A Luxury Travel Blog

Anantara has opened its first spa in the African bush offering an authentic connection with the local culture, people and history of this exquisite land and paying homage to the days when Out of Africa author Karen Blixen came to this timeless paradise.

The Anantara Spa at Bilila Lodge Kempinski is the third in Tanzania and follows on from the successful ventures on the spice island of Zanzibar and in the bustling capital Dar Es Salaam. Located in the heart of the legendary Serengeti National Park, the latest Anantara Spa is a lyrical meditation on the strength and grace of Blixen and the stunning natural beauty of the landscape, which so captivated her after arriving as a young colonial bride in 1924.

Guests can explore a range of spa journeys and healing treatments inspired by the ruggedness of the savannah, the majesty of the mountains of this great continent, the cool flowing waters of Lake Manyara as well as the exquisite allure of the local flora and fauna.

The spa is designed in keeping with the landscape in which it is set with free use of wood, tiles and thatched elements. It has 4 double Treatment Suites, 1 double Ayurvedic Room, 1 double Thai Massage Room as well as separate male and female changing areas, a steam room, sauna and a serene relaxation lounge with reclining beds set amid gently playing water features and beautiful gardens.

Set to become one of Tanzania’s most iconic retreats, Sanctuary Swala Camp is now fully open following a US$1.5 million rebuild. The camp offers guests a completely new safari experience of “luxury, naturally” whilst causing minimum impact on the local environment.

Developed to the highest eco-friendly standards, the camp is located in the secluded area of Tarangire National Park. As one of the country’s most exciting yet least visited parks, this magical spot is renowned for its high concentrations of game. Guests will often only share their visit with the large herds of elephants that favour this exclusive corner of the park. Tarangire is also fast building a reputation for being one of the best locations to get up close to wild bat-eared foxes.

Each of the 12 luxurious canvas pavilions at Sanctuary Swala has been exquisitely designed to a spacious open plan basis, with large living area, king bed and en suite bathroom with both indoor and outdoor showers.

Floor to ceiling canvas windows lead onto large private lounge decks that overlook the main watering hole which regularly draws lions, leopards and resident bull elephants for which Sanctuary Swala is famed.

A stunning infinity swimming pool has been added and the new main dining and lounge areas feature chic, contemporary African design below traditional thatched roof structures. The extensive decked area provides the perfect setting for leisurely sundowners and elegant al fresco dining whilst enjoying outstanding views over the waterhole and valley beyond.

The Grand Opening of Bilila Lodge Kempinski was celebrated last week in the presence of His Excellency, The President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, distinguished national and international guests and dignitaries. The opening represents the first Luxury Lodge for Kempinski Hotels in the renowned Serengeti National Park, an UNESCO World Heritage site.

The much anticipated property comprises 74 exclusive guestrooms and suites including a Presidential Villa, featuring 2 bedrooms with butler service and measuring 320 square meters. All guestrooms overlook the plains of the Serengeti, and include luxury en-suite bathrooms, walking closets, and a sun deck for relaxation with personal telescope for watching game, whilst the suites feature their own private plunge pool.

It is located in the Central North, approximately 45 minutes drive from the Seronera airstrip, which in turn is a 50 minutes flight from Arusha. Located against a dramatic backdrop of Africa’s wilderness, the hotel provides private game drives, hot air balloon rides, bush walks and Champagne breakfasts in the African savannah. It has an Anantara Spa with 6 couple treatment rooms and 3 Thai massage rooms, a 24 metre infinity fresh-water swimming pool overlooking the waterhole, a restaurant with show kitchen, a bar, lounge, wine cellar, boma, library, game room, fitness centre, art gallery and gift shop, as well as conference and meeting facilities. Furthermore, experienced game rangers introduce you to the ultimate wildlife of the Serengeti.

Kempinski has announced that Bilila Lodge Kempinski will open on 1st June 2009 in the Serengeti National Park, one of Tanzania’s UNESCO World Heritage sites, claiming a first as the only global hotel chain to have a stake in the lodge market. With just 74 rooms (including two private villas), Bilila Lodge Kempinski perfectly combines the intimacy of a lodge and the facilities expected of a much larger hotel, such as an infinity pool overlooking the grasslands and an Anantara Spa. Due to strict building controls in the National Park, this will be the largest lodge ever built in the Serengeti.

As expected of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Lodge has been built in keeping with the landscape. Not only does the arc-shaped building follow the natural contours of the land, but as far as possible only local materials have been used in its construction to ensure that it blends into its surrounds. For example, over a million traditional “chelewa” brooms have been used to create the thatched roof and the stone for the walls was sourced from nearby Mugumu. The interiors also reflect the natural colours of the African landscape, with the work of local artists adding colourful highlights.

