whole new ball game

PSST NEWS

FORTUNA FAVOURS THE BOLD In your hands – luck and good fortune What do Michelangelo, Da Vinci and Raphael have in common with Montegrappa pens? Pure artistry and Italian heritage. It’s a simple summary, but that’s the essence of Italian design: master craftsmanship, discreet elegance, beautiful lines, functional creativity. You’ll find it all in a Montegrappa pen – a sought-after writing instrument from Italy’s oldest pen manufacturer. From its factory at Bassano del Grappa, a picturesque town on the banks of the Brenta River in northeast Italy, come creations like this Fortuna pen. It’s named after the Roman goddess of luck, fate and fortune, the possession of which was closely linked to strength of character. The Fortuna collection captures that virtue in its modern, powerful design. The finish is resin-based, with variations in rhodium, rose gold or ruthenium. The range is also available in roller ball and ballpoint from World’s Finest Watches at Mandela Square. Call 011 784 0203 for more information.

ART AT YOUR FEET Inspired by the floor plan of life When Charles Gonsenhauser decided to collaborate with a local artist on his new rug collection, he chose Julia Swanepoel, whose contemporary concepts were the ideal match for Gonsenhausers Fine Rugs’ technical and crafting je ne sais quoi.

The collection of 100 line rugs was created on a fine-quality weave and hand-knotted by master weavers in India, using New Zealand wool and bamboo silk, to enhance the graphic lines of the designs. The inspiration? The beauty of aerial landscapes.

The rugs retail at R4 880/m. Visit finerugs.co.za for details.

A NOSE FOR THE BEST Surprises in store for this year’s Nederburg Auction

IT JUST FIGURES Iconic artists under the hammer Wits Art Museum (WAM) recently held a prestigious auction of South African contemporary art to launch the museum’s endowment, which will support the growth of programming in years to come. Conducted by Stephan Welz of Strauss & Co, the exclusive event attracted collectors and art lovers who were inspired by about 30 artworks generously donated to the museum for the auction by artists and other supporters of the museum. Headline pieces included Three Figures and a Crowd, a major painting donated to the museum

by Robert Hodgins that went under the hammer for a record R1,3 million, and substantial works by William Kentridge, one of which, Tango, also sold for R1,3 million. The auction had two main objectives: to kick-start a campaign for an endowment for the museum, and to celebrate, along with its donors and loyal supporters, WAM’s first year of operation in the new space. For further information, visit wits.ac.za/wam.

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After spending two days scoring more than 300 wines, a panel of local and international judges chose a smaller collection of original, distinctive SA wines for the 39th Nederburg Auction at Nederburg in Paarl on 6 and 7 September. Their approach to searching for distinctive wines with a rarity factor has resulted in a significant reduction in total volumes on offer from last year. The 2013 collection, comprising 72 red wines, 36 white wines, one Méthode Cap Classique, eight dessert wines and 15 fortified wines, is one of the most exclusive selections to come under the hammer in recent years. There is a wide range of vintage wines on offer, some as young as four years old and others dating back as far as 1940. A total of 81 wineries are represented, including debut participants Aaldering, Calitzdorp, Claime d’Or, Domaine des Dieux, Haskell Vineyards, Hermanuspietersfontein, Meerlust, Mullineux, Scali and Welgemeend. To find out more, contact Dalene Steyn at the Nederburg Auction office by calling 021 809 7000 or emailing dsteyn@distell.co.za.

PSST NEWS

CAMPS BAY BELLE The Bay Hotel, the elegant heart of a vibrant precinct There is something iconic about Camps Bay: the sidewalk café life, volleyball on the beach and those signature palms… It all becomes a panorama for guests at The Bay Hotel. Set back from the high energy of the beach front, the 78-room hotel blends sophistication with elegance. Even in winter the rooms and viewing areas can be sun-drenched, but in midsummer it’s the perfect place to make the most of the long, lazy days. There are four pools with expansive decks that offer distractingly beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean and Lion’s Head. Lucky business travellers can invite colleagues to sip cocktails after an event here, and it’s the ultimate hotel for romantic getaways, rejuvenating spa treatments or a rendezvous for a special sundowner. It’s also renowned for grand celebrations at the historic Rotunda or at more intimate venues overlooking that impossibly blue sea. Tempting on every front. Visit thebayhotel.com for details.

SANDTON’S COUNTRY HEART Why the Dalai Lama overlooks these lawns…

Centricity. Style. Service. Pretty much a hat-trick if you’re a hotel – and that’s what puts Fairlawns Boutique Hotel & Spa up there with the best. It’s not really a hotel in the obvious sense but rather like walking into a splendid country manor in one of the commercial hubs of the country. It helps that the suites (with names like The Dalai Lama, The Harry Oppenheimer) are 84m2 – you wander from a generous-sized lounge to a grand bathroom and a ‘front door’ that opens on the signature green lawns. Actually a series of manor houses spread about the property, the hotel boasts a gorgeous garden, further adding to the feeling of grand home. On fabulous spring evenings the light turns the sandstone exteriors into a golden mural against the green. It’s a smart move to stay there. For more information, email info@fairlawns.co.za.

The Bascule Bar at the Cape Grace Hotel, with its billion-dollar views of Cape Town and equally pricey ocean-going yachts, has reopened following extensive refurbishment. Regarded as Cape Town’s top whisky bar, the Bascule has upped its ante and offers water-of-life buffs more than 500 brands from around the world, from sweet Irish whiskeys and smoky Scotches to tangy American bourbons… straight up or in a cocktail. While the bar has long been a favourite spot of Cape Town society and hotel guests for sundowners or after-dinner drinks, it is also home to an elite whisky club that allows members to own private bins for personalised consumption. Other membership privileges include exclusive tasting evenings, expert purchasing advice, personalised cut-crystal tumblers and engraved plaques for their whisky lockers. Similarly, the vinothèque allows connoisseurs, collectors and companies to store their wines in private bins within a temperature- and humidity-controlled cellar. A tapas menu created by executive chef Malika van Reenen is offered for lunch and dinner. Visit capegrace.com or call 021 410 7082 for details. – JIM FREEMAN

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TEXT: LES AUPIAIS; DEBBIE HATHWAY. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

SEA SUITE Where the best whiskies in the world hang out

PSST WATCHES

SPECIAL EDITION Tradition takes on a modern twist A letter from Italian clockmaker Bartholomew Manfredi dated November 1462 contains one of the earliest references to ‘pocket clocks’, with the manufacture of pocket watches spreading throughout Europe during the 16th century. In its Pocket Watch Tourbillon GMT Ceramica PAM00446, Officine Panerai has combined nuances of traditional pocket-watch design with contemporary haute horlogerie technology in only 50 units.

It contains the P.2005/S skeletonised movement, which is a hand-wound calibre with a tourbillon regulator designed for more accurate timekeeping. Its ceramic Radiomir case is linked to the movement by 12 rods that appear to suspend the tourbillon in the centre. These rods act as linear hour markers and are covered in ecru Super-LumiNova. The chain, which is also made in black ceramic, can be removed so the watch can double as a table clock. See the Panerai New Collection 2013 Showcase at Elegance Jewellers in Melrose Arch from 1 to 21 August or call 011 684 1380 for further information.

SO REFINED Extra-flat aesthetic; the ultimate classic Nothing says understated elegance quite like a beautiful timepiece simply decorated with the bare essentials. The Parmigiani Fleurier style finds a more slender form in the Tonda 1950, going back to basics for the best in comfort and readability. Framed by the brand’s four signature lugs in rose gold or white gold, the graphite or white-grained dial is free of embellishment except for the 12 time-zone indexes and small second dial. The extra-flat self-winding movement is manufactured in-house, with superb finishes, delicately fitted into a case that is only 7,8mm thick and 39mm in diameter. Visit picotandmoss.co.za or call Boutique Haute Horlogerie on 011 325 4119 for details.

What better way to understand the mastery of watchmaking than to create an animated movie about it? Omega’s done just that for its Co-Axial calibre, the escapement at the heart of the movement that literally makes your watch tick! The technology behind the invention is so complex, and the fine detail in the manufacture, manipulation and weighting of the parts so intricate, that it’s more easily imagined through film. The Co-Axial calibre is the first practical watch escapement to be invented in more than two centuries, incorporating the kind of innovation that makes enthusiasts and experts take note. It features reduced sliding friction, greater mechanical efficiency, more stable precision and improved shock resistance. Search for the animation clip on YouTube or visit omegawatches.com to find out more.

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TEXT: DEBBIE HATHWAY. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

DREAM SEQUENCE Mechanical movement perfected

PSST WATCHES

MYSTERY LIKE MAGIC Beguiling new complications: sleight of hands?

For over a century, Cartier has been the master of mystery, creating clocks and watches that are as beautiful as they are beguiling, as rare as they are complex. This year, the house presents two new watchmaking complications – the Montre Rotonde de Cartier Double Mystery Tourbillon and the Montre Rotonde de Cartier Mystery.

Imagine a watch fitted with a tourbillon seemingly suspended in space. This was the challenge Cartier faced when creating the new 9454 MC Double Mystery Tourbillon. The flying tourbillon turns on its own axis once every 60 seconds, its link to any gear train invisible. This same tourbillon cage then performs a second rotation, one turn every five minutes. In perfecting this new movement, Cartier watchmakers were forced to rethink the traditional mechanism completely. What seems artfully simple is underpinned by a complication that demanded hundreds of hours of design calculation.

With its intriguing balancing act, the Rotonde de Cartier Mystery watch (right) seems transparent to the last detail but the case back lets the wearer see only part of the mastery. Mystery Clocks also command a special place in Cartier’s history. Clockmaker Maurice Couet was only 25 years old – but already highly skilled – when he caught the eye of Louis Cartier. Couet soon became Cartier’s exclusive supplier. His first Mystery Clock, simply called Model A, left the workshop in 1912. Couet took his inspiration from the clocks of French illusionist Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (yes, the famed escape artist we know as Harry Houdini chose his stage name in honour of Robert-Houdin). He borrowed one of the magician’s most brilliant ideas: the linking of the hands not directly to the movement but rather to two glass discs, each of which was fitted into a metal border edged with gear teeth. The movement, usually housed in the clock base, turned the discs – one at the speed of the minute hand, the other at the speed of the hour hand.

The metal borders of the discs were hidden in the hour circle, thus completing the illusion. Couet’s clocks were extraordinary objects, many of the pieces requiring more than a year’s worth of work and the collaboration of several ateliers to bring them to life.

Prized for their craftsmanship and imagination, the clocks were highly coveted during the 1910s and 1920s, and sought out by the likes of John Pierpont Morgan Jr, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain, and the Maharajah of Patiala. Some of these collectors owned more than one piece. Today’s Cartier collection contains a unique group of 17 priceless Mystery Clocks, including two Model A clocks similar to the original creation of 1912, and the first of the six Portique clocks, in which the movement was placed in the top rather than in the base of the clock. Visit cartier.com to find out more. – TONI MUIR

FACE FORWARD Innovative, original and practical Girard-Perregaux’s expertise in world-time watches gives substance to the new Traveller ww.tc and succeeds in making a very complex subject look simple. Before the late 19th century, every city on the planet deferred to a time dictated by the sun. Incredibly, in the US, there were 115 official local times. Canadian engineer Sir Sandford Fleming put a stop to that in 1870 when he devised a system that split the world into 24 time zones. It took 41 years for all the countries to adopt his system and another 24 years before Genevan watchmaker Louis Cottier created the first timepiece to reflect all the zones. Simply put, the Traveller ww.tc comprises a self-winding movement, the Manufacture calibre GP03300, which drives the hour and minute hands, a small second hand, world time with day/night indication, a chronograph and a date. The innovation? A single screwed crown at 3 o’clock that regulates all the watch’s functions. Call 011 372 6000 for further information.

