african travel

South Africa Nature Preserve Vacation Rental for $70,000 a week

Remember learning the haunting melody of "In the Jungle" at summer camp? Well, now you can live it. A private outpost in South Africa's Mapungubwe Private Nature Reserve is listed for lease at $70,000 a week. No neighbors, unless you count the lions and elephants who roam freely around you.

The owner has most thoughtfully arranged private security for this experience. The 10,000-square-foot home comes staffed and has nine bedrooms and eight baths. Located in South Africa's Limpopo Province, the unique home is the ultimate nature and safari experience. Surrounded by elephants, leopards, lions, antelopes, zebras and other animals, guests are flown in by helicopter or private plane. There is access to telephone and Internet but this is truly intended to be a "get away from it all and commune with nature experience" -- luxury style. The staff are all native-born, familiar with the preserve, and live on site in separate quarters. There is a full building master suite with a view of the South African countryside. The home is built in true African style with a thatched room and decorated appropriately for the environment. All modern conveniences are provided.

There is an open air shower and an outdoor living room with fireplace. Inquiries about leasing the home may be made of Magnus Hellberg, Partners Trust Realty in Los Angeles.

Gallery: $70,000 a week South African Rental

Tags: africa travel, african travel, luxury vacation, luxury vacation rental, south africa, vacation rental

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Luxury in the Bush - 10 Ways to Safari in Style

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

These days, when you hear the phrase "I'm going on an African safari," roughing it doesn't necessarily come to mind. Those with the wherewithal to get themselves to Africa usually also have the means to make their trip a pretty comfortable one, even in the bush.

If you're like me, you find that almost disappointing. It doesn't seem fair to impose a luxury hotel on the wilderness of Africa, and it definitely doesn't seem right to destroy natural resources just to make the bush more amenable to wealthy guests. But, consider that some of the money from those guests goes to support the national parks and the local communities, as well as protect the natural resources. Consider that they bring not only money, and lots of it, but that they are there to experience, not destroy, the wildlife.

I still had my apprehensions about this balance when I embarked on my recent trip to Zambia, where I visited four Sanctuary Retreats camps on a tour with Abercrombie & Kent, a Luxist Awards' Nominee in the Best Adventure Getaway Category. To my surprise and delight, I found the most exceptional juxtaposition of immersion in the wild and modern convenience and comfort I have ever seen. I had heard that the Sanctuary Retreats camps were designed to be eco-friendly, but I couldn't have imagined just how seamlessly they fit into the landscape, and how natural and harmless their remarkable luxuries felt.

Here are ten ways A&K and Sanctuary Retreats make the bush luxurious -- and how they protect the environment and local communities while doing so.

1. Location, location, location.

With the exception of Sanctuary Baines' and Stanley's Camp, all Sanctuary Retreats properties are located within national parks. This make for impossibly pristine surroundings -- and allows the camp managers to be stewards of those surroundings. In most camps, the wildlife is so present that you can hear various animals wandering around your tent or room at night. They definitely don't seem to mind the guests being there.

2. Hot water.

Hot water is definitely a luxury when you're in the bush -- and Sanctuary Zambezi Kulefu Camp (above) keeps it eco-friendly by using solar power to heat the water.

Gallery: Luxury in the Zambian Bush

3. Size matters.

Each camp obeys strict regulations as to how many people and guestrooms it can have. As a result, you are always in an intimate group of travelers (the maximum number of guestrooms I experienced was 14 at Sussi & Chuma). This not only keeps the camps' footprints small, but ensures that the staff can keep an eye on all the guests. This both protects the safety of the guests and the safety of the surrounding wildlife -- and gives the experience a highly elite feel.

Tags: abercrombie and kent, adventure travel, african travel, awards-main, luxist-awards, main-pedia, safari, sanctuary retreats, summer-travel-pedia, winter-travel-pedia, zambia

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Tongabezi Lodge in Zambia for the Holidays, Dr. Livingstone?

by Ann Brenoff (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" The man to whom Sir Henry Morton Stanley posed that now-famous question was Scottish missionary David Livingstone, who had been out of contact with the world for several years when Stanley found him. Livingstone explored these parts of Zambia and today, his legacy lives on with much named in his honor.

