"Les
circuits d’Urbane Nomads s’apparentent à de
véritables immersions dans la culture locale
: campement mobile à dos de cheval en
Tanzanie, safari à pied accompagné par des
guerriers de Laikipia dans le nord du Kenya,
hébergement à la belle étoile pour une
expérience 100 % « Out of Africa »."
Sibylle
Grandchamp, Madame Figaro
Luxury Safaris
Safaris in
private game reserves, horseriding in the Serengeti
and exploring the new frontier of luxury tourism in
Northern Kenya. True to the
philosophy of Urbane Nomads, eschewing mass tourism
for experiences off the beaten track, characterized
by luxury, leveraging on on-the-ground contacts and
offering rarefied, unusual interpretations to the
typical getaway.
Instead of having the
sound of machinery get in the way of exploring the
area, guests return to the intimacy of walking the
earth, led by experienced local warriors. There are
no electrical generators(or even electrical outlets,
save for a solar-powered unit at the main lodge)
back at camp. Instead, all the romance of being in
tented accommodations come to live as the camp is
lit solely by candlelight and gas lamps at night.
Visitors instead find themselves hosted by Samburu
warriors and learn methods of survival in the wild.
The theme of private safaris also extends to the
Serengeti, where Urbane Nomads explores new
frontiers of luxury by offering spa treatments in
the
bush, safaris in private game reserves and horseback
safaris in mobile tented camps- the latest byword in
luxury safari experiences.
Urbane Nomads is also sussing out polo opportunities
in remote northern Kenya but currently offers
horseback riding safaris amongst game in private
reserves in the Serengeti as well as Kenya.
Horseback safaris-
offered in Kenya, the Serengeti in Tanzania (the
first of its kind, through mobile tented safaris)
and Botswana, offer a unique vantage point for
viewing game, allowing you to get closer to the game
than would otherwise have been possible.
The African safari
being one of the most romanticized trips in the
travel lexicon, Urbane Nomads offers intrepid (and
romantic) travel moments- from nights spent on star
beds, gazing up to star-filled skies with nothing
between you and the skies but your duvet and a
desultory mosquito net, private candlelit dinners in
the bush, spa treatments (almost literally) in the
bush, nights spent in romantic luxury tents done up
in lavish Persian carpets, hunting chairs and
antique furniture that'd come to personify the
luxurious safari expeditions of old. Should you
decide to have a destination wedding, look no
further than the Ngorongoro Crater, a setting
that is positively Harry Potter-esque come sunrise
and sunset. Urbane Nomads is able to arrange for
luxurious destination weddings in East Africa- from
boma-styled houses, Swahili bridesmaids and Maasai
men singing against the backdrop of the Ngorongoro
crater, a perfect blend of romance and the intrepid
nature of a safari.
You could opt to end
your safari on the Swahili coast of Kenya, in
atmospheric old Lamu town or to the Lamu-influenced
Msambweni House, where guests arriving in the middle
of the night are treated to an Orientalist fantasy
of an entryway lit only by candlelight , flanked by
a welcoming djellaba-clad staff bearing fresh cold
towels and where every meal is personally tailored
to the clients' preferences. One of the best
combinations of bespoke luxury, cultural
destinations and beach retreats we'd ever
encountered, Msambweni House couches luxury within a
cultural context and an understanding of what its
safari-loving demographic needs at the end of an
eventful safari. Zanzibar, or islands off it, famous
for its melodious strain of Swahili and a name with
a cache that's hard to beat- provides an equally
luxurious ending to your safari.
Urbane Nomads'
interpretations of a 'safari' stretches as far as a
heli-safari to Lake Turkana(one of the settings for 'The Constant
Gardener'), gorilla trekking in Rwanda or a trip to
Mahale by Lake Tanganyika- one of the last settings
to see chimpanzees in the wilderness. True to our
cred of exploring remote places in 'as much luxury
as possible', the combination of remoteness with
luxury is often a balance that is felt, nowhere as
keenly as on a safari. Luxury comes in the form of
pristine lakes, languid sun-drenched afternoons
popping fresh sashimi, interesting wildlife
encounters back at your luxury lodge...
Neither is Urbane Nomads' interpretation of a luxury
safari constrained by geographic boundaries,
ranging from the traditional African safari to an
elephant-back safari in a lodge in Nepal, a tiger
safari in India or a leopard safari in Sri Lanka.
Facilitating the most luxurious camps and lodges en
route (but always, suggesting the more 'authentic'
and intrepid accommodation option of tented
accommodation over a typical lodge whenever the
choice presents itself), these Asian luxury safaris
present alternatives to the safari enthusiast, or,
alternatively, a suitably tantalizing introduction
to the safari experience.
The tiger safaris of
India- taking place over many days (and where the
journey is as part of the experience as the
destination) , the early-morning tiger sightings in
misty forests through the relatively secure vantage
points of an elephant back in Nepal or the
lesser-known leopard safaris of Sri Lanka- all
conducted in true Urbane Nomads style of
luxury-in-remote places are just some of the Asian
safaris on offer.
Photos courtesy of Lemarti's Camp and Malikha Lodge.
Your chance of encountering the
elusive leopard just became that
much higher in Sri Lanka- with its
game parks containing one of the
highest densities of leopard in the
world.
A rustic luxury safari-
combining nights in star
beds in Northern Kenya,
a retro-chic camp in the
Masai Mara and nights
under the stars on a
luxury dhow in Lamu.
Hunting with the San
Bushmen in the remote
farwestern Kalahari. An
itinerary that combines
luxury-in-remoteness,
authenticity and
style,bearing all the
hallmarks of a luxury
adventure trip with
Urbane Nomads.