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PSST MOTORING

BEDAZZLED Concept car delivers in reality in compact-car segment The new Mercedes-Benz A-Class is a work of art. Literally. Right down to the ‘brow’ effect you’ll glimpse as the dramatic headlights loom in your rear-view mirror. It’s as distinctive as a Frida Kahlo self-portrait, but with more bling. One of the most identifiable aspects of the A-Class is its eye-catching grille patterned on inverted mesh. ‘It’s the jewellery of the car and the most difficult thing to design,’ says Mark Featherstone, team leader for exterior design at the Stuttgart head office of Mercedes-Benz. Each piece is handmade, so the outcome is dependent on visual rather than computer skill, with the functional challenge of funnelling air through to cool the engine. The A-Class design was developed by putting pen to paper, modelling the sketch in clay to get the proportions right, and refining it with executive encouragement to make it ‘more exciting, more provocative, more unexpected’. The inspiration? The softness of a sand dune that contrasts with the defined edges left by the wind. You’ll see it in the sleek lines that sculpt the sides of the car. From 50m away, its sporty character is unmistakable. Built as wide and as low as possible, the A-Class offers the trademark Merc elegance plus all the comfort and safety features previously associated with much larger luxury cars. The expected attention to detail comes through in the practicality and functionality of the car, while the interior layout is an example of perfect ergonomics.

It’s environmentally compatible, too. For further information, visit mercedes-benz.co.za. – DEBBIE HATHWAY

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PSST MOTORING

ON-STREET PREDATOR The new F-TYPE’s set to make enthusiasts shiver Very soon, a whole group of sports-car enthusiasts will be breathless.

South Africans will get their first view of the all-new Jaguar F-TYPE in mid-July. The two-seater convertible marks a new step in a 75-year racing bloodline, and promises beauty and performance. Top Gear’s infamous Stig took it through its paces at the Top Gear Festival in Durban in June. Not only was it very easy on the eye, but he also made the most of the opportunity to remind sports-car fans of its signature noise. The V6 F-TYPE and the F-TYPE S (below) are joined by a V8 model, which by all accounts has an astonishing turn of pace and an electronically limited top speed of 300km/h – but with impressively low CO2 emissions. But it’s the drive that will seduce a would-be owner. The asymmetric cabin is a design masterpiece that takes its inspiration from the cockpit of a fighter plane. Fancy low flying, anyone?

To find out more, visit jaguar.co.za.

HITTING THE MARQUE When two powerful brands gear up!

How do you marry two brands successfully when they’re both blockbusters? It’s certainly no shotgun when you make Aston Martin and Hackett London bedfellows. Aston Martin has racing in its genes, with credentials that go back to the 1920s. Hackett became Aston Martin’s sponsor in 2005 when the marque re-entered GT racing.

Combined, they are the best of British. But if you want to knock people’s (designer) socks off, you come up with a global campaign that offers an Aston Martin Vantage V8 Roadster as a competition prize. Now that beats a spa weekend with a complimentary bottle of bubbly. It’s not particularly difficult to spend R8 700 on Hackett fashion – that’s all entrants needed to do to qualify for the draw… Watch the press for the announcement of the winner. For more information, go to astonmartin.co.za or hackett.com.

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Hedonists would find the transfer from the massaging seat of the Mercedes GL 63 AMG to the deft fingertips of a Thai therapist seamless. The launch of the GL 63 AMG, along with the GL 350 BlueTEC and the GL 500 4MATIC Blue Efficiency, at the award-winning 7-star Karkloof Spa near Pietermaritzburg was a perfect fit. If the GL is a 4x4 in a tuxedo, the GL 63 AMG is the bespoke, hand-tailored version. The journey began at Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga, where we were told that pre-launch interest in the AMG ‘is proof that the fastest way to a man’s heart is through his right foot’. It’s sleek and gracious, and comfortably takes seven passengers. If you fold down the second and third rows, the vehicle may well accommodate the paraphernalia of a fourball match. The interior (above) is reverently silent by design: Mercedes-Benz had researched psychoacoustics, the psychological and physiological responses associated with sound. ‘Not to make the voice of your spouse more dulcet,’ explains Mercedes-Benz SA’s CEO, Dr Martin Zimmermann, ‘but to allow excellent acoustics for seven passengers sitting in three rows, even off-road.’ The vow of silence is broken by the guttural snarl of the 5.5-litre V8 biturbo engine coming from the twin tailpipes – as delightfully incongruous on the car as a tattoo peeping out from under a silk bow tie. As the car launches onto the highway, the realisation that it’s more sports car than SUV makes you grin. As does the handling: it remains perfectly poised on bad roads, and the Active Curve System keeps you composed coming out of difficult corners. It wasn’t a hardship changing from the AMG to the GL 350 BlueTEC and taking it off the tar. With its permanent four-wheel drive (4MATIC), the 350 was bred for the great outdoors.

You wouldn’t even need Off-Road Driving 101 – it practically self-drives.

At about R1,6 million for the GL 63 AMG, and R1 million each for the GL 350 and 500, the GL will exceed the niche expectations of a CEO who is family-oriented but still demands luxury when taking the kids on holiday. And has deep pockets. Visit mercedes-benz.co.za for details.

TEXT: LES AUPIAIS; KATHY MALHERBE. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

LIGHT YEARS AHEAD What happens when a car steps out of its comfort zone

PSST FASHION

CUTTING A DESCH When a brand behaves like a personal tailor There’s something about a perfect fit and the finish of a jacket or a pair of pants that connects with the part of your brain in control of pleasure. Think about the moment you feel high quality, about slipping on something that moulds your body, settles about your shoulders and hangs so well that it might have been made for you by people who know more about you than you do yourself. Think subtle indications of a brand that is in the know when it comes to trends but never overplays its hand, and seasonal ranges that belong in your wardrobe as if they own the fashion neighbourhood. Desch fits the bill. For further information, call 011 883 8893.

A QUESTION OF STYLE Sometimes it’s the small touches that set you apart

A-STRIPE PERSONALITY How to put a tiger in your torso

Life often imitates art… and fashion follows. The movie The Great Gatsby has created a flurry of excitement about the ’20s, and Hackett London plays with this trend with a nod to the elegance of the era. With a focus on lightweight fabrics, the look combines a palette of cream, ivory and white with tobacco and mocha tones. It’s all about sophisticated summer dressing accessorised with coated cotton bags with tan calfskin trims. ‘If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him,’ wrote F Scott Fitzgerald of the mysterious Jay Gatsby in his classic novel. It was, perhaps, in what he wore and how he carried it off, too. For details, visit hackett.com.

Mark Twain once said, ‘Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.’ So if you believe cotton in the right places gives you clout, you’ll be pleased to note that Thomas Pink’s classic slimfit Bengal shirt with its iconic stripe is now in store in Hyde Park Corner, Johannesburg. The double-twisted yarn used to make these shirts has a luxurious sheen, whereas the styling – semi-cutaway collar, double cuffs and contoured side panels – follows the shape of your body as deftly as a Bentley Continental GT on a mountain pass. It’s all about tailoring and, of course, that bold, signature Bengal stripe that first found its way from India to Britain to be worn by gentlemen of the realm.

Visit thomaspink.co.za to find out more.

Why commission a hand-tailored suit with all the accessories? Any woman will tell you that it’s dead sexy when a man wears his clothes with casual confidence. But you can only nail it if they fit so well that they follow the contours of your body like fabric DNA. That’s the secret behind AM Bespoke, who crafts wardrobes from suits to accessories.

Founded in 2003, the company now conducts appointments in New York, Miami and Sydney, with further US locations on the cards. Back home, though, if you’re a fan of AB de Villiers on the field you might have noticed that his off-pitch style is just as good. Francois Hougaard (left) and Cameron van der Burgh are also AM Bespoke men. The Daytona Group – and Aston Martin, in particular – has chosen the company as its official suppliers. You don’t get better credentials than that. Visit ambespoke.com for more information.

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TEXT: LES AUPIAIS. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

GET FROM AM TO AB Turning heads with what you wear

PSST JEWELLERY

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IN THE PINK Piaget immortalises the rose The Piaget Rose Collection, with its pink tourmalines and opals and signature rose motif, celebrates 30 years of Yves Piaget’s love of this flower. The collection interprets the beauty and subtle vulnerability of roses while capturing the energy, sparkle and charm of gemstones. This 18ct white-gold set (1) has 396 brilliant-cut diamonds combined with gems such as tourmalines, beryls and sapphires. Visit piaget.com or call 011 317 2600 for details.

THE ESSENCE OF ARTISTRY The heirloom gets a new contemporary status There may have been a time when heirlooms were used to save a dynasty in dire straits or ensure a truce between warring armies. Today an heirloom designed by Prins & Prins (2) is the smartest way to pass on a precious inheritance from one generation to the next. For more than three decades, diamonds, sapphires and other precious gemstones have been handcrafted into exceptional designs by these masters. Their jewellery transforms into wearable works of art to be enjoyed now and for generations to come. For further information, visit prinsandprins.com or call 021 422 1090.

Inspired by the cool, bright light of a moonlit evening, Arthur Kaplan’s Moonlight Pavé Collection (3) turns feminine and flowing forms into a dazzling performance. The diamonds are set to maximise the light, giving the jewellery life and scintillation. The use of multi-diamond setting adds to the subtle illusion of movement. For details on the collection, call 011 669 5600.

SWEEPING STATEMENT An interpretation of dance in precious stones Inspired by great Russian ballets, master jeweller Fabergé has launched a collection that is heart-stoppingly beautiful. Les Danses Fantasques includes this necklace, La Esmeralda (4), which would sweep down from a delicate neck of a woman to nestle provocatively in the décolletage. Combining artistry and sensuality, it features delicate swirls of diamonds suspended in a double chain of cabochon emerald beads and complemented by pearshaped emerald drops. Visit faberge.com to find out more.

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TEXT: LES AUPIAIS. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

MOONLIGHT SERENADE Arthur Kaplan’s new collection owns the night

ON THE OTHER HAND

Beauty in Simplicity In praise of Bauhaus, bold moves and singular timepieces stripped to the bare essentials.

Words STEVE KOCHER Photography AUBREY JONSSON/INFIDELS

indicated by simple stick hands. He had three prototypes made in order to apply for a patent and find a manufacturer. Many manufacturers rejected it, saying it’s too futuristic and risky.

In 1960 Horwitt finally reached an agreement with Movado, and in the same year his first prototype was accepted at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Movado registered the design as a trademark in 1962 but it wasn’t until 1965 that it was included in the Swiss production programme.

In 1955 Greta Daniel from MoMA made the following comment to Horwitt: ‘I found that the continuously changing relationship of the moving hands to the 12 o’clock dot created attractive geometric patterns that were fascinating to observe… I realise that this aesthetic pleasure can only be derived from a carefully balanced relationship of pure geometric elements.’

Nicknamed the Museum Watch, it became a huge commercial success and today still contributes considerably to Movado’s image as the number one luxury watch brand sold in the US. More than half of all watches sold between R7 000 and R20 000 are Movados; it’s the market leader in the segment of up to R35 000; and a third of US consumers consider Movado to be their favourite watch brand… Not bad for beautiful simplicity!

In the spirit of Horwitt and the Bauhaus movement, the Movado TC collection launched at this year’s BaselWorld Watch and Jewellery Fair is minimally adorned and sleek, exploring design simplicity in a compelling new way.

(From left) The 40mm-diameter ultra-thin men’s model of the Movado TC imparts a strong graphic statement and features a brushed sunray dial, skeleton hands, thin stick markers and the signature concave dot at 12 o’clock; a mother-of-pearl dial set with nine sparkling diamonds lends contrasting warmth to the cool simplicity of the 30mm women’s model

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PHOTOGRAPHY OF PRODUCTS: SUPPLIED

FOR SOMEBODY LIKE ME who passionately hated writing essays in high school, new ideas for this column don’t come easily. Fortunately Private Edition’s editor is very creative and pushes the right buttons. ‘What about writing about beautiful simplicity in watch designs?’ she asked. This clicked immediately as I’m doing just that in my private life – smaller house, less furniture and clutter, new focus on simplicity and beauty.

In a time when watches are getting larger and heavier, with more complications, it’s like proverbial fresh air to wear a timepiece freed from decorations. Two famous artists come to mind as pioneers of this look: Swiss architect Max Bill and US industrial designer Nathan George Horwitt. Both were strongly influenced by the Bauhaus movement. A design school based in liberal Germany from 1919 to 1933, Bauhaus went on to have a major impact in Western Europe, the US and Israel in the decades following its demise in Germany. (In 1933 many artists, designers and architects fled or were exiled by the Nazi regime.)

Bill is considered to be the most decisive influence on Swiss graphic design in the ’50s. In 1956 he designed a strikingly simple kitchen clock for German watch and clock manufacturer Junghans. This resulted in wristwatch designs in the typical Bauhaus style, and many watch brands have since built their reputation on inspiration from Bill.