Public areas include a restaurant with an open kitchen, a lounge, a bar, a wine cellar, an authentic boma (or corral) where guests can enjoy moonlit barbecues, a conference room accommodating up to 80 people, a library, a play room, a fitness centre, an art gallery and a gift shop. All the guest rooms have luxury ensuite bathrooms, multimedia DVD players, over 50 satellite TV and radio channels, coffee/tea making facilities and a teak deck for relaxing while watching game (personal telescope included); suites have their own private plunge pool.

Bilila Lodge Kempinski is located in the Central North of the Serengeti National Park, in an untouched part of the Park where the hotel will have its own private game drives. The hotel is a 45-minute drive from the Seronera airstrip, which in turn is a 50-minute flight from Arusha, the nearest international airport, into which KLM currently flies on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Airlines such as SWISS, Emirates, British Airways, South African Airways and Qatar fly into either Nairobi or Dar-es-Salaam, from where connecting flights to Arusha can be picked up.

Bilila Lodge Kempinski is a destination in its own right, but can also be twinned with its sister property Zamani Zanzibar Kempinski for an idyllic two-centre holiday, combining the best safari and beach destinations.

This week Forbes Traveler has run a feature entitled “10 Gorgeous Glaciers“. It caught my eye not only because of the beautiful pictures but also because I have a particular interest in this subject. Few of you will know this, but my PhD was in glaciology.  Alas, Greenland – where I worked – doesn’t get a look-in; instead, the following make the shortlist:

• Biafo Glacier, Pakistan
• Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina
• Glacier Bay, Alaska
• Furtwängler Glacier, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
• Pasterze Glacier, Austria
• Vatnajökull Glacier, Iceland
• Yulong Glacier, China
• Fox and Franz Josef, New Zealand
• Athabasca Glacier, Canada
• Antarctica

What better way is there to explore some of the 5,700 square miles of the Serengeti National Park than by hot air balloon?  For a very reasonable $479 or $499 per person (depending on precise location), Serengeti Balloon Safaris will take you up for an hour to get a unique overview of the flora and fauna that abounds. Time it right and you might even witness the annual migration.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would YOU like to go ballooning most? Click on the comments link to let us know!

• La Villa des Orangers – Marrakech, Morocco
• Four Seasons Resort Sharm El-Sheikh Egypt – Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
• Table Bay Hotel Cape Town – Cape Town, South Africa
• Belle Mare Plage Hotel – Belle Mare, Mauritius
• Ngorongoro Crater Lodge – Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
• Le Touessrok – Trou d’eau Douce, Mauritius
• Cape Grace – Cape Town, South Africa
• Hyatt Regency Sharm El-Sheikh Resort – Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
• Steenberg Hotel – Constantia, South Africa
• Shamwari Game Reserve – Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Come back tomorrow for the final instalment – the best in Canada!

Experience the Serengeti from a totally new perspective at Grumeti River Camp. Exhilarating hot air ballooning safaris have recently been launched, offering a life-changing opportunity to experience the sheer enormity of the Serengeti and its magnificent wildlife from 1,000 feet above.

iExplore, named the Best Adventure Travel Website by Forbes Magazine and Travel + Leisure, has announced a list of top 10 world travel destinations as determined by purchases made by adventure and experiential travellers.  Egypt retains its number one spot, but South Africa jumps to the number 2 spot (from 19th position the year before). Argentina and Italy fell to 21st and 26th positions respectively, having previously been in the top 10. Here’s their current top 10, with the previous year’s ranking in brackets:

1. Egypt (#1)
2. South Africa (#19)
3. China (#6)
4. Antarctica (#2)
5. Peru (#4)
6. Galapagos (#17)
7. Thailand (#5)
8. Costa Rica (#11)
9. Tanzania (#8)
10. India (#14)

This is post twelove of twelve and so concludes our daily look at the best islands in the world to visit, when to visit them and where to stay (where individual recommendations are made). For December, the following are recommended:

• Bay of Islands, New Zealand: Cliff Edge by the Sea
• Cyprus: Hilton Cyprus and The Anassa
• Florida Keys: Sunset Key Guest Cottages and Little Palm Island
• Jamaica: Half Moon and Round Hill
• Mafia, Tanzania: Kinasi and Pole Pole Bungalow
• Phuket, Thailand: JW Marriott Resort & Spa and Evason Phuket Resort & Six Senses Spa

This is post seven of twelve in our daily look at the best islands in the world to visit, when to visit them and where to stay (where individual recommendations are made). For July, the following are recommended:

• Bornholm, Denmark: The Melsted Badehotel and Hotel Siemsens Gaard
• Dominican Republic: Velero Beach Resort and Natura Cabañas
• Mount Desert Island, Maine: Kingsleigh Inn
• Olkhon Island, Russia: Usad’ba (website unknown)
• Southern Gulf Islands, Canada: Madrona Valley Farm B&B
• Zanzibar, Tanzania: Emerson & Green Hotel and Breezes Beach Club & Spa

