AFRICA UPDATE Arijiju’s rustic-chic dining room VILLA INCOGNITO Arijiju, a new house on Kenya’s Borana Conservancy, is a refuge not just from the bush but from the world. BY ALICE B-B Kenya’s Laikipia, an hour’s flight north of Nairobi, has 15,300 square kilometres of grasslands, a mosquito-free climate and a density of wildlife second only to the Maasai Mara’s. It’s here, on the Borana Conservancy, that earlier this year a villa appeared. Or, rather, did not appear: for the house, Arijiju, is barely visible, either from the air (thanks to a green roof) The lap pool, with views of the valley beyond or from the ground (it’s camouflaged by wild olive and acacia trees). One could say that arriving here is underwhelming – which is precisely what the owner wanted. After my twin-prop plane landed at the ranch’s airstrip, I took a bumpy ride in a Land Rover until the car stopped beneath a cluster of trees. There was nothing to signify that I was approaching a property that 400 builders worked on for over 21 months. Down steps carved from rose-hued bedrock and inspired by Ethiopian churches, I arrived at a studded double door set into a stone wall. Then, down a dark stone corridor as my eyes adjusted to a shaft of light, the magic of Arijiju was revealed. I stepped into a rose- and lavender-scented garden courtyard with vaulted cloisters that are informed by Le Thoronet Abbey, a Cistercian monastery in the South of France. Straight ahead, past the tinkling fountains and frog-filled ponds, through the glass doors, was a view of Mount Kenya. A visionary team built Arijiju, whose owner prefers anonymity. London-based architect Alex Michaelis of Michaelis Boyd says, “The result is unarchitected. It’s about trying to blend in.” British garden designer Jinny Blom was also involved. “The owner told me he just needed a courtyard,” Blom says. “I ended up landscaping about 12 hectares as he kept encouraging me to ‘bury the house, hide it!’ ” Inside, Arijiju is discreetly glamorous, thanks to Johannesburg-based Maira Koutsoudakis, known for her textured, low-key, luxe design at North Island in the Seychelles. Off the courtyard are three bedroom suites with beds covered in floppy linens and de Le Cuona linen curtains that puddle beside steel-framed windows. The French-influenced bathrooms are lit with chandeliers and sconces above copper bathtubs. At night the copper bar in the living room glows with candlelight as Joseph the barman fixes cocktails before serving them on the fortress-style roof terrace. Two guest cottages are up the meandering path. After sunrise, I was tempted to flop by the Bisazza-tiled infinity pool and gaze out across the plain. But the lure of the bush was stronger. There’s endless action: game drives, helicopter rides around Mount Kenya, trout fishing on Lake Michaelson, mountain biking, quad biking, swimming in wild pools in the Ngare Ndare Forest, or horseback riding. Arijiju has both a tennis court and a squash court, with sneakers to borrow in every size. Beyond the pool are a gym, a yoga platform and a hammam. On a game drive, Arijiju’s encyclopedic guide, Amory McCloud, noticed something shuffling in the bushes. A white rhino emerged. Borana, along with neighbouring Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, is custodian of some 70 white and 90 black rhinos, which live on the estates’ 37,630 hectares. It’s one of the few places left in the world where both species can be sighted. Indeed, Borana’s dedication to conservation is one of the reasons Arijiju’s owner built here. Each of the five private houses on the estate contributes about US0,000 to the conservancy by renting their properties. That is why Arijiju is let for just ten weeks per year. So don’t dillydally. ♦ Tour operator Journeys by Design can arrange a stay. journeysbydesign.com FROM TOP: CROOKES & JACKSON; DOOK PHOTOGRAPHY 20 DEPARTURES-INTERNATIONAL.COM
BLACKBOOK ADRENALINE ON SAFARI Game drives: been there, done that? Try a safari by boat, foot and air instead. Also in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, on Great Plains Conservation’s Selinda Reserve, is the Selinda Adventure Trail. For four days, a guide leads travellers in 5.5m canoes through the Selinda Spillway water channels, stopping to see animal activity (elephants, buffalo, African wild dogs) along the banks, followed by treks inland. “The trail has a unique combination of canoeing, walking, time with native Bugakwe guides, and easy helicopter access,” says Will Jones, founder of UKbased tour operator Journeys by Design. journeysbydesign.com DOOK PHOTOGRAPHY CAMP CHILL-OUT Botswana’s renovated Duba Plains Camp has evolved into more than just a place for game drives. BY JESSICA FLINT Safari camps are not exactly set up for old-fashioned relaxation. Consider the typical daily itinerary: 5:30 wake up; 6:00 game drive; 9:30 bush breakfast; 13:00 lunch; 16:00 tea; 16:30 game drive; 18:30 sundowner; 20:00 dinner. Then repeat that day after day, often at multiple lodges. When is there time simply to lie on your tent’s outdoor daybed? Great Plains Conservation’s Duba Plains Camp (greatplains conservation.com), above, which reopened in March in Botswana’s Okavango Delta after a complete overhaul, offers plenty of game viewing. But like its sister property, Zarafa Camp (greatplainsconservation.com), it’s turned the safari experience into more of a … vacation. Duba stands apart from other African camps for several reasons. First, the five tents, outfitted in 1920s style, are quite big, at 120 square metres (more than twice the room size at Ian Schrager’s new Public Hotel in Manhattan). Each has an outdoor deck with a large plunge pool and – an African tent rarity – a spinning bike. Yoga mats and weights in each tent are a plus. More standard are the in-tent massages. In the communal mess tent there are a wine cellar, a library, a media room and, outside, a fire pit. Then there are the activities. Guests can borrow professional Canon photo equipment to enhance their wildlife drives; at camp, there’s an iMac with picture-editing software. A kitchen offers cooking lessons. Is calling Duba Plains a bush resort a stretch? Maybe. But a case can be made for tacking on an extra day or two – or even three – at Duba to give yourself time to use those alfresco showers, brass bathtubs, and, of course, the outdoor daybed. ♦ BETTER GORILLA TREKKING Volcanoes National Park, in Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains, is probably the best place in Africa to track mountain gorillas – 480 of them live here (around half the world’s population). And now there’s a luxe camp for travellers. Bisate Lodge, which opened this summer from Wilderness Safaris, has six thatched villas and a strong sustainability focus: the company is reforesting its land to enhance the great ape’s habitat. So far it has planted over 15,000 trees, which also provide shelter for birds and monkeys. wilderness-safaris.com CONTACT PLATINUM CARD SERVICE FOR BOOKINGS DEPARTURES-INTERNATIONAL.COM 21