In 1947, across the pond, Horwitt had the idea for a round watch dial that was completely plain except for a single dot at 12, with the time

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

O N YO U R M A RQ U ES

F I V E - S TA R T R E AT M E N T F O R S A E N T R E P R E N E U R S

TO BE A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR YOU NEED IMAGINATION, DRIVE, ENERGY AND SUPPORT. FUNDED BY VIRGIN UNITE, THE BRANSON CENTRE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP UPLIFTS AND EMPOWERS TALENTED YOUNG SOUTH AFRICANS TO DO JUST THAT. THE VIRGIN GROUP’S FOUNDER, SIR RICHARD BRANSON, TALKS ABOUT ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A ‘GOLDEN HIGHWAY TO ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY’. BUT WHEN THESE ENTREPRENEURS ARE READY TO LAUNCH THEIR NEW IDEAS AND BRANDS, THEY NEED A STAGE. THAT IS WHY THE PRIVATELY OWNED FIVE-STAR BOUTIQUE HOTEL, ST ANDREWS SIGNATURE HOTEL & SPA, OPENED ITS DOORS FOR A DAY’S WORKSHOP FOLLOWED BY AN EVENING OF FASHION & STYLE. THIS EXCITING OCCASION BECAME BOTH STAGE AND LAUNCH PLATFORM FOR A NEW GENERATION OF YOUNG FASHION DESIGNERS.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT ST-ANDREWSHOTEL.CO.ZA OR BRANSONCENTRE.ORG.

From order to delivery, the simplest shoe design takes 12 weeks to complete. The skill is often handed down through generations

SERVICE

As You Like It One can make assumptions about a man’s character by the state of his footwear. Bespoke craftsmanship speaks volumes.

Words DEBBIE HATHWAY

ISSUE 20 P R I V A T E E D I T I O N 3 7

‘A MAN CANNOT MAKE A PAIR OF SHOES rightly unless he do it in a devout manner.’ Louis Vuitton master craftsman Roberto Bottoni can only agree with philosopher Thomas Carlyle’s sentiments. He’s devoted much of his lengthy career to the painstaking art of making the most beautiful shoes for gentlemen who get that shoes really do ‘maketh the man’. They’re the ultimate style statement.

Louis Vuitton’s bespoke shoemaking savoir-faire, which has been entrenched at its Venice workshop since the 13th century, is available in Milan, Sydney, Shanghai, Tokyo, Miami and London. The plan is to offer it at the maison’s Johannesburg boutique, too. The Made to Order service invites discerning dressers to create their own bespoke shoes by specifying all the elements − shape, material and finish. There are 3 000 possible combinations to achieve that level of personal innovation. Louis Vuitton’s craftsmen begin with determining the shoe’s character via a madeto-measure last, which perfectly guides the dimensions of width, toe shape, instep and heel height. They take the guesswork out of material and cut by preselecting the most exceptional materials based on quality and texture. ‘One must know how to find the most supple part of the leather, best for the ankle. The cut then requires such precision that the craftsman must adapt the blade of his or her cutting instrument based on the type of leather,’ says Bottoni, who was trained by his father and grandfather to perfect the Norwegian and the Goodyear stitch. It’s all in the detail.

Louis Vuitton has reinvented the perforation options: on a notched ankle strip, juxtaposed in piqué-retourné, or shaped like a flower and displayed on the back of the shoe. The Norwegian stitch poses the greatest technical challenge for the handstitching used on the four possible soles, and the most dextrous of Venetian craftsmen alone will tackle this task. Only the most promising apprentices are selected to study Bottoni’s stitching talent. The finish? A thin brush, water and wax create the elegant patinas that are synonymous with Louis Vuitton style.

The glazed, transparent appearance obtained on leather or crocodile shoes is achieved by the steady draw of the brush in one continuous movement in no more than four coats of varnish. And if personalisation is everything, the craftsman can hide two or three hot-stamped initials – or even a number – discreetly inside the shoe. Accessorise with a belt in a matching leather, colour and finish, and your made-to-order look is complete.

For more details, visit louisvuitton.com.

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PHOTOGRAPHY AND ILLUSTRATION: SUPPLIED

TREND SERVICE

TREND

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NEW FRONTIERS

The Splice of Life Several anti-ageing ingredients and techniques seem to have been discovered by scientists in a moment of serendipity, or perhaps astute lateral thinking and an eye on a market that seems to know no bounds when it comes to what it will pay for youth. Nasa used LED lights in an effort to grow plants in space and discovered the rejuvenating properties of the light. Idebenone, the active ingredient in Elizabeth Arden’s Prevage range, was originally used in transplants to keep organs alive for longer and is still used to treat degenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and depression. The ability of collagen to heal scars in a trauma unit led to the development of QMS serum. A chance observation of a plant that seemed to die and then revive itself in the rain led to decades of research on its rejuvenating properties.

Private Edition interviews three protagonists in the race against the clock.

ISSUE 20 P R I V A T E E D I T I O N 4 1

NEW FRONTIERS

The Lazarus Identity Words IAN GLENN

An African plant that revives after rain. Spontaneous healing in utero. A very, very costly cosmetic cream that’s big in China. These are all connected. Here’s how the genes joined…

PROFESSOR JILL FARRANT is a world expert on resurrection plants who chairs a panel investigating the state of biosafety and biosecurity in South Africa. Her work on resurrection plants, which first fascinated her as a young girl on her family’s farm, may help engineer plants that can withstand drought and feed Africa. Last year she received a L’Oréal/Unesco Award for Women in Science and was recruited by Giorgio Armani, part of the L’Oréal group, to help refashion their top-of-the-range, wildly expensive Crema Nera Extrema – for women in China. Placing the respected scientist between starving Africa and a nation hellbent on preserving youth seems highly improbable – until she explains why hunger and a hunger for youth share symbolic DNA. Farrant says the growth of regenerative medicine in the past decades – because of the importance of stem-cell research, in particular – has brought the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries closer together and means that experts in both areas are talking to each other.

The biggest overlap between these fields is in dealing with damage to the body’s biggest organ, the skin. One of the collaborators on the new Crema Nera product is Dr Peter Lorenz, a plastic surgeon with Stanford University Medical School in the US. He is involved because, if one understands scarring and how to prevent it, one is probably closer to understanding how to heal or – dangerous term – regenerate ageing skin. (The word ‘regenerate’ raises the ire of the US Food and Drug Administration, which is tough on literal skincare claims.)

Many recent discoveries about scarring have come from findings that foetuses have the capacity to recover from prenatal scarring from operations in the uterus.

Imagine the surprise of the first surgeon who had operated on a baby in the womb, when the infant emerged without a scar. Scientists think this is due to the working of a genetic pathway termed the pro-regenerative pathway. Stemcell research is now being used to find ways to replicate that process by providing various proteins ordinarily produced in utero to cells elsewhere in the body. The rise of regenerative medicine may have focused on attempts to find ways to regrow fingers or even organs, but Lorenz and others are looking for ways to help skin heal.

How does this work? The stem cells are highly plastic and, given the right information from the DNA blueprint, can produce the protein that will give the cell its particular function. If the protein can be identified, it could help revive and strengthen natural processes by supplying something that was originally there but is now lacking

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because of age, stress and damage. What Lorenz and the Armani team did was produce a formula containing proteins that imitate what stem cells do – using stem cells from a variety of sources.

While Crema Nera Extrema was already a bestseller in China, the producers knew of this nation’s reverence for plants and natural remedies, and wanted to add some healing ingredients derived from plants. But in China there are rigorous restrictions on which plants may be used in treating humans. The team tested some 350 plants before finding one that, for no clear reason, had been approved for use in China: Myrothamnus flabellifolia, an African resurrection plant.

Enter Farrant, whose quest to understand this plant led her to conclude that the ability to revive after rain may be shared to a much less dramatic extent by other plants, but that resurrection plants have it in the purest form.

Her contribution to Crema Nera was to find ways to bring the resurrection plant’s anti-UV and antioxidant properties into the mix. What it does even has a fancy name now, part science, part cosmetic glamour: Reviscentalis. And how would anybody know whether this new addition helps the cream work? Thanks to stem cells, laboratories can now produce an equivalent of human skin on which to test products without any harm to animals. Farrant says the tests on the lab skin suggest that it seems to be plumped.

Why the Chinese market? Well, for one reason, Chinese women have a tradition of using face creams that they ritually massage into the skin. The exclusive Crema Nera Extrema comes in a desirable hand-carved obsidian jar with a special massage applicator. And, yes, of course, the Chinese have the money. So this product is particularly tailored for Asian skin types and tones.

If the limited-edition release in China (10 000 jars only) is successful, it – or a revised version – may be distributed in Europe later this year. Farrant has insisted that the rare plant not be sourced from South Africa, to avoid species loss.

What is the future of the resurrection plant and of research on it? Farrant remarks drily that medicine and human needs tend to come first in funding and research priorities, although the botanist in her notes that, without plants, human life could not exist. But she seems to have found a way of using the qualities of desiccation-tolerant plants to stimulate funding and research to further explore their mysteries. And, of course, to bring a lesswrinkled smile to some fortunate faces.

TREND

Placing Professor Jill Farrant between starving Africa and a nation hellbent on preserving youth seems highly improbable – until she explains why hunger and a hunger for youth share symbolic DNA.

ISSUE 18 P R I V A T E E D I T I O N 0 0

NEW FRONTIERS

Acclaimed plastic surgeon Dr Erich Schulte is a firm believer in the critical role of collagen in anti-ageing

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Saving Face Even though he’s a nip-tuck man by profession, Dr Erich Schulte believes collagen is king when it comes to anti-ageing.

DR ERICH SCHULTE, acclaimed plastic surgeon, traumatologist at the Göttingen University Clinic in Germany, is the brain behind the QMS Medicosmetics skincare collection. It was during Schulte’s treatment of severe accident and burn victims that his research led to the discovery of the role of collagen in wound healing.

He understood that, even if he reconstructed the shape of a patient’s face, skin that remained scarred and damaged after the procedure would not help a patient’s quality of life. He knew that if he could find a way to reintroduce collagen into the skin, scar formation would be reduced and skin could be regenerated. Logically, this could be applied for aesthetic reasons, too. The visible improvements in the texture and the healing of the skin when these products were used postoperatively drove Schulte to introduce them in pre-operative care – with exceptional results.

He is messianic about collagen’s role in anti-ageing.

‘Collagen is the most important protein in your skin – 65 percent of the body’s proteins are collagen. It is responsible for the elasticity of the skin, which is why gravity starts taking its toll after the age of 25. Sadly this is the time when your ability to produce these miracle molecules starts to decrease.’

If collagen’s the answer, what stops us from a quick fix? It seems that the epidermis itself is the first barrier.

‘Collagen molecules are too big to penetrate the barrier of your skin,’ he says. ‘The reason collagen creams have, at best, been labelled ineffective is that the cream is on top, not inside.’

Schulte realised he needed to get the collagen past the dermis so that it could do its work of stimulating elasticity.

These micellised molecules are made by unravelling the strands of a collagen molecule. Once the molecules are through the epidermis, they reunite as collagen and start working on plumping skin from the inside. His analogy for breaking up the helix of the collagen DNA is simple.

Separate three South Africans and send them to Spain – they will be reunited because they speak a common language and the trio will again be complete.

It’s all about the messenger, says Schulte. The skin is designed as a barrier, and messenger technology is one of the most important advances in science. The challenge is to be effective beyond the basal barrier – the layer between the epidermis and dermis – beyond which most cosmetic formulations go. Once the messenger is there, it initiates a collagen boot camp, stepping up activity levels and production.

Words KATHY MALHERBE

Schulte’s keen to point out that he is not selling products but offering a ‘system’, and his guarantees are backed up by computerised skin models.

Bucking the marketing hype that promises relatively quick results, Schulte says of QMS that ‘it is not about making the skin look good temporarily but to start regeneration from the inside.’

According to Nick Foulkes, eminent and fairly cynical UK columnist, the results over 120 days are significant. He says he noticed ‘changes that betokened a general improvement in the health of my skin: an elasticity about the cheek that had ceased to behave like a recently vacated bean bag and – it may be my imagination – but even the monkey lines seem a little less mocking.’

Once the messenger is beyond the basal barrier of the skin, it initiates a collagen boot camp, stepping up activity levels and production.

It was inevitable that this sort of technology was going to become more widely adopted. The L’Oréalowned Vichy came out with the LiftActiv range, including Serum 10 and Derm Source Night Cream, with a similar messenger technology to stimulate collagen production.

