The current issue of Whitewall, our winter 2012 Luxury Issue, includes a travel story on our recent trip to Zambia to stay at two of Sanctuary Retreats' properties, Chichele Presidential Lodge and Puku Ridge Camp. Find here the article in full along with a few personal photos and extra images that didn't make the magazine.
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Lions in the Hallways
By Katy Donoghue
We were sipping a couple of sundowners (gin and tonics, of course, to keep away the malaria) while overlooking the Puku Ridge floodplain of Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park and admiring the dozens of grazing zebra and puku. As the sun set, we looked down at the edge of my swinging, hanging chair and saw a tag that read DEDON — as in the upscale outdoor furniture purveyor whose owner we had interviewed just a few months ago for these pages. We were a bit taken aback that here, in a secluded area in southern Africa, we would find ourselves sitting on furniture from one of DEDON’s recent collections. Just across the deck was their new Orbit daybed-slash-loveseat designed by Richard Frinier. When we were later taken to our room, which was actually an extremely oversized tent, we found several pieces that felt as at home in this setting as they would at Salone del Mobile in Milan (where they had probably been at some point or another).
But perhaps we shouldn’t have been so surprised. We were on a luxury safari with Sanctuary Retreats. So let’s backtrack a bit and start at the beginning. We arrived in Mfuwe by a small plane from Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. The flight took less than two hours, and it was easy to spot our soon-to-be-guide John at the small Mfuwe airport. He led us to his four-wheeler with the Sanctuary Retreats logo on its door and immediately offered us a cold beverage (we chose the local beer, Mose) for what would be a drive of an hour or so to camp, which may sound daunting, but the catch is that the drive is also a game drive. The safari starts as soon as you exit the airport. Of course, there is an option to head straight to your room, but we had only three days — and how often does one go on safari?
Zambia has some of the continent’s best wildlife parks, but it’s far from Kruger National Park in South Africa; that is, there are way fewer tourists. Sanctuary has retreats near Zambia’s Victoria Falls and Lower Zambezi, but the valleys of South Luangwa are where you’re really going to get to spot some game. Plus, in addition to four-wheeling game drives, you get game walks, not the most common in the world of safaris. To enter South Luangwa, you cross its namesake, the Luangwa River. It’s 900 kilometers long and is home to more hippos than any other river in Africa. And, boy, did we see some hippos. On our drive we saw other animals, like wild buffalo, warthogs, grand hornbills, yellow baboons, guinea fowl, impala, and elephants. As the sun set, we pulled into quite the scene. There, next to a baobab tree were white-linen-covered tables and chairs, set up for the daily sundowner (we were glad we’d worn a dress on the plane). Several Sanctuary staff members were there to greet us, along with two guests also staying at one of Sanctuary’s locations for the night, the Chichele Presidential Lodge, including one of the lodge’s managers, the lovely Lindsay Hovell. We had our daily dose of malaria meds, a G&T, and nibbled on some chicken puffs, olives, and tomato-and-mozzarella skewers. As twilight fell, we learned that Lindsay and her husband, Garth, manage the Chichile Presidential Lodge, which had just undergone a renovation in February.
Before arriving at the lodge, we went on a quick night drive (two game drives, and all before dinner!). We spotted giraffes, more hippos out for their nightly feeding, impala, a white-tailed mongoose, and then, peculiarly, the headlights of another four-by-four. Our guide, John, told us that meant another group had spotted something special, so we went toward the headlights. And indeed, they had. There, lounging rather calmly and a little bit blasé in demeanor, was a full-fledged leopard. Just hanging out. This New Englander–turned-city-girl, who had barely seen a deer in her life, was floored. The leopard stalked a bit but mostly lay around, only once making a grunting noise that our guide told us was the leopard’s way of stating its territory. Suddenly, it looked as though it had spotted some dinner, so we headed to the lodge to enjoy a meal of our own.
