Under the stars

If you love the great outdoors but not the rough and ready that goes with it, then ‘luxury camping’ is just the thing for you...

The term ‘luxury camp’ seems like a contradiction in terms, since camping has always come to mean roughing it out in a makeshift shelter in the great outdoors, making do with the very basic necessities, with comfort being conspicuously absent. But as in every sphere, parameters are constantly shifting and changing, and today, the concept of camping has been taken to another level.

No more carrying your own tent and making do with soggy food. Instead, after a long and tiring trek in the desert or in the jungle, you can come back to an air-conditioned tent, luxuriate under a hot or cold shower, find your clothes neatly laid out on the double bed, while a gourmet meal awaits you at an exquisitely set table. If there’s anything missing in this perfect scenario, the butler-on-call is there to make it right.

Welcome to the world of luxury camps. Both in India and abroad, luxury camps are synonymous with exclusivity and high quality, setting significant benchmarks to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction.

India

The Mercury Himalayan Explorations (MHE) Luxury Camps is a national award-winning travel company that has pioneered adventure sports in India since 1982. Partnered by Mercury Travels of the Oberoi Group of Hotels, MHE camps are choice selections, offering exclusive locations with great views, easy access and an array of adventure activities. All camps have luxury accommodation in tents on twin-sharing basis, with most camps offering en suite facilities.

The MHE luxury camp ahead of Sangla (8,900ft) in Kinnaur, near Shimla, is located along the Baspa river in a picture postcard camp amidst an apple orchard. The camp has 15 deluxe Swiss cottage tents spread around the campsite in clusters of four-five tents each. Every tent is a deluxe tent mounted on a concrete platform, with a private sit-out and an attached bathroom. The 12” by 12” luxury tent is designed to accommodate two full-sized beds with crisp, clean linen, quilts and furniture.

A separate, spacious tent serves as a dining room, where you can avail of multi-cuisine specialties, whether it’s Indian, Chinese or Continental, all dished out by trained chefs. Or you could enjoy barbecued snacks and soups around a crackling bonfire at night, with the gentle sounds of the Baspa river for music.

If you’re not climbing or walking, there’s a lot you can do at the camp, like, have a picnic by the river, choose from some of the indoor and outdoor games provided by the organisers, or just laze around in a hammock with a book.

On the main highway from Jodhpur to Udaipur, enroute to the famous marble temples at Ranakpur, is a fairytale luxury camp like no other. The Wilderness Camp of Rohet Garh, which is also easily accessible by air, is located just 40 km from the nearest airport at Jodhpur. Many of the guests arrive by horse or camel to this splendid desert camp, comprising a handful of beautiful tents lined with colourful, Rajasthani printed fabrics. Perched atop a sand-dune, they have access to spectacular desert views.

The tents are modern and plush, with their polished teak-wood furniture, rich jute rugs and large windows with pull-up flaps and permanent insect-netting, so that you can roll up your window and revel in the panorama outside, without getting bitten to death by insects. The attached bathrooms have running hot and cold water, flush toilets and regular wash-basins. Beautiful electric lamps adorn the bedside and writing table. There are two common lounge and dining areas, built much like the traditional Bishnoi dhanis, using thatch and dung plaster. Brightly coloured cushions in low seating and soft candle-light complete a warm and cosy ambience.

Activities include horse-riding and a village safari—Rohet Garh’s signature programme, that was started more than 17 years ago and which is truly a complete cultural experience. During the safari, guests are taken to a Bishnoi village, get a chance to interact with the natives in their homes and to marvel at the way the Bishnois have protected their flora and fauna for more than 500 years, especially the black buck, which is a rare and protected species today. Guests also meet other ethnic tribes of this region, such as the Raikas (shepherds) with their glorious costumes, the Paliwals and the Meghwals, Brahmin farmers and weavers, respectively. The village safari can be done on a jeep or horse, and the guests can look forward to a delicious high tea after returning to camp.

Another bonanza organised by the hosts at Rohet Garh are the royal picnics, a fallout from a glorious past, with liveried attendants serving you as you relax amidst soft cushions on large mattresses. The food is expectedly delicious, served hot on well-laid-out tables, along with a bottle of wine.

Africa

The Gorilla Forest Camp in Uganda’s Bwindi National Park is a permanent luxury tented camp that nestles amidst the mountainous and misty rainforests of Bwindi National Park. The camp has eight large tents with en-suite facilities and separate bathrooms with bathtubs looking out into the forest. Each tent has a large wooden deck, where guests can enjoy their meals. The tents are extremely spacious and have queen-sized beds with headboards carved by Ugandan craftsmen. From here, guests can trek up the mountain with a forest ranger to track the gorilla in its natural habitat.

East Africa’s abundant wildlife needs no introduction, nor its famed migrations (of wilde beest and other animals) in the Serengeti. Tourists throng these places in great numbers, ergo some swish luxury camps thrive here, like the Migration Camp in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. It’s a permanent luxury lodge that happens to be on the main wilde beest migration route between the Serengeti and the Masai Mara, along the banks of the Grumeti river. The lodge sits on a hillock called Poacher’s Lookout, with panoramic views of the Serengeti hills and beyond, to the plains of Masai Mara.

The Migration Camp is a traditional, tented safari camp with 20 luxury safari tents, that are arranged randomly around the lodge. The rooms are large and comfortable and rustic in design, with en suite bathrooms. Camping outdoors amidst the African bush and catching the roar of a lion as you sleep under a canvas tent, can be exhilarating.

Thailand

The Golden Triangle Tented Camp in Chiang Rai, in Thailand’s northern jungle, provides luxury along with activities such as elephant mahout training. There are also air-conditioned tents and copper baths to relax in.

Or, if you’re the adventurous type, get to Sydney, Australia for some ‘heli-swagging’. That’s Aussie lingo for camping out (“swag” meaning a portable shelter that is rolled, usually with belongings inside) and carried on one’s back. The tour ‘helicopters’ you out of Sydney over the Blue Mountains, where you can enjoy an entire day of bushwalking or wildlife spotting, then gorge on a sumptuous BBQ lunch or dinner with Aussie wine, and finally crash out on swags.