Schulte counsels that these super-serums will not achieve the same results as, for example, laser treatment, which he believes is ultimately invasive and damaging to the barrier function of the epidermis. ‘My credo is long-life stimulation of the skin, for which the skin will thank you later. Less aggressive methods take longer but are more successful.’

As a scientist – and something of a realist – he cautions on expectations. ‘Remember, the epidermal layer is only one-10th of a millimetre thick so you cannot expect anti-sagging effects in such a thin layer.’ He grabs a handful of his neck and says, ‘This? This would need plastic surgery.

‘When you’re serious in the business, you don’t promise miracles,’ he adds. ‘The only way to get the maximum out of one-10th of a millimetre of skin is to be smart.’

His greatest bugbear is the fact that ‘clinically proven’ results use a certain concentration of ingredients that then are not necessarily used in the same concentration in the final product. This is all set to change. As of May

ISSUE 20 P R I V A T E E D I T I O N 4 5

NEW FRONTIERS

‘People may watch cooking channels and eat in, not buy flowers or vacation less,’ says Schulte, ‘but they are steadfast in their allegiance to skincare.’

next year, the percentage of ingredients used in retail products has to be the same as those used in clinical trials.

The new legislation may have an impact on retail prices but will consumers react by resisting a possible price hike? Judging by market, people’s skins are thick when it comes to deflecting the effects of a global recession. ‘They may watch cooking channels and eat in, not buy fresh flowers or vacation less,’ says Schulte, ‘but they are steadfast in their allegiance to skincare.’

That may be down to the broadening market. Schulte says it is not only women but also men who are buying

into the anti-ageing market (at a heavy price). He says his male clientele has increased over the past 15 years from five to 35 percent for both procedures and creams.

‘Men embrace faster-working cellular products like QMS Cellular Marine and Cellular Alpine, which uses the latest in herbal stem-cell technology and harnesses the regenerative power of plant stem cells for rejuvenation.’

Even if you are a forever-young cynic, Schulte’s medical expertise, scientific logic and refreshing honesty are a compelling argument for using the new products.

That’s if you want to save face.

Look on the Light Side of Life Often the villain when it comes to skin damage, light may just be an unlikely hero in the ageing wars.

LIGHT HAS A BAD REP when it comes to ageing. We associate it with damaging UVA and UVB rays that cause sunburn and skin cancer. The good news is that it seems light could take years off your skin, provided you get the correct wavelengths, pulse brightness and time exposure. It’s all about the circadian rhythm, the internal biochemical, physiological and behavioural process in all living forms. No, it’s not mumbo jumbo – ask the blokes from Nasa.

Using light-emitting diodes (LED) for anti-ageing is literally rocket science. LED was first used at Nasa’s Marshall Space Flight Center in the late ’80s to expedite the growth of plants where there was no natural light.

And scientists stumbled onto a human application: the astronauts who were exposed to the LED were thriving – in fact, they appear to have sneaked a mini face-lift at zero gravity.

To back up their observations about the skinrejuvenating properties of LED, Nasa embarked upon a series of clinical studies using variations of nanometers (nm) that control the depth of the energy and therefore the penetration into the skin. They discovered that specific wavelengths of light enhanced DNA synthesis, leading to the production of new collagen and elastin.

Lee O’Brien, who has brought Bio-Synthesis LED light therapy to South Africa, treats ageing with a BioSynthesis Technology Facial and the highly active ingredients in the Hyaluronic Masque, which is placed on top of the Chromatic Serum. If you’re at the age when you

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need this type of treatment, you are unlikely to remember any of those, though. But neither would you need to.

The light therapy irreverently can be compared to an LSD trip under strobe lights, and such is the frequency of the flashing that the treatment is contraindicated for epileptics. The Hyaluronic Masque cools it all down and seals in the active ingredients as the LED penetrates the target cells.

The red light, at 640-700nm, travels deep into the tissue and permeates the cell membrane, at which stage the mitochondria become hyperactive. This drives the ATP – the cellular energy source that powers the human body – wild. Collagen and elastin synthesis is increased to promote younger-looking skin. The blue light is shallow and attacks acne activity, the yellow light addresses inflammation and detoxing, and the green light focuses on pigmentation.

Be as sceptical as you like, but O’Brien says LED light therapy is ‘natural technology’ that’s ‘not restricted to anti-ageing. It is highly effective on wound healing.’

And what does the future hold? According to O’Brien, LED light therapy is continuously evolving, and yesterday’s sci-fi is today’s technology. She believes it won’t be long before LED bars are launched where you’d pop into a square-metre booth during lunch time for a treatment. You won’t only see the light, your ATP will too.

And that’s what counts in the rejuvenation game. What’s more, it’s non-invasive so no-one needs to know where you really have been during your break…

PHOTOGRAPHY: SHUTTERSTOCK; SUPPLIED; DIS

Words KATHY MALHERBE

THE HAMILTON IS A BOUTIQUE HOTEL SITUATED IN THE HEART OF SUBURBAN JOHANNESBURG. IT IS DESIGNED FOR THE DISCERNING BUSINESS TRAVELLER WHO APPRECIATES UNDERSTATED LUXURY, WELL-CRAFTED DESIGN AND PERSONAL, FLEXIBLE SERVICE. WELLPOSITIONED NEAR THE BUSINESS HUBS OF SANDTON, HYDE PARK, ROSEBANK AND THE JOHANNESBURG CBD, THE HOTEL IS A FIVE-MINUTE DRIVE FROM THE SANDTON OR ROSEBANK GAUTRAIN STATIONS THAT CONNECT TO OR TAMBO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. THE HAMILTON OFFERS BREAKFAST UNTIL LATE, LOUNGE AND BOARDROOM FACILITIES, A PLUNGE POOL, OUTDOOR DINING, COMPLIMENTARY WIRELESS BROADBAND AND SPA FACILITIES IN YOUR ROOM (BOOKING ESSENTIAL). THE HAMILTON CAN ALSO BE HIRED FOR EXCLUSIVE LAUNCH EVENTS, BESPOKE FUNCTIONS AND SMALL CORPORATE OFF-SITE EVENTS.

WEBSITE: THEHAMILTON.CO.ZA TEL: 011 447 9280 EMAIL: INFO@THEHAMILTON.CO.ZA 28 GROSVENOR AVENUE (CORNER OF BUCCLEUCH AND CAMBRIDGE AVENUES), CRAIGHALL PARK, JOHANNESBURG 2100

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How to be Really Rich After three decades of conspicuous consumption, we’re finally falling out of love with stuff and investing in experience instead. TABITHA LASLEY learns the art of intelligent spending.

Illustrations DANIEL TING CHONG

THEY SAY MONEY CAN’T BUY HAPPINESS. Of all the cosy truisms we tell ourselves, this one is perhaps the most enduring. The lonely tycoon is an archetype that crops up in popular culture more frequently than the tearful clown: think of friendless Mark Zuckerberg refreshing his Facebook page in The Social Network; Drake mournfully counting a large pile of gold on the cover of Take Care; Paul Raymond finding out he’s the richest man in Britain the day that his daughter dies in The Look of Love. The message is clear: spend a lifetime pursuing material wealth and you’ll end up spiritually skint.

Could this really be true? Elizabeth Dunn, professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Canada, thinks not. In the new book Happy Money: The New Science of Smarter Spending, she and coauthor Michael Norton argue that money can make you very happy indeed, if only you spend it wisely. The pity of it is that most of us don’t. ‘A high salary is a blank cheque for happiness,’ Dunn says, ‘but so many people have filled out that blank cheque wrong. People think driving a fancier car will make them happier but it doesn’t. There’s still an assumption that you need to own a house to be happy. Research shows that’s not the case at all.’

Dunn and Norton lay out five rules for intelligent spending: invest in others; pay now, consume later; make everyday indulgences a treat; buy time; swap material purchases for experiential trips. Of their five tenets, it’s this final one that is gaining the most traction.

‘This idea really resonates with people,’ she says. ‘There are some ideas we really have to convince people of – like “invest in others” – but with this one, people say, “Yeah, I think that’s true.” It makes sense intuitively.’

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A quick look at Facebook and Twitter reflects this shift. These days, people are much more likely to be caught bragging about where they’ve been than what they’ve bought. For every Instagrammed photo of a new pair of shoes, you’ll find 12 wish-you-were-here shots of snow-topped mountains or tropical beaches (and don’t let’s get started on those who feel the need to slap a flattering filter on their dinner and tweet it every time they step inside a restaurant).

James Wallman, an analyst with UK trends consultancy The Future Laboratory, says stuff is ‘the defining problem of our generation’. He’s currently working on a book, Stuffocation (out later this year), which identifies experience as the new currency.

Wallman reckons we’re over conspicuous consumption and starting to realise that money spent on travel and leisure is more enriching than money spent on things. In the course of researching his book he met Chris, an IT consultant who writes the minimalist-lifestyle blog Two Less Things. Chris used to have it all. Then he got tired of it and started divesting himself of his possessions.

‘I had an extremely good job. I owned a house with five bedrooms, three bathrooms and two garages,’ Chris explains. ‘In the cul-de-sac where I lived there was a group of 10 houses, and it was “keep up with the Joneses”: what car you had parked in your drive, what you’d bought that weekend. It was a show-and-tell. With hindsight you’d look at some of the couples there and realise they were so unhappy.’

Chris now lives in a rented house with few belongings.

He has decluttered every area of his life. His father’s letters he scanned onto his computer. When his children’s friends come round for dinner they eat off paper plates.

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This capacity for desensitisation is the reason we fall out of love with our soul mates and grow to hate our dream jobs.

Since embracing minimalism, Chris says he feels ‘freer’.

Colleagues comment on how relaxed he seems. He spends his time – and money – ticking off his bucket list: ‘I always wanted to go to Hawaii, so I went. I always wanted to see the Northern Lights, so I went to Iceland on a photography trip. The children said the other day, “Dad, we’ve always wanted to stay in a five-star hotel.”

I said, “Shall we go, then?”’

There is a mounting body of evidence to back up stories like this. As early as 2003, psychologists like Tom Gilovich, a professor at Cornell University, were finding that even just recounting experiential purchases made people happier than talking about buying goods.

Gilovich, an expert in the field of wellbeing, says there are three main reasons why accruing experience feels so good: ‘One, it contributes to our identity. We are the sum total of our experiences. We might feel attached to material goods but they aren’t a part of us in the same way. The second reason is that experience connects us to other people, and we’re very social creatures. And while experiences are evaluated on their own merits, we tend to compare material goods with one another. Those kinds of comparisons can undermine the joy we get from them.’

We might have had less fun on our holiday than our neighbours did on theirs, but you can’t compare experience as directly as you can possessions, so the shortfall seems less stark. Then there’s the human knack for nostalgia. As soon as something’s in our rear view we tend to recast it in rosy light, whether it went well or not.

‘We romanticise experiences more than possessions,’ says Gilovich. ‘It’s a kind of distortion. We remember things being bad but we can’t summon up those bad feelings, so we think of it as cute and endearing. The camping trip from hell becomes, in retrospect, “the hilarious camping trip from hell”. Even though it wasn’t hilarious at the time.’

But there is another less appealing tendency at play here – our ability to grow used to things. Known as ‘hedonic adaptation’, this capacity for desensitisation is the reason we fall out of love with our soul mates and grow to hate our dream jobs. It basically makes old women in vinegar bottles of us all.

‘Hedonic adaptation is the great barrier to human happiness,’ says Dunn. ‘We can make ourselves happier

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temporarily but something about our minds drives us back to previous levels of [satisfaction]. Material things seem to be particularly susceptible to the adaptation process. If you woke up in 2013 and you’d been living in the ’70s, you’d be blown away by the incredible material things we have now. Yet those things don’t make us happier on a day-to-day basis.’

It’s a lesson many people have had to ingest over the past five years. And having learnt that a life lived with less stuff can be liberating, it’s looking increasingly unlikely we’ll ever go back to our heady millennial habits.

Lulu Melotte is one person who was forced to reassess her priorities post-recession. For six years she ran a highend boutique in Barcelona. When the Spanish economy collapsed, the business folded. At the same time, her partner, Nacho, was made redundant. The couple faced a stark choice: try to find new jobs as the Spanish unemployment rate hit a record high of 27,2 percent, or pack up and leave. They chose to return to the UK, but before they left they pooled their savings and took their children on a six-month trip to Asia.