Newly renovated, Chichele Presidential Lodge was once the private bush retreat of the former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda. Visitors arrive at an imposing arched entrance that leads to what we can only describe as elegant colonial. It meets the classic safari lodge expectations without all the taxidermied heads and horns everywhere (there are a few, but they are tastefully displayed). It’s obvious a tasteful eye was behind the redesign. The other striking thing about the Presidential Lodge is that it is all open-air. The grand entrance leads the eye straight back to a sweeping view of the national park. Woven rugs are interspersed with rugs of hide, and you can be sure any spot of skin, be it on pillow or lampshade, is real. Its hallways are also open to the great outdoors, which is a delight but also means one must proceed with caution, especially in the evening. Over dinner later that night — which was unbelievably well done and refined, especially considering our location — we learned from Garth, an expert guide, that a lion was once caught roaming the hallways between rooms by one of the lodge’s night guards. There are several night watchmen who escort you in the evening from dinner to your room, or from room to room. Despite our comfort that the watchmen would save us from whatever lurked in the hallways, that story (and the jet lag) made our mind race that night. In our luxurious four-poster bed with mosquito netting instead of curtains — the most ingenious and stylish use of protective gear we’ve seen yet — we barely slept, clutching the emergency whistle provided in each room between our hands.
Our sleepless night was thankfully cut short by our early morning wakeup (5:00 a.m.), game drive, and walking safari. Looking out of our private terrace as the sun rose, we spotted an elephant grazing in the trees and bushes just down the hill. And on the drive we saw something even more amazing: a wild dog. It was so rare to see one with the naked eye, and for the time of year, that the day’s guide, Prince, turned back to us and exuberantly said, “Oh my goodness, what is this I’m seeing?” The dog spotted us, though, picked up speed, and ran away. We then stopped for coffee and tea, a light snack, and our walking safari, a tradition that actually began in South Luangwa.
The walking safari offers a much different experience from the game drive. Sure, you may not spot a leopard or cheetah, but on foot you really don’t want to. What you get is real bush experience. It’s quite different to be standing on your own two feet looking at an elephant or giraffe than it is to see it from a car. Something about the abandonment of a vehicle makes it all feel more authentic (don’t worry, we still had guides and guns). Without the wind blowing through the open-air four-by-four, you can smell your surroundings, view them up close, and see the expanse of land and sky and animal. It’s thrilling. Also thrilling is the remote feeling of chance and danger. At one point, we were told to get behind a big bush as a huge, lumbering hippo, normally in the water during the day, came out from behind another bush. These are not cuddly creatures, and whether or not you know what they are capable of, that becomes wildly apparent when you view them from 20 feet away. We say it was thrilling because it wasn’t terrifying. Something I could tell, and learned in fact later in my trip, was how well trained the guides that Sanctuary employs are. These men and women have been training and have been tested for years. They are the cream of the crop, which from personal experience, we can say is not always the case.
Lunch was an Out of Africa kind of thing. In a valley full of zebra, we were driven to a 10-place white-cloth-draped table, where we ate salad, steak, and an incredible meringue dessert. Over the course of the next few days, we would discover a level of refinement in food and beverage that we believe is unparalleled not only in Zambia, but probably in most parts of Africa. Another surprise that brings us back to the first one we mentioned — the contemporary furniture of our second evening’s stay, Sanctuary’s Puku Ridge Camp, where we arrived after lunch. In addition to its furniture by DEDON, Puku Ridge’s deck also boasts a small pool and bar and lounge area. The rest of the camp is made up of seven cavernous tents, each with its own private decked balcony, secluded (and we must say heavenly) outdoor shower, indoor shower, and tub. It has a more contemporary feel than Chichele Presidential Lodge, but at the same time the tented rooms keep an “authentic safari” feeling.
For the best game-spotting on safari, it’s southern Africa. And in southern Africa, one of the best luxury safari hosts has to be Sanctuary Retreats. Their philosophy, in their camps, cruises, and lodges across Africa, and now China, is “luxury, naturally,” meaning a real safari experience without roughing it or compromising on service, food, and accommodations. It’s a philosophy they live by and have worked hard to achieve, which was overwhelmingly evident during our unforgettable stay.
