Piglet

Out of Tswalu in the Kalahari comes the unusual and heartwarming story of a baby aardvark that was saved by a vet and her husband in Vryburg, South Africa, and which has now found a home on the grounds of the lodge. Tswalu has posted the story on its blog of how the aardvark was found, reared on a particular kind of milk formula (which was eventually sponsored by the company),  and how (because of the animal’s oddly shaped mouth) they had to use a bottle from the United States designed for babies with cleft palates. They called him Piglet. Every day they took him for walks, which aardvarks do a lot of, and Piglet eventually dug his first burrow so deep (9 meters!) that he couldn’t get out and it collapsed on him, and the vet and her students camped out for 36 hours in order to get him out. Now at Tswalu, and up to 18 kilograms from 3.5 when he was found, Piglet needs to learn now to fend for himself, eat termites instead of milk, and it is hoped that he will start moving off into the wild. Read more about Piglet’s story.

'Minga vonani kuxouga ka xigaza,' Philemon Hlungwani

The task we try to set ourselves at A World Different is to find hotels and lodges around the world that do good things. Sometimes it is easy to see who those good things or deeds benefit, such as the luxurious Casa Gangotena’s work with communities in its hometown of Quito, Ecuador. Or the silversmith project supported by Ibo Island Lodge in Mozambique. Or the efforts of Cortijada Los Gázquez to resuscitate a dying Spanish village’s way of life.

'Alter Ego 1,' Andrew Verster

In the case of Ellerman House, in Cape Town, the good works are less obvious. They are actually the art works hanging on the hotel walls. The luxury boutique hotel now has 500 pieces by South African masters and 80 by contemporary artists. The specially built Ellerman Contemporary gallery opened in December 2009. The gallery, hidden away below the front of the hotel, is fronted by the striking Hier sculpture, a 3-meter head made of slate by Angus Taylor. AWD met with Ellerman House GM Nick Dreyer and talked about how the luxury boutique hotel came to become a prominent supporter of local artists and built its Ellerman Contemporary gallery as a showcase.

A World Different: Ellerman House is famous for its paintings by South African masters, such as Pierneef and Irma Stern. That collection was put together by the hotel’s owner, financier Paul Harris. But these new art works are taking Ellerman House in a new direction.

Dreyer: With the masters we gained traction as art collectors. But we had no contemporary works, and we wanted to collect them. We had this hollow space at the bottom of the property, and it suddenly became obvious that’s where the gallery should go.

Inside Elllerman Contemporary

AWD: What did you want to achieve with the gallery?

Dreyer: We wanted to give artists access to the market and we wanted to give our customers a chance to see some great South African art.

AWD: Do you sell the paintings?

Dreyer: No. We make the introduction between the guest and the art, and we might suggest galleries where they can buy the artists, such as the Goodman Gallery or Michael Stevenson. But that