‘I had some money left over from my business and Nacho had some redundancy pay,’ Melotte explains.

‘I remember saying, do I put it in a “dirty” bank − because that’s how I felt at the time − or do I go and spend it?’

Their trip took in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore and Indonesia, and cost more than R100 000.

Melotte says the memories they made along the way – riding on elephants, making necklaces with shells, learning the seven times table as they splashed about in the sea – were well worth it. The experience may have emptied their bank account but their big adventure has been an invaluable investment. ‘I had three friends who died of cancer in their 40s and left young children. I just thought if I’d asked them that one question – what would they want to be doing now? – [the answer] would have been to spend as much time with their family as possible.

Life is for living. So, no, I don’t regret travelling at all. We had a rucksack each and we had one another. And I was really happy.’

Happy Money: The New Science of Smarter Spending

by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton is available at exclus1ves.co.za.

TREND

Small Wonders The ‘tiny house’ movement is on the rise in the US and UK, and as commuting, empty-nesting and first-time buying hit SA, the trend is catching on.

Words TABITHA LASLEY

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CARRIE AND SHANE CAVERLY were like many couples.

They spent most of their money on the rent of a threebedroom house, and after bills they had little left over.

They both worked in construction, and the recession cast a question mark over their futures. Their modest goal – to own a plot of land and live mortgage free – was starting to look like a pipe dream. So they decided to step off the treadmill. Instead, they put their skills into building a tiny house, mounted it on a gooseneck trailer and hit the road.

‘We wanted a way to own our own home without borrowing from a bank,’ Carrie explains. ‘A tiny house was

Designed to use sunlight, water and wind to create a homely microclimate, Fab Lab House attracted 20Â 000 visitors during the 2010 Solar Decathlon Europe in Madrid, Spain

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a solution to owning our own home while saving money to build a larger one. It’s an investment we can live in.’

Their 60m2 house is a marvel of miniature planning. Their bed sits on a platform, their clothes hang below, and their dog’s kennel slots in between. Above the bathroom, a steel cubicle with a built-in sink, is a tiny attic. Carrie works at a swivel desk. They cook in a convection oven, which is stashed under the counter once they’re done. They own the place outright and pay the equivalent of R3 000 a month in land rent, electricity and water.

The Caverlys are currently taking orders from their Arizona base for custom-made houses built to the same diminutive proportions, through their website, clotheslinetinyhomes. com. They’re part of a small-scale revolution: the ‘tiny house’ movement, a concerted push to live within spaces smaller than 1 000ft2 (about 92,9m2) and leave a smaller structural footprint.

At its vanguard is designer Jay Shafer, founder of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company (tumbleweedhouses.com).

Shafer started living small in 1999. He now sells timber homes between 4,6m2 and 69,6m2, as well as plans for those who want to do it themselves. His buildings are finished in beautiful materials like cedar, brushed pine and stainless steel, with design features you’d see in an upscale country cottage – verandas and balustrades – but shrunk to garden-shed dimensions. Others have picked up the idea and run with it. Small Home Oregon (smallhomeoregon.net) does a roaring trade in self-sufficient garden cottages and tear-drop trailers. Further south, Tiny Texas Houses (tinytexashouses.com) is making a lie of the Lone Star State’s penchant for the superlative.

‘A lot of people have been burned by the banking fiasco and want to own a home without being indebted to a bank for 30 years,’ says Carrie. ‘I think we’ll see smaller dwellings become more of a norm as people look for financial freedom and a way to have a lighter footprint on the environment.’

Our aspirations are definitely smaller. We’re reading books like Phyllis Richardson’s Nano House for inspiration. We’re

LITTLE GEMS Three of Phyllis Richardson’s favourite lightweight houses around the world: 1. Thailand – Butterfly Houses (by TYIN Tegnestue Architects), right: foundations made from repurposed tyres prevent damp creeping into these bamboo dorms. Their wing-like roofs promote ventilation.

2. The US – The Silo House (by Cornell University), centre, with floor plan above: this construction’s corrugated-steel cylinders echo the grain silos of upstate New York.

Skin-integrated solar panels heat water, and skylights make the most of natural light.

3. Japan – PACO 3M3 (by Jo Nagasaka/ Schemata Architects), far right: this clever box has a shower, toilet, sleeping space – and a desk tucked beneath the floor. Need some sunlight? Raise the roof and let the outside in.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: PHYLLIS RICHARDSON

whiling the working day away on blogs like Cabin Porn, The Tiny Life and Small House Style. We’re staying smaller on vacation, at campsites like the Treebones Resort in Big Sur, California, where you can sleep in woven wood ‘nests’, and holiday homes like The Edge, a converted cliff-top shack in Cornwall.

In 2007 we were obsessed with property. There seemed to be no limit to how high prices could climb, yet the thirst for acquisition, the human need to stick a stake in the ground and say ‘this is mine’ drove first-time buyers. They clamoured for the chance to be saddled with a mortgage seven, eight, even nine times their salary. Ageing parents handed over their savings to help children get a leg-up. At dinner parties, people would discuss spiralling house prices with the sort of lugubrious relish normally reserved for dissecting friends’ divorces. At home, we mainlined property programmes, idly wondering how much value an extension would add. What a difference six years makes.

In the world’s most populous cities, the decision to downsize is already being taken out of buyers’ hands. Last summer, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a competition to design a 300ft2 (27,8m2) ‘micro-unit’. The contest was a way of addressing the city’s skyrocketing rental rates, but also a response to the rise in one-person households. The winner, nArchitects’ My Micro NY, comes with ceilings that are 3m high and mini outdoor decks. San Francisco lawmakers are now considering shrinking the required size of their new builds from 27m2 to 20m2. And it will come as a surprise to absolutely noone who’s ever lived there that London now has the smallest new homes anywhere in Europe.

The small-house movement comes down to more than economic expediency, though. Some adherents, like the Caverlys, have been stung by the downturn. Others are firsttime buyers who’d otherwise be priced out of the market. Some are environmentalists wanting to live off the grid. But many are second-homers leaning towards the small and streamlined out of preference. It seems living large has lost its appeal right across

the board. People have finally grasped that, in material terms, bigger is not necessarily better. Enough is as good as a feast.

‘It’s about thoughtful design and quality of the spaces being built,’ says Richardson. ‘Since nano homes are so compact, designers can invest in better technologies and materials. Also, they’ll be much more energy-efficient and cheaper to run, and inspire a little paring down of stuff.’

Lew Geffen, chairman of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty, and his wife, Sandy, have a large family home in Johannesburg but spend half their week in Cape Town. Even with the means to do so, it made no sense to run two homes so they opted for a modern, superbly placed two-bedroom apartment in Clifton on the Atlantic Seaboard. ‘For us it was the attraction of a lovely view and enough space for Lew and me to really enjoy Cape Town to its fullest,’ says Sandy.

The convenience of a lock-up-and-go allows them more free time to enjoy the sporty, outdoor life they love, without the time and financial demands of running substantial properties in two cities.

Of course, it’s only in the past decade that we’ve been able to pare down our stuff so comprehensively. Since we’ve been able to download our albums onto iPods, carry a library of books around on a Kindle, and store a cache of films and box sets on a tablet computer, we no longer need shelving units, CD racks or television tables. And as our needs have changed, so has our definition of luxury.

Once upon a time when success was measured in square metres, luxury meant acres of space. Now, it means latitude of a different sort. Small homeowners are discovering they don’t need to slave all the hours God sends to meet their mortgage repayments. Nor do they have to sequester half their salary heating a draughty, high-ceilinged property, or half their time keeping it maintained. They’re able to scale back their work and see more of their families. They can spend their weekends pursuing their passions.

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Deconstructed Faced with workplace restrictions after a corporate takeover, Mark Vinjevold chose to go wild or go home.

Words DEBBIE HATHWAY Photography ANDREW MCGIBBON

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‘On the Botswana side of the Kalahari there are no fences, no power, no water… no nothing!’

HE’S THE KIND OF MAN who’d rather take early retirement when faced with a new corporate culture after a merger than break a 30-year habit of wearing shorts to work. Now former construction director Mark Vinjevold artfully dodges contact with people outside a circle of close friends and family, and disappears into the bush. Sometimes it’s on South African territory but he often goes beyond our borders where effective electronic communication is rare.

With his resignation duly tendered, Vinjevold was loath to relinquish life on site so he focused on managing construction works on his second home, a farm near Hluhluwe in northern Zululand, early in 2011. It was stimulating, he says, to be involved with bricks and mortar again, the only downside being very erratic internet coverage and cellphone connectivity. ‘Just imagine me wading through snake-infested, thigh-high, thick bush, between the tamboti trees, to find a spot with one bar of network coverage!’

At 57, Vinjevold relishes the opportunity to channel the energy he used to put into canoeing, cycling and triathlons (he claimed a silver medal in the Ironman) into planning adventures. It’s a 1 500km drive from his home in Umhlanga, Durban, to the Twee Rivieren rest camp in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, on the border between SA and Botswana, and that’s where the excitement truly begins. Why does he do it? ‘I’m retired but that doesn’t mean I’m going to become an old fart sitting on a balcony. Preparing for my next trip to the Kalahari is most stimulating – retirement’s a real thrill.’

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Slightly defiant in pursuit of his dream to explore the African wild, Vinjevold loses himself in the preparation for his travels, alternately referencing and ignoring guidebook advice. ‘The trouble with travel guides is that they take about two years to complete, by which stage they’re often out of date,’ he says.

On safari, Vinjevold is used to being greeted wide-eyed by patrolling rangers who enquire as to the whereabouts of the rest of his party because they’ve encountered him in an area where it’s recommended to venture with two or three vehicles – never a single transport and certainly never alone. ‘Incidentally, I’m the only normal person I’ve ever met,’ he adds. And he means it.

When he’s abandoned by a GPS without a signal or a satellite phone with a flat battery, Vinjevold thanks his parents – and his lucky stars – for their practical approach to education, which exposed him to scouting as a young boy. Yet, despite being able to navigate with an old-fashioned, hand-held compass, driving aimlessly in the middle of nowhere can push the limits of anyone’s patience so he’s had to compromise. He now travels with two sets of satellite positioning and telephone equipment. It’s a double-or-nothing strategy.

In between expeditions, his closest mates are his Staffies. The dogs travel with him from Durban to Hluhluwe, where they patiently await his return.

‘The puppy is great fun but also a challenge – he eats everything, including the gear lever in the Land Cruiser, when we travel and is scared of the dark on the farm,’ Vinjevold says. ‘We love to camp and watch the Milky

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

[Above, from left] Southern Yellowbilled Hornbills are known locally as ‘flying bananas’; the kind of close encounter that takes great courage to experience

Way in tango and all the stars having a waltz. At night we hear hyenas and hippos, and we’ve found leopard tracks.’

Vinjevold is fiercely invested in the preservation of nature. He didn’t take kindly to the news of a proposed sale of the adjacent 20ha property for a development. So he ousted the buyer and bought it himself. ‘I now have the security of knowing that there won’t be construction for a period, or tourists coming in, or domestic deliveries.’

It’s bare Zululand bush.

In 2012, Vinjevold made several expeditions to the Zimbabwean parks and Botswana. The opportunity to volunteer as a scout during the Mana Pools game count in Kgalagadi was a catalyst for further adventure. ‘This was the 20th anniversary of the official count so it was a special occasion,’ he says.

Thereafter, Vinjevold covered ground in the Lower Zambezi National Park, Liuwa Plains National Park and Kafue National Park in Zambia, via Lusaka. ‘It was a driving adventure of note, with many pontoon crossings and heavy-duty sand roads, which meant a lot of scouting on foot. When you see a portion of road that you’re unsure about, you’ve got to get out to assess its condition and to look for an escape route. If you get stuck in the vehicle and you’re all alone, you’re really stuck…’

The lesson? ‘Don’t be reckless and think you’re bulletproof!’

