2/15/2024 0 Comments Safari style clothing![]() Nature is brought indoors through palm leaf weavings, wenge wood tables and collections of seashells, botanical prints, animal horns, landscape photographs and sculptures of the Big Five, as lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffalo are known to travelers to Africa. At Faru Faru, in northern Tanzania, the Singita ethos of “touching the earth lightly” is infused into the suites through a neutral palette and sustainable materials - woven reed partitions, raffia mats, chunky knotted woolen rugs and rattan armchairs - that connect to the outdoors. They are also, in many cases, designed to blend into the surrounding territory rather than to stand apart from it. Located in stunning landscapes, from the Serengeti Plain to the Namibian desert and Okavango Delta, the lodges emphasize their phenomenal views and offer ample outdoor areas for enjoying the wilderness and wildlife. What the properties share is a profound sense of place - which is probably common to all great design, regardless of the continent. Vertically striped fabrics line the interiors, where antique campaign-style furniture and raffia floor coverings topped by soft Berber rugs create a nostalgic aesthetic. ![]() San Camp’s tents are erected each year in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi salt pan at the start of the dry season in mid-April and collapsed before the annual rains in mid-October. The most extravagant lodges - like the Farmstead at Royal Malewane, in South Africa, and Kenya’s Segera Retreat, which is owned by Jochen Zeitz, the CEO of Harley-Davidson and founder of the Zeitz MOCAA museum in Cape Town - contain remarkable collections of contemporary African art. (The word safari is Swahili and derived from the Arabic word for journey or expedition.)Ī number of camps with a more modern perspective - like Bisate Lodge, in Rwanda, and Phinda and Singita Lebombo, both in South Africa - pair local textiles, weavings and crafts with contemporary furniture styles. Others - like San Camp and Selinda Camp, in Botswana, and Mwiba Lodge, in Tanzania - draw on the continent’s tradition of trade by incorporating pillows and carpets from Morocco, tribal art from West Africa and lanterns, hammered trays and carved wooden doors from Zanzibar. Some - like Singita Sasakwa, in Tanzania - pay homage to colonial influences with antique furniture, prints and rare books and maps. All photos by Guido TaroniĪs the founder of the luxury travel company Indagare and, before that, the longtime travel editor at Town & Country, I’ve spent months in Africa and stayed in dozens of extraordinary lodges, camps and private homes. Top: At Singita Faru Faru Lodge, in the Grumeti Concession, in Tanzania, natural and sustainable materials - reed partitions, raffia mats, knotted woolen rugs and rattan armchairs - connect the property to the outdoors. ![]() ![]() Right: Selinda Camp, in Botswana’s Selinda Concession, features an aesthetic that blends colonial style with contemporary lighting, local building materials and indigenous crafts. On a veranda at the main lodge complex, fabrics from Ardmore and Clarke & Clarke cover the sofas and chairs. Left: The comfortable, updated interiors at the Farmstead at Royal Malewane, within South Africa’s Thornybush Private Game Reserve, retain a sense of rustic charm. While the term “safari style” once evoked classic canvas tents outfitted with Oriental carpets, brass lanterns and mahogany and brass campaign furniture, it is now just as likely to encompass grand homesteads filled with contemporary African art and dramatic feats of eco-architecture furnished with raffia carpets, log tables and local textiles.įor my book Safari Style: Exceptional African Camps and Lodges( Vendome Press), I selected 21 spectacular properties across seven countries - from Kenya to South Africa - that represent the breadth and depth of safari style today, places that provide unforgettable wildlife experiences while showcasing the unique and inspiring aesthetic of African interiors.
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