(
Hop on a wooden dhow (traditional sailboat) and cruise to a secluded camp that’s worlds away from dusty safaris, shops or even a road. You’ll find Greystoke Mahale nestled between verdant mountains and the clear waters of Lake Tanganyika, the second-largest lake in the world. Built from old boats gathered from the shore, with thatched roofs woven from palms, the six bandas (traditional huts) open into the forest.
Spot chimpanzees creeping down the mountain, and trek high into the hills after a storm washes away the summer haze. Kayak, snorkel and fish in the lake, or laze in the dhow at sunset and enjoy sashimi and a sundowner as hippos lope by.
Archives: Highlights
Allows the user to create Highlights
Witness the Wildebeest Birthing Season at Serengeti National Park
Nowhere is the fabled circle of life more extraordinary than when wildebeest give birth en masse in the southern reaches of Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. Every year between January and March, more than 400,000 of these big-game animals calve during a period of just a few weeks in a curtain-raiser to the annual great wildebeest migration, when around 1.5 million travel to the Maasai Mara in their perpetual search for food and water. The sight of thousands of wildebeest giving birth in the grassy plains is a breathtaking spectacle, but it can also be quite brutal.
There is some safety in numbers – the more young delivered at once, the greater their overall chance of survival – but predators are always lurking. Some newborns are delivered straight from the womb into the jaws of a waiting pack of hungry lions or hyenas, and those that aren’t have to find their feet quickly. Most are running with the herd within minutes and are able to outpace hyenas in just a few days. For the squeamish, this time of year signals the tail end of the birthing season when many of the predators are satiated and you can marvel at the creation of life, rather than wince as a wildlife slasher film plays out before your eyes.
Get Your Skates on at Zurich Airport
Feel the wind beneath your wings as you scoot around Zurich Airport on a bike or a funky pair of inline skates. The airport hires out gear and helmets to travellers itching to escape outdoors and get the blood flowing back into their legs.
If a red-eye flight has sapped your sense of balance, hire a pair of Nordic walking poles instead and let your feet lead you exploring. If you’d prefer to stay airside, join one of the airport tours, or perhaps treat one of the kids to a birthday party. How many other kids get to have an A380 at their birthday bash, complete with real, live pilots?
Aurora Safari Camp
It may not be Narnia, but this Swedish camp is every bit as enchanting. And you don’t need a magic wardrobe to get there, just access to a snowmobile.
Constructed in the forest by Lapland’s Råne River and far from light pollution, the camp is the ideal base for admiring the Milky Way and, if you’re lucky, the northern lights. Capture the phenomenon on camera under the guidance of owner and photographer Fredrik Broman, and when the cold gets too much, sink into an armchair by the fire in your teepee-like lavvu tent and defrost your fingers and toes.
During the day in the winter, snowshoe trekking is a mandatory pastime. Otherwise, you can book a husky expedition, go snowmobiling or try your hand at ice fishing. In summer, there’s canoeing, kayaking and nature treks, but best of all are the photography courses run by Broman. The camp is well off the grid and surrounded by the best of Nordic nature. You may not meet Mr Tumnus the faun, but plenty of moose, fox and reindeer hide in the woods, leaving trails for you to follow.
Sleep underwater at Hotell Utter Inn
It may look like a typical Swedish house from afar, but the shimmer around Utter Inn ain’t no mirage. Floating on Lake Mälaren, this miniature underwater cottage enables guests to sleep with the fishes, literally. Slip through a hatch in the floor and descend into a watertight bedroom, where your bed wallows three metres below the surface, and wake to the puckered kiss of a pike sucking on the glass by your head at sunrise.
Despite its tiny 25-square-metre size, the cottage squeezes in a fridge, stove and loo. If you suffer cabin fever, make your escape by rowboat and explore the Västerås archipelago, or fish for perch from the shade of the verandah. Happy floating!
Treehotel
Scandinavian architecture meets the great outdoors in the futuristic treehouses at Treehotel. These five unique dwellings feature sleek design suspended among the native pines, blending with the environment so you feel part of the forest itself.
Go incognito in the Mirrorcube, which could easily be mistaken for a Bond villain’s lair, or disappear into the Bird’s Nest, an oversized construction of twigs and branches that manages to pull off looking bizarre and seriously cool at the same time. The Treesauna is the perfect refuge to unwind in. More treerooms are planned for the future, and we can’t wait to see what those look like.
The Secret Yala
Better known for its wildlife encounters than sandy shores, the teardrop-shaped island of Sri Lanka possesses some of the world’s most beautiful beaches. Tucked between jungle and a gorgeous beach on the southeast coast of the island, this ‘glampsite’ showcases the best of both attractions with plenty of luxurious trimmings to keep campers happy.
Hang around home base with your own Belvedere answering your every demand, or lie back in a private beach hut and take in sweeping views of the Indian Ocean. If booking a personal butler feels a little too posh, pull on your khakis, grab your binoculars (they’re supplied in each tent) and hit the jungle with the on-call zoologist.
During the day spot elephants, leopards and crocs on a safari through Yala National Park or go bird-watching at the Bundala Bird Sanctuary. For spiritual exploration, soak up heady incense at the Kataragama Temple and nearby shrines, or get a taste of local life in Kirinda, a fishing village.
Hang out with 400 wild elephants
The elephants came in two by two. Hurrah! Hurrah! Then a few more turned up and, in fact, many, many more wandered along as well. If you want to see pachyderms en masse there is one journey you have to take: a trip to the annual elephant gathering at Minneriya National Park. During Sri Lanka’s dry season (around October), the water levels of a centuries-old reservoir in the park, located in the country’s North Central Province, start to drop, resulting in the sprouting of luscious, green grasses.
Attracted by both the water and easily accessible food, the park’s elephants – sometimes up to 400 at a time – come here to bathe, eat and hang out with their thick-skinned friends. Visitors travel in open-top jeeps to see a most stunning sight – the largest congregation of wild elephants anywhere in the world.
Hotel Marqués de Riscal
Unveiled in 2006, the Hotel Marqués de Riscal was an opportunity for Frank Gehry to showcase his signature style against an exquisite backdrop – the rolling hills of the Rioja wine region. Looking at the result, you can see why Vanity Fair described Gehry as “the most important architect of our age.”
Gleaming ribbons of titanium almost mimic the undulating surrounds, while the tilted walls and cathedral ceilings contrast with the warmth of wood and canny homely touches found in the 43 rooms and suites. We imagine that sipping tempranillo on the angled terrace while gazing across to the medieval town of Elciego would keep most lovers of wine and design satisfied for quite some time.
Cosy up with King Penguins
Love coos through the air on the island of South Georgia. Each October and November, hundreds of thousands of king penguins carpet the valleys and plains of this crown jewel of the Antarctic – one of the world’s most remote and wildlife-dense islands – in a bid to woo a companion and pop out an egg. Become the object of curiosity at St Andrews Bay, where more than 150,000 couples coat the landscape, then head to Elshul to spot gentoo and macaroni penguins, with orange feathers splayed on their heads, and albatross flaunting their famous wings.
At this time of year there’s more to see on the island than birds pining for love – listen, too, for the roar of southern elephant seals and Antarctic fur seals rasping at the air. Watch them lounge around before peak breeding season takes hold and dangerous armies of males rage on shore with their testosterone pumping.