Liuwa holds special memories for Vinjevold, partly because that was where he saw the start of the southern migration of the wildebeest. Some of their young were less than 12 hours old. ‘Every day held an experience of

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note, like the villager who walked four hours to fetch a chicken for my supper, and a taxi hitting my Land Cruiser in Lusaka, which resulted in a face-off with about 18 very aggressive locals,’ says Vinjevold. ‘I eventually settled on handing over US$20 [about R200]; maybe I got off lightly! Compare that to attending a directors’ meeting on a Monday morning…’

He talks about the thrill when hippo happened upon his little tent or elephant ventured dangerously close, but one of his most memorable close encounters was with a lion. It was after what he calls a lion opera, ‘when they roar the whole night’. At first light, Vinjevold stepped out of his tent and spotted the shape of a lion about 20m away. He got into his Land Cruiser to track it, but the sandy ground held no clues and he lost the trail. Back at the camp, he heard a child, about 500m away, say ‘lion’.

‘I turned and saw this massive lion at the ablution block about two metres away… So I’m eyeballing this lion and the lion’s eyeballing me. They say whenever you’re that close to a lion you never run. So I had to take eight agonising steps to get into the vehicle, where the door had been left open, fortunately. The lion took two or three steps in my direction, showing some interest, and that was frightening! When you’re on the same level as them and not elevated in a vehicle, it’s very different.’

What’s the draw of the Kalahari? Vinjevold says the Botswana side has a special ambience. ‘There are no fences, no power, no water... no nothing! And the night stars create a kaleidoscopic wonder that generates an indescribable inner peace.’

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O N T H E N E D E R B U R G A U C T I O N G R A P E V I N E

A SECRET LIFE Very soon there will be a gathering of the elders: a collection of 132 vintage wines that have been singled out as ambassadors of their fine estates. They began their journey in the vineyards, wedded to the terroir, at the mercy of the elements and the conditions of the harvest. Consider the hands and focused minds behind their making, and their cool, dark resting place over the years. The alchemy behind their slow maturation will remain a mystery but, once tasted by some of the most discerning palates in the country, these wines stand in a league of their own. They were judged by their ‘age-worthiness’, their inclination to change, to become more complex, more refined.

Sixteen of these wines are from the Cape Legends collection, which includes estates such as Allesverloren, Alto, Durbanville Hills, Fleur du Cap, Le Bonheur, Lomond, Monis, Neethlingshof and Zonnebloem. Superlative quality underpins each of these perfectly aged wines, some dating back more than four decades. The Zonnebloem Cabernet Sauvignon 1973 is the most mature vintage in the collection, achieving a remarkable review from members of the auction selection panel, who described it as ‘fruitcake with intense spices… a fine, delicate, well-structured wine with wonderful length’. Other notable wines in the line-up are a 1982 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2000 Vintage Port from Allesverloren; an Alto Shiraz 2004; a Caapmans Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2006 and a Rhinofields Inner Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2009 from the awardwinning winery Durbanville Hills, an elegant Le Bonheur Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 and the very special Monis Collectors Port 1948, which features the valuable double postage stamp collection.

Ultimately the process and patience behind the maturation of a fine wine constitute only a measured step towards what really matters – a rewarding experience for the owner. Your reassurance of quality lies in your certainty that, when you open one of these wines, it will be in the best possible drinking condition, offering an appreciation and gratification that is expressed in the experience of drinking it, rather than words.

The annual Nederburg Auction specialises in wines that are rare and rewarding, whether they’re purchased for personal enjoyment or investment reasons.

ON THE NEDERBURG AUCTION GRAPEVINE

THE COMPLETE LIST OF 132 WINES THAT WILL BE SOLD AT THE 2013 NEDERBURG AUCTION IN PAARL ON 6 AND 7 SEPTEMBER CAN BE DOWNLOADED AT NEDERBURGAUCTION.CO.ZA.

IF YOU’RE EAGER TO EXPAND YOUR COLLECTION AND WOULD LIKE TO BE INCLUDED ON THE BUYER GUEST LIST FOR THIS YEAR’S EVENT AND/OR ATTEND THE PRE-AUCTION TASTING EVENTS TAKING PLACE IN CAPE TOWN AND JOHANNESBURG IN JULY, CALL THE NEDERBURG AUCTION OFFICE ON 021 809 7000 OR EMAIL DSTEYN@DISTELL.CO.ZA BEFORE 18 JULY 2013.

SOUL FOOD

Shoot Out It’s all very well taking ruinously expensive camera gear on a photo safari but what if the buck doesn’t stop there? That’s where guiding counts.

Words IAN GLENN AND LES AUPIAIS

LEX HES IS AT HOME in the Sabi Sand. He was one of the first Londolozi guides and filmed The Leopards of Londolozi; there is even a road in the reserve named after him. He is one of the greats of African wildlife photography, with 35 000 mounted slides covering half a continent and 30 years of dedicated observation and creation. But now, with the digital age, he is helping create a new generation of serious amateurs spoiled by the marvels of digital technology but still wrestling with how to find the right animal in the right light and say something powerful about it.

He looks like a Western lawman: tall, lean, easy-going, unflappable – something of a Cool Hand Luke of the bush. He knows that this course, like many of those offered by EcoTraining, the company he co-owns, can be a life-altering experience: the bush seems to be a good space for midlife crises. Sylvie, the French-speaking Swiss radiographer, says she wants to flee the life of being a ‘radiography rat’ underground all day; Antje has been working to a brutal schedule in the Middle East for a decade to make enough money to start her own photo-safari company.

Ian, a New Zealander originally from the north of England, has saved up for years for the experience and will move on to volunteer his time for conservation in the Kruger Park. Christa, by her own admission, is something of a perfectionist when she’s not heading up the division of an international real-estate empire in Pretoria.

And for this creative-spiritual-technical safari, Hes and his wife, Lynn, who runs the camp, are the ideal guides. By day four, we’ve all had the photographic version of a Damascus road experience.

Rule one for photography is the same as rule one for cooking: first catch the rabbit, or, if one is lucky, the lion or rhino or leopard. Hes has chosen Sabi Sand Reserve, one of the world’s great wild animal viewing locations, for our hunting ground. We

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‘Simply said, the bush grabs your soul and won’t let go.’

SYLVIE, RADIOGRAPHER, SWITZERLAND

Focusing on the sunset and the cutout shapes of the bush, we learn to play our cameras like musical instruments, fine-tuned to light, aperture and composition.

Lex Hes captures the group

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‘It’s the first time I was really present at something physically and mentally.

My mind is usually somewhere else…’

CHRISTA, EXECUTIVE, PROPERTY INDUSTRY

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[Clockwise, from top left] Sylvie captures the focused stare of a leopard cub; it’s all about the moment – a charming composition by Antje; staking out a buffalo and his travelling companions requires patience; a baby baboon startled by a sudden movement, caught by Sylvie; sometimes a portrait works without all the elements and resting lions suddenly become interesting; at the right speed, water is suspended in the air as a hippo flicks his ear. Lex gets it

start with an elephant moving out of the water at a pace, ears back, apparently alarmed by the approach of another elephant, and then see the Big Five. Repeatedly. But we also spend serious time on impala, wildebeest, birds, veld grasses in morning light, birds that seem to take flight at the sight of a 600mm lens, and a grey tree frog on a grey branch in impossible light.

Then, Hes’s rule two: work the subject. He says, cheerfully, that he prefers this to having to guide people who simply want to tick a sighting and move on. We may not be the archetypal fashion photographers coaxing another smile or something genuine from a pouting model, but after half-an-hour of shooting a Cape buffalo in the water with Red-billed Oxpeckers on its back, many of us are saying, under our breath, ‘Come on, baby, open those eyes, show us more teeth, get some expression into chewing the cud,’ and ‘Come on birds, move to the head, work that tick...’

And what subjects we get. It looks like the word is out among the leopards that the leopard man is back because for four days we see them, and not just the fleeting glimpse of rosettes on a solitary animal disappearing in the bush. We have leopard with kill in tree, a blood-stained lip on a head tilted quizzically, leopard with young cubs walking along the road, timed to appear just as we round a bend in the road. Watching the shots we have taken after this amazing viewing, most of want to slit our wrists. That Gene Hackman quote in Unforgiven comes to mind: ‘Look son, being a good shot, being quick with a pistol, that don’t do no harm, but it don’t mean much next to being cool-headed.’

In our excitement and frame-per-second capacities, tails have been cut off, the technical details have been forgotten, spots are blurred and we have struggled to get mother with both cubs in frame and in focus. Thousands of digital shots have been fired but only a few have hit the mark. When we do our daily review of what we’ve learned and show our best shot or shots where we think we learned something, most of us are sportingly positive about what the others have taken, even though we cursed inwardly at being ‘outgunned’ by a skilled and lucky shot.

Late one afternoon, we see another leopard with two larger cubs. The next morning, Hes has us up even earlier than our usual 5.30am. Ours is the first vehicle back to the site and there the mother is lying on a dark rock, in full view. Hes grins, ‘I thought last night it would be nice if she came to lie there.’

The mother gives way on the rock, first to one cub, then another. The cubs stalk and ambush each other, their overlarge paws a sign that this is serious preparation for work ahead. Hes warns us to be ready: here comes the charge. A barrage of shots follows as the cubs clash playfully in midair, but in the overcast early-morning light, details are not as clear as one would like. But at least some of the jitters of the first encounters have cleared. We are cultivating some small degree of ‘cool’.

Ian is on his first safari and seems to be a magnet for lioness attention from the outset. We see lionesses trying to hunt impala

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‘What I do doesn’t fulfil me any more. This puts your life back into balance.’

ANTJE, BUSINESSWOMAN, DUBAI

Wrong shutter speed, wrong aperture, fading light… And yet, perhaps this is the last thing a kudu might see at dusk before it’s brought down. Printed on matt paper in black-and-white, it remains the editor’s favourite mistake

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THROUGH THE DIGITAL LOOKING GLASS If you’re serious about photography, and especially if you are doing it for a living, you’ll need a second camera body. If your one and only camera packs up, there’ll be no leopard and kill up a tree!

‘I’ve never had a massive budget so I’ve tended to spend my money on lenses rather than on the camera,’ says wildlife pro Lex Hes, who confesses that he’s never had the top-of-the range camera in his kit. ‘In terms of Nikon gear, I’d go for something like the D7000 as my top camera,

and a D3100 or D3200 as my second camera. I’d then spend my money on the best lenses I can afford, particularly zoom lenses that give me a good range of focal lengths from wide to telephoto without too much overlap.’

Hes says there is a lot of additional equipment that could enhance one’s photography greatly. Sound bets are an off-camera flash (the more powerful the better), a good-quality tripod with a ball head or Wimberley head, bean bags and a macro-flash unit.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

SOUL FOOD

and getting close, but not close enough. Then we find a whole pride at a zebra kill a few metres from the road. The old quip is that a buffalo looks at you as though you owe him money. The lionesses look at Ian as though they are blaming him for every Springbok rugby defeat of the last decade. As he is about two metres away in an open vehicle, with only fresh air and the ripe odour of dead zebra between him and the lions, he has a tough introduction to the Big Five. Of course, we are merciless in teasing him about what lions do when they ‘fixate’ on a person and for some hours he is a little tense, but by day two he is managing a tight smile about it. There are more hair-raising moments to come.

Hes wants to get us to try different techniques: backlit subjects, changing perspectives, shooting from ground level. To get us to think like photographers, he manoeuvres into position and talks us through the shot, telling us what to look out for.

When the shot turns out well, it is usually because Hes has more or less choreographed it.

Each time he wants us to shoot a hippo from ground level, interesting things happen. The first time, we are seconds from bailing out of the vehicle when Christa (who appointed herself ‘health-and-safety officer’) luckily spots the pride of lions, now sated from zebra and near water, just over the sandbank from where we are supposed to lie. The next time, we make it out of the vehicle, grab sandbags to prop up the lenses and prepare to shoot hippo. Elephant obligingly arrive to drink so we shoot elephants from low down. Then Christa, who by now has decided we need serious minding, sees two young elephant bulls that have broken from the herd and are alarmingly close. Hes remains calm as we dash for safety but even he finds his hat has stayed behind on the ground in the scramble for the vehicle.

Many great creatives are lousy teachers: competitive, egocentric, impatient. Hes is patient, encouraging, gentle. He gives daily lectures in which he draws on his experiences and advises without prescribing. The most impressive display of his guiding detective work came when a bird flew off rapidly to the right. Hes was looking left and we thought he’d missed it. Then he did a Sherlock Holmes: ‘That was a young Bateleur with a full crop. Young Bateleurs usually scavenge for food, so I wonder what’s over there.’

Over there, to be honest, we found a tree frog, which we photographed at great length. But then again, don’t look a gift camouflaged amphibian in the mouth. It was hell getting the exposure right.