The banks of the Zambezi River is where the 5-star Tongabezi Lodge is located. The lodge was founded in 1990 and consists of small cottages, each assigned its own valet to care for his guests and act as a private concierge. Game drives, bush walks and boating rips are all included in the price. Nearby Victoria Falls can be seen either by boat or helicopter and the best views may be from Livingstone Island, where one can also take a swim in the Devil's Pool, a unique falls experience where conflicting water currents allow for (semi-)safe swimming described as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The lodge is the first river lodge at Victoria Falls in Zambia, and it's offering a three-night holiday package that combines celebration with Zambian traditions at Christmas and New Year's. The all-inclusive costs for each three-night stay is $1,350, which includes accommodations, meals, bar drinks, one spa treatment and all entertainment.

Gallery: Zambia TongabeziHoliday Package

Tags: africa, african travel, holidays, zambia

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Tanzania's Lupita Island, a Real-Life 'Fantasy Island'

by Ann Brenoff (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

This is my mid-summer's fantasy vacation: A stay on a spectacular 130-acre private island off Africa with open-air luxury rooms set in a pristine natural habitat. Accessible only by boat. Price: If you have to ask ... (A family cottage with two bedrooms and two baths is $2,600 a night. One bedroom units rent for $863 per person or $518 for a child sharing. Meals and water sports are included.)

Guests of Lupita Island, located on Africa's Lake Tanganyika in south western Tanzania, stay in detached, open-sided thatched-roof villas with views of Africa's second largest lake. The resort provides a variety of water sports, luxury dining, relaxation, spa services and the fact that there is a very good chance no one can reach you by cell phone. That's called a getaway vacation.

The luxury resort, which completed a major renovation in June 1010, was designed to blend in with the environment. It is surrounded by dense indigenous forest, open grassland and rocky outcrops. The Lupita Island Resort accommodates guests in a 13 luxury suites and 2 presidential suites, which have private plunge pools and the option of star beds. The plunge pools are fed by a constant flow of water through the suite resembling a soothing mountain stream.

Gallery: Lupita Island

Tags: african travel, island, Lupita, lupita island, luxury travel, tanzania

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Luxury Safari Lodge Opening In Kenya

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

The Safari Collection of lodges and camps has announced that its latest property will be open for guests as of August 1. Solio Lodge is located on the Solio Game Reserve between Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Mountains in Kenya. The new property has been built by Tanya and Mikey Carr-Hartley, the owners and operators of the three Tamimi properties, Giraffe Manor, Sasaab and Sala's Camp. Solio Lodge has just six rooms. The design incorporates both modern and traditional elements with both thatch roofs and plate glass windows. Each room has a large sitting area with an open fire. The Solio Reserve is the most successful private rhinoceros breeding reserve in all of Kenya, and home to over 74 Black Rhinos and 155 White Rhinos. Other wildlife and birdlife are also in residence and the Solio Lodge offers horseback riding, trout fishing, and helicopter flights. Rates start at $570 per person, per night.

Tags: african safari, african travel, kenya, safari, solio game reserve

Canelands Beach Club Open In South Africa

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

As the world looks toward South Africa while watching the World Cup, a few hotels have opened to showcase the many types of vacations available in this nation. South African hospitality brand Signature Life Hotels has opened their latest property, the Canelands Beach Club & Resort in the village of Salt Rock. The small property (just ten bedrooms) is a four-star resort with four suites that face the ocean directly. It has a restaurant with an ocean view and seating for 40. The hotel is right on the beach, you take a flag with you to your spot and when you want service you simply plant the flag upright and someone will come over. For more details check out their Facebook page.

[via Breaking Travel News]

Tags: african travel, canelands beach club, salt rock, south africa

Extraordinary Journeys Offers Luxury African Safaris

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

If it doesn't involve J. Peterman or a Hemingway novel, "safari" is probably not a word you're all that interested in hearing about. Mother-daughter team – and pilots – Marcia and Elizabeth Gordon of Extraordinary Journeys would like to have a few words with you before you banish that term for good. Working in Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, Extraordinary Journeys doesn't sell you a trip, it plans a safari specifically for you.

They have organized more than 300 African excursions for weddings, honeymoons, getaways and just-becauses, and like the proverbial snowflakes none of them have been the same. Because the excursions aren't fixed, the Gordons can combine camps, lodges, villas, private planes, 4x4s, tribal visits, elephants, horses and specific game sightseeing tours in any way you wish. They even arrange personal shoppers when you're navigating the wilds of Cape Town, you know, so you won't get stuck in line at the register behind all those penguins – they take forever at checkout...

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Tags: africa, african safari, african travel, botswana, extraordinary journeys, kenya, namibia, safari