CC Africa’s Tanzania Under Canvas – the ultimate, exhiliarating, tailormade Tanzanian safari concept – is now open for guests. The luxurious tented migratory camps have been beautifully assembled and guests are enjoying up close and personal encounters with the Serengeti’s vast and exciting game-rich wilderness. Designed with CC Africa’s legendary fully-serviced style, comfort and elegance, these intimate and private camps follow directly in the footsteps of the animals year round, across the limitless Serengeti plains. Tanzania Under Canvas provides a true sense of remoteness and complete solitude in classic Hemingway tents. The tents are available on a nightly basis, allowing guests to combine it with further nights at CC Africa’s other unique Tanzanian lodges.

Precision Air have been given the 2005/6 Airline of the Year award in Tanzania in Dar es Salaam after being announced as winners by the Tanzania Tourist Board at the Africa Travel Association annual general assembly. The airline has outpaced its key competitor, Air Tanzania, and now offers an extensive domestic network that covers Zanzibar and Tanzania’s key national parks. Precision Air also provide services to Kenya (Nairobi and Mombasa), Malawi (Blantyre and Lilongwe) and UAE (Dubai).

Tourism in Tanzania is booming, thanks in part to the numerous recent investments by major luxury hotels such as the Kempinski Hotels and Resorts, Movenpick and Sun International. Kempinski has opened its first properties in East Africa, the Kilimanjaro Kempinski on the Dar es Salaam waterfront and the Zamani Kempinski Resort Hotel on the Island of Zanzibar. Movenpick has taken over the Royal Palm Hotel in Dar es Salaam, its first property in East Africa, and Sun International is building a luxury property in Zanzibar.

CC Africa’s Grumeti River Camp is located on the banks of the Grumeti River in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.  Although there is the opportunity to travel on a rather bumpy road, most guests arrive by plane courtesy of Regional Air, landing on a make-shift airstrip (read: flat stretch of grass).  As we descended upon the camp, the abundance of wildlife was immediately evident and the tail-end of the migration was depicted by a scattered line of wildebeest, all heading in the same direction.

On arrival, we were greeted by the staff and immediately shown to our tented camp by our butler, Rueben.  There are ten tents here, each with en suite bathrooms, and our shower was open to the sky allowing us to shower under the stars if we so wished.  Without further ado, it was lunch time.  Here you lunch on the banks of the river to the sound of snorting hippos.

The food is exceptional given that you are in the middle of nowhere. (I think they fly provisions in from South Africa.) Lunch consists of Greek salad followed by delicious, fresh pizza, and pineapple and raspberry sorbet to finish).  And, after watching the hippos for a little longer (they were starting to get a bit impatient with each other) and relaxing about the camp a little, it’s time for our first game drive.

Game drives at Grumeti are best at dawn and just before dusk. On the afternoon of our arrival we went out with our ranger, Wilfred, and two guests from the UK, Ken and Kim, who were seasoned visitors of the CC Africa lodges and enjoying their third stay at Grumeti. The smart 4WD Grumeti River Camp vehicle we travel in is open-sided, allowing easy viewing.

Well, what can we say… we saw everything from termite mounds to Thompson gazelles. Wildebeest, zebras, ostriches, dig-digs, mongooses (mongeese?!), a tawny eagle (which we saw kill a small bird), giraffes, Grant and Thompson gazelles, a lioness and three cubs, and more… a lot to take in and somewhat awe-inspiring!

The next day, even before breakfast we had seen crocodiles, pelicans, monkeys and more. We spent the rest of the day relaxing around the camp.  They have an open (but covered) lounge area, a bar and a plunge pool to help prevent you overheating.  And, of course, your butler is there at your beck and call. Rueben went beyond the call of duty when I was stung by a wasp, and he jumped to the scene, removed the sting and massaged my arm… I’m not sure what miracle he performed, but I’ve never before had a wasp sting that did not sting!

All the staff at the camp were exceptionally friendly, yet professional. On a semi-regular basis, many of them while away an hour or two of their afternoon playing football (soccer) and I was lucky enough to be the first guest to join them. Having a kick-about in the Serengeti with Tanzanian supporters of the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, with a lioness and her young less than a mile away, was one of my more surreal experiences to date!

A few more game drives later and we’d seen warthogs, giraffes, hyenas, buffalo, cheetahs, and lots and lots of wildebeest and zebra. We’re also lucky enough to spot a rare Colobus monkey. This is a perfect location and one where the romance of Africa is complemented by luxurious accommodation, superb cuisine and CCA’s highly personalised service. All in all, I’d highly recommend it.