One early evening we are watching lionesses hunt impala and the light is too dark for decent shooting. Hes says, ‘Don’t forget just to look because you are so obsessed with taking the picture.’

By the end of the course, we are beginning to think more like wildlife photographers: seeing more, better, differently.

For more details, visit ecotraining.co.za and orms.co.za.

GEARING UP Lex Hes’s advice is typical of the serious professional wildlife photographer. Camera bodies change more often than serious distance lenses, and so the lenses are the major investment decision.

For the wildlife photographer, Canon’s long-awaited and recently announced 200400mm F4 IS USM zoom with built-in 1,4 adaptor (available from June for the price of a small car and probably with world-wide waiting lists) is probably a bigger deal and deal-breaker than the Canon 6D or other DSLR body, full frame or not.

What of the fullframe cameras and their advantages? Stephen Middlekoop of Orms says that, while the pixel arms race seems to be over, with diminishing returns setting in over 12 million pixels, there are recent advances that affect wildlife photography.

First is the development of IS or VR lenses – lenses that reduce shake and the need for tripods, and allow better shots in poor light or held by hand. Second is the ways in which the newer cameras allow shooting in lower light, quicker autofocusing, and faster burst shooting. All these make them highly desirable for wildlife photography.

There is one issue on which the jury seems to be out. Some reviewers, such as Ken Rockwell, praise the newest cameras, such as the Canon EOS 5D Mark III or 6D, for giving old

lenses a new lease on life – correcting lens aberration and making them look better.

Middlekoop’s experience with many of the newer cameras is that owners find their older zoom lenses just aren’t up to the requirements and capacities of the newer processors. If you have money invested in older lenses, it may be worth trying out the newer camera bodies before upgrading.

Finally, what about the ‘bridge’ cameras? These are the most sophisticated versions of the point-andshoot models, with amazing zoom lengths – the Canon Powershot SX50 HS or Sony Cyber-shot HX300 with a 50x zoom, or the Nikon Coolpix P520 with a 42x zoom. Alternatively, if these are still too bulky, you can opt for a camera, typically with a 20x zoom capacity, that is easy to slip into your pocket: the Leica V-Lux 40, Lumix DMCTZ40, Nikon Coolpix 9500 or the Canon PowerShot SX260 (or SX240) HS. The argument for all these cameras is that you could avoid the hassles of overweight hand luggage, changing lenses and technological overkill, and have something truly portable. You may get the shot when the DSLR person is changing lenses, getting balanced, over-kitted, too near. But when it comes to low light, moving objects or complex auto-focusing, you are going to be outgunned.

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Skyrun Few runners who take to the mountains ever look back. And when they do, it’s usually just to admire the view.

FOR THE LOVE OF SWITCHBACKS ‘It’s where I connect,’ muses cover girl Vanessa Haywood about being on the trail. ‘I grew up on a farm, so the mountains, the endless views, the quiet... It rejuvenates and revives me.’

Of course, running – moving faster than a walk by never having two feet on the ground at the same time – can be done anywhere, from Sea Point’s famous Promenade to the cobbled paths of Zoo Lake, or the treadmill at your local health club. On any road.

Comparing that to trail running is a frivolous exercise. The simple truth is that the two are wholly different endeavours, much like road cycling and mountain biking, or busting lengths in the pool and open-water swimming. They’re as far removed as track sprinting is from marathon running.

Haywood refers to being in nature as ‘her church’, and it’s a spiritual connection commonly voiced by those who love to put pace up (and down) wild mountain switchbacks. You won’t often hear roadies gush about their connection to the cracks in the asphalt or philosophise over the way the shadows shifted as the sun dipped low behind the street lamps.

Make no mistake about it, though: while nature, with its unmanicured rocky outcrops, loosely packed corners and slippery slopes, may set the pace of a trail trot, and there’s no complicated, expensive equipment required to take your first off-road steps, it’s not entirely ‘hey-shoo-wow’ in its essence. The top trail racers of the world are some of the most finely tuned athletes you’re likely to come across.

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Words and captions JAZZ KUSCHKE Photography CRAIG KOLESKY/ NIKON/LEXAR Asphalt XR three-quarter-zip midlayer R649 and Trail 20 running pack R849, both Salomon; Radar Lock sunglasses from R2 650, Oakley; Suunto Ambit 2S HR watch R4 999, Cape Union Mart

‘WAY BEFORE WE WERE SCRATCHING pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees,’ writes Christopher McDougall, ‘we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain.’

If his narrative on the ‘Stone Age super-athlete’ running culture of the Tarahumara Indians of the Copper Canyon is not the most influential piece of endurance-sport writing in the past five years, it sure is one of the most provocative.

Trail running may just be the original sport and, judging by its boom in the last decade, runners are going back to their roots.

PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

Agoraphobia is the fear of wide open spaces. If you’re at all so inclined, the remoteness of the northeastern Cape’s alpine region, through which the Salomon Skyrun tracks, is not for you

PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

EXO III full-length tights R1 499 and SLAB 5 shoes R1 799, both Salomon;

PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

Up to 32 patents and as much as two years of R&D go into the design of a pair of Salomon trail shoes or a garment. The lab coats in Annecy, France, study everything from an athlete’s stride to the way his or her muscles behave under compression

PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

Ryan Sandes believes in doing as much research as possible before races to make sure he knows the route and its characteristics and variables – this gives him the confidence to go out hard when the gun goes

TO RACE ACROSS THE SKY Salomon Skyrun is the ultimate event. This high-altitude endurance run over an unmarked route of more than 100km through the highlands of the northeastern Cape sees athletes traverse the remote border fence between the Herschel district and Lesotho, from Lady Grey to the finish at Wartrail Country Club. Runners need to be entirely self-sufficient and navigate by map, compass and GPS unit. Most will take more than 27 hours to complete the race.

The mountain elements of South Africa’s alpine region are unpredictable at best and lethal at worst. The variables are many, the prize money is negligible (and that’s only if you win, anyway), and when athletes go back to their anonymous lives after the race, there’s really no way for them to make others understand quite what they’ve achieved.

‘Mental toughness is probably the most important aspect of what makes a good endurance athlete,’ says Haywood, who supported her boyfriend, South Africa’s most successful trail runner, Ryan Sandes, to his 2012 record of 12h:36min.

‘Being physically fit is “easy” but when you’re suffering and your mind effectively shuts down, your body tends to follow. And vice versa,’ she continues. ‘The 2013 Absa Cape Epic was a perfect example − I was physically fitter than I’ve ever been, having put in a massive amount of training, but when I suffered two major asthma attacks in the last three days and I lost the physical battle due to my body just not doing what it should have, I had to dig deeper than I’ve ever had to before.’

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TREND

Surfaces are inconsistent and the ascents and descents often steeper and more technical than what you may be used to on the road, but this variability makes for an effective total-body workout. Not one footfall is the same, meaning your balance, core flexibility and upper-body strength all come into play

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PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

Haywood will no doubt need to tap into those mental skills when she tackles the Skyrun Lite, the 65km version of the race, in November this year.

‘In order to finish Skyrun, runners need to overcome so many personal perceptions and boundaries,’ explains race director Adrian Saffy. This isn’t some marketing spiel. Saffy is the sweeper on the race (he brings home the last group) and has lost count of how many he’s completed (but he knows the number is in double figures).

‘You have to draw on character and mental strength much more than physical fitness and ability, and where this becomes most clear is with road runners,’ he says, quickly qualifying that he’s not knocking any other sport or event. ‘We’ve had super-fit roadies – sub-seven-hour Comrades athletes – come to tackle Skyrun and fail. Their minds are conditioned towards a seven- or eight-hour effort and now they’re suffering for 20-odd hours. Physically they’re fitter than most of the field but because their minds aren’t tuned to the gravity of the task ahead, well…’

Skyrun may not quite be your brew of java, but trail running is far from an exclusive club and the last thing you’re likely to hear a ‘Skyrunner’ saying is, ‘If you don’t run trail, don’t start – we don’t need any more people up there…’ As McDougall says, regardless of whether you’re a CEO or shop assistant, everyone sucks air and needs to take another step to get to the finish line.

SOME INSPIRATION Watch the trailer for Wandering Fever, The African Attachment’s soon-to-bereleased documentary on Ryan Sandes at wanderingfever.com, and check out The Beauty of the Irrational, a video about his Fish River Canyon record run at http://vimeo.com/47355798.

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My Big Fat Seduction The pictures don’t lie. Mauritian beaches are that beautiful, the resorts legendary. Superior service takes this one to another level.

Words DEBBIE HATHWAY

PERSPECTIVE. IT COMES with the mental clarity that going ‘placidly amid the noise and haste’ can bring. It’s a top USP for One&Only Le Saint Géran, which eases guests into neutral almost overnight. There’s an irresistible allure to Mauritius because it delivers the postcard promise: the palmtree-white-sand experience, warm sea, water sports and an island that’s surprisingly exotic if you take the time to drive the windy roads between impossibly green cane fields and black volcanic outcrops and explore the towns and villages. The problem is that, once you’ve slipped through the gateway and on to the private peninsula that marks Le Saint Géran territory, the resort is powerfully seductive.

Its unspoken invitation is to simply… be. Why then should one be rash enough to leave?

While its location is certainly spectacular, nature can’t take all the credit. Designed to bring the outside in, the resort architecture is voluminous and the public spaces filled with flowers, tropical plants and water features that

provide a home for water birds and a solitary Grey Crowned Crane. Le Saint Géran has a 500-strong team poised to satisfy guests’ every whim. An advance request to purchase a local SIM card is duly translated into said SIM being presented on check-in, close to midnight, with airtime already loaded. Now that’s impressive!

Their incentive? Passion for the industry and an innate capacity to serve.

So it’s hardly surprising that this resort boasts a repeat rate of about 45 percent. While many staff members have been on the payroll for almost three decades, repeat guests (called regulars) treat it as their second home. A British client who proudly celebrated his 81st birthday there in April was spotted seeing off departing guests at the entrance. And later, after breakfast next to the pool, his wife put the finishing touches to a birthday cake she was about to deliver to the resident golf pro… It’s one big happy family – and that’s no cliché.

‘Mauritians are service-oriented. They’re very gentle, very humble in their approach.

Their warmth is genuine; they’re not putting on a façade,’ says London-based, Michelinstarred chef Vineet Bhatia, the talent behind Rasoi restaurant. ‘I’m not saying that because I’m part of One&Only. I’ve been coming here for the past 12 years and, for me, it’s even more important because my youngest learned to walk on the island. It’s very close to my heart − we come here almost every July for a break.’

Of course, fine wining and dining is par for the course and new menus are introduced quarterly to keep things interesting. Bhatia says the international trend is ‘grazing…

Everything is light, lean and locally sourced.’

His key to a tasting menu? ‘It has to be like a musical note. If we serve six courses, one after the other, they shouldn’t be boring!’

In short, you’re after a symphony of matching flavours, complementary colours and tantalising textures. ‘When you bite into something crispy, it crackles – so it gets your ears going… makes you salivate. All your senses should be activated when you eat.’

The beaches are swept daily, soon after sunrise.

It’s special to be the first to make footprints in the sand or swim in the warm water before other guests surface

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Chef Vikash Coonjan serves mouthwatering combinations with flair – and he’ll even let you make your own tiramisu!

The Holiday Factory is offering Private Edition readers the following exclusive offer: seven nights at One&Only Le Saint Géran from R20 085 per person sharing, including airport taxes of about R3 275, accommodation in a junior suite, breakfast and dinner daily, non-motorised water sports and complimentary green fees at the Gary Player nine-hole golf course.

Valid until 20 September 2013.

Booking conditions apply. Quote Private Edition Reader Offer when enquiring. Call The Holiday Factory on 0860 ISLAND (0860 475263), email res@theholidayfactory.co.za or visit theholidayfactory.co.za.

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‘First-timers here expect rice and curry – but there’s more to Indian cuisine,’ he smiles.

‘Our new tasting menu is the showcase; it gives everyone the magic of the spices – our food is aromatic for the sake of flavour. It’s not chilli hot unless it’s by request.’

On arrival, guests are asked to provide information about what they want to see or do during their stay (an itinerary can be tailor-made) and their meal preferences. ‘If guests specify that they’re lactose intolerant or vegan or don’t want any spices in their food at all, the restaurants are forewarned and cater accordingly,’ says Bhatia.

Executive chef Kariem Hassene, too, recognises the importance of stimulating and surprising guests with his menu at La Terrasse, located poolside with incredible ocean views.

Whether he’s catering for breakfast, serving a bountiful seafood buffet beneath the natural (tree) umbrellas or setting up a Mauritian feast on the sandbank, he opts for eye-catching displays and fresh, colourful, local ingredients in mouthwatering combinations.

He shops at the Central Market in Port Louis twice a week. It’s about an hour’s drive from the resort and is known for its fresh fruit and vegetables, spices and an array of souvenirs like beautifully embroidered tablecloths. Hassene ensures he’s there when the market opens, often selecting choice ingredients directly off the trucks. ‘I’m very picky; if it’s not the best, I don’t want it,’ he insists. ‘I put myself in the shoes of the guests and think about what I would expect. We try to give the best of Mauritius at this resort.’

Born in Algiers but raised in France, Hassene says his father worked in a restaurant and his mother at a catering school. ‘I used to ask my mother to make me chocolate mousse every day. Eventually she got tired of it and said I should make my own. So I did. It will be on my winter menu – slightly modified, of course…’

Prime is one of the new developments at the resort, a contemporary restaurant opened to satisfy regulars’ requests for something different. Mauritian chef Vikash Coonjan’s menu inspires rave reviews. Ever-attentive staff serve swiftly and carefully – a side table suddenly materialises to hold a handbag, or a plate is produced to catch a forkful of seaurchin soufflé being passed down the table.

Before you look again, that fork is neatly replaced at the table setting.

What’s more, Coonjan and the sommelier host a weekly food-and-wine pairing for up to

12 guests in the Prime kitchen. It’s all about the experience and the guests love it!

One&Only Le Saint Géran is geared to nourish body and soul. Literally. The spa offers therapies that promise to ‘unwind, balance and uplift’, while the Pedi:Mani:Cure Studio by Bastien Gonzalez offers hand and f00t treatments that will forever change your view on how to care for these extremities. (The only outlet in South Africa is at One&Only Cape Town).

Another new feature is the Harmonia seven-day wellness programme introduced by Francesc Miralles. ‘Welcome to little Tibet,’ he says, as he begins his assessment. ‘People usually arrive stressed or jet-lagged. We assess their physical health and work at detoxing, rebalancing and improving the immune system through daily spa treatments, Chinese herbal supplements and a customised diet.’

Miralles works closely with Hassene to develop the required recipes to exacting standards.

In addition, morning t’ai chi practice is encouraged for its calming and strengthening benefits. And yet, there are also other ways to work off the day’s culinary indulgences. The boathouse is the go-to place for sailing, waterskiing, snorkelling and other water-based activities, while the nearby tennis courts and nine-hole Gary Player golf course are some of the facilities provided for those who prefer to burn kilojoules on dry land.

After dinner, music lovers can enjoy the sounds of The Famous Nine and, if the mood grabs them, dance the night away. Five of the nine musicians have been playing with the band at One&Only Le Saint Géran for many years. Their repertoire is mind-blowing, their ability world-class. ‘Guests often have special requests. If they’re here for two weeks, say, and we don’t know their song, we will learn it to play it for them before they leave,’ says bass guitarist Leal Philogene.

Lead singer Pierre Baptiste concedes that a band that size is unusual on the island, but it makes them more special. That and the fact that they’ve accompanied Chris de Burgh’s festive-season performances there for the past 17 years…

One thing’s for sure. Island style gets under your skin. Once you’ve experienced it, the very least you’ll take home with you is a sense of knowing… you will return again.

For more information on Mauritius, visit tourism-mauritius.mu.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GREAT STOCK!/CORBIS; SUPPLIED

TRAVEL

TRAVEL

Keeping up with the (Indiana) Joneses The Peruvian Amazon jungle, once a destination for only the most intrepid explorers, has a captivating power unlike anywhere else on the planet – and now you can explore it in comfort.

Words MEG DE JONG

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EVERYTHING IS ALIVE in the Amazon jungle. Vibrantly, abundantly alive. Our small group stands perfectly still in the deep dark of the evening and we feel the rainforest come alive around us.

Things skitter in the bushes nearby, crickets chirp with a sound uncannily like a sprinkler system, and some sort of creature up a tree makes a noise just like an electric razor. To my delight, as my eyes adjust to the dark, I see glow bugs blink all around me. The very air itself, thick and soupy humid, is cognisant, clinging to you as you move. There is a magic out here that is unlike any other.

Jungle hospitality has long been synonymous with the most extreme of adventurousness, an Indiana Jones connotation of hacking your way through undergrowth and camping in swamps surrounded by swarms of mosquitoes. While you will be hard-pressed to escape the mosquitoes anywhere in the rainforest, those who are more creatures of comfort will be delighted to learn that it is possible to see the best of the Amazon basin while staying in top-notch accommodation.

Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica comes widely recommended as one of the best options for exploring the jungle in luxurious comfort. The lodge is nestled on the banks of the Madre de Dios River in the south of the Peruvian Amazon basin. The 12 000ha private ecological reserve lies

adjacent to the lush Tambopata National Reserve and is one of the last few virgin tropical rainforests that is reachable with some degree of ease. To get there, one flies into Puerto Maldonado, only a 35-minute hop from Cusco, then it’s a quick car ride to the wharf before a 45-minute journey by boat down the river.

By the time you reach the lodge, you’re in a whole new world. No cellphones, no internet, no television. Agoutis – rodents that look like dassies with rabbit legs – hop tamely in and out of the bushes, and butterflies the size of your palm flit past lazily. One species in particular enchants me: the Caligo or owl butterfly has markings on its outer wings that look like the sharp, scornful eyes of an owl. On the inside, however, it’s another butterfly entirely – here the wings are a striking metallic azure.

Your home now is one of the 35 rustic yet elegant thatched-roof cabanas in native Amazoninspired design, complete with screened porches, hammocks, hot showers and ceiling fans. At night, you lie in the delicious comfort of soft cotton sheets, while tropical birds call and the river sloshes a stone’s throw away. The lodge, which prides itself as an ecotourism pioneer, has limited

Explorers of old could only dream of sinking into such luxury after a hard day’s jungle trekking – honeymooners can sleep here in the canopy, with walkways offering outstanding views of the rainforest

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A boat trip before sunset brings another chance to meet some of the rare creatures of this untamed region [Opposite] ‘Comfort zone’ takes on a whole new meaning

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electricity use, but the lanterns that illuminate your cabana when you return in the evening only add to the romance of it all.

Pathways made of tree trunk ‘stepping stones’ lead you from your abode to the grand pavilion at the heart of the lodge. Here you have your meals at dinner tables and chairs carved out of whole logs.

It’s almost worth making the trek out here for the menu alone. Optimising on locally sourced, fresh ingredients, it offers a scrumptious combination of traditional Peruvian dishes – llama or guinea pig, anyone? – as well as more familiar dishes for those with a less adventurous palate.

The fish battered in coconut is a culinary experience you won’t soon forget.

But when it comes down to it, what most people are really here for is the jungle: the immense, vital Amazon, and the many discoveries it holds. Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica offers a range of different excursions to suit your taste, time and physical capability. You could learn about the medicinal properties of the local flora in the rainforest garden, spot snakes and spiders on a night walk, or ascend to the tree tops and admire the jungle from above on the canopy walkway.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

It’s almost worth making the trek out here for the menu alone. Optimising on fresh ingredients, it offers a scrumptious combination of traditional Peruvian dishes.

Twilight boat rides give you the chance to see, among many other things, caymans – the alligators of the Amazon – and capybaras, guinea pigs the size of a German shepherd. They are, in fact, the largest rodents in the world. For the more active, a 3km trek to Sandoval Lake in the Tambopata National Reserve offers plenty opportunity for close encounters with howler and spider monkeys, cheeky capuchins and multicoloured macaws as you paddle a canoe around the lake itself. Here, navigating the overgrown waterways, you really do feel like Indiana Jones.

The dry season – from May to September – is said to be the better time to visit the region, especially if seeing the animals is a priority for you. But whenever you go, there’s no question about this: once you have a taste of the Amazon magic, you’ll never be quite the same again.

Inkaterra has a number of other properties in Peru, including a retreat at the foot of Machu Picchu, and a boutique hotel in Cusco that used to be a colonial mansion. For more information, visit inkaterra.com.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: DANIE NEL

AN ELIZABETH ARDEN SOCIAL EVENT

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ARDENT SUPPORTERS The best thing about an Elizabeth Arden event is the one-to-one advice on skincare – unless you have a personal therapist on speed dial.

Even more importantly, guests have the opportunity to have their skin examined for sun damage, and this can be an important wake-up call.

Cocktails, good company, shared experiences... the right formula for a combination of science and sociability.

1) Elizca Gerber, Cherylle de Greeff, Heather de Klerk (Elizabeth Arden) 2) Grant Davison, Anina Malherbe, Michael Lan 3) Gina Myers, Leigh van den Berg, Chelle Lovatt 4) Debbie Hathway (Private Edition), Helen McCallum (Elizabeth Arden), Janine Fernandes (Elizabeth Arden) 5) Jo-Ann Smit, Roxanne Leibrandt 6) Megan Drury, Katerina Phillips (Celebrity Services Africa)

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BROUGHT TO YOU IN CONJUNCTION WITH PREVAGE, THE BAY HOTEL AND MONTEGRAPPA

ON A FINAL NOTE

A LONG TIME BACK, there was a corny advert on television about the merits of buying farmfresh chickens. ‘They taste so good because they eat so good,’ went the pay-off line.

Shocking grammar aside, it stuck. It’s tempting to attach something a lot more classy but just as memorable to Bea Tollman’s Big Idea about ‘hiring service’ for the Red Carnation Hotel Collection, the family-owned hotel chain founded by the Tollmans 30 years ago: ‘It works so well because they hire so well.’ She was at the 12 Apostles – the collection’s South African gem – a few months ago, in a year that marks the couple’s stellar reign of nearly three decades in the hotel business. Stan and Bea’s purchase of The Chesterfield Hotel in London in 1984 formed the foundation of the group that today stands at 14 five- and four-star boutique and luxury hotels.

Much is said about ‘attention to detail’ in this business but Bea has pretty much cornered the market. She still analyses the signature dishes that the hotels plan to introduce to the menus and asks general managers to forward her the correspondence they receive from happy – or occasionally unhappy – guests.

To the former she may send a lovely old-

Stan and Bea Tollman in New York City, 1959

The Real Bea to Bea fashioned ‘thank you’, to the latter she will sincerely apologise and make amends, turning a small lemon into a rather delicious tarte citron. That’s a Bea personal touch in terms of service but she is also involved in many of the most important staff interviews and gauges who to hire, not based on a CV clogged with posh credentials but the hopeful’s palpable sincerity, body language, smarts and what she calls ‘alertness’. Oh, that schools, colleges and academies could teach it. Bea says the group also grows their stars from within the ranks – young people who then move up from front-ofhouse to senior management positions. When guests write about a particularly impressive staff member, their names go into Bea’s informal little black book. ‘Your guests teach

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you your business,’ she says. Choosing staff this way links nicely with how the couple build the bricks-and-mortar side of the business.

They are famous for choosing existing hotels that may have faded gently into scruffiness over the decades but that have one glorious advantage, their position – such as The Rubens that overlooks Buckingham Palace.

Any potential ‘Carnation’ will, of course, get a serious injection of capex but, money aside, it is what Bea calls the ‘work-timedetermination-imagination’ formula that really does the trick. ‘Competition is fierce,’ she says. But then, when you have cracked the hospitality code, guests return. A housekeeper might offer a guest a choice of soaps that soothe tired, frazzled travellers after a long-haul

Words LES AUPIAIS

flight. In some hotels guests are encouraged to ‘plunder the pantry’ after a late night out.

Returnees who book for extended stays are often given little gifts of appreciation that could be as modest as a credit-card holder to a pair of pretty (real) pearl earrings. And then there are her whimsical and very charming touches to decor. ‘I was in a taxi once and spied a lovely antique Chinese screen in a shop that I thought would look lovely in one of our rooms. The screen had birds painted on it so I commissioned an artist to paint more of them on the ceiling of the suite as if the birds had taken flight...’ Surprise and delight is the phrase du jour in marketing circles if you want to succeed in business – but perhaps it’s a matter of Bea’n there, done that.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

Hotelier Bea Tollman knows a thing or two about big returns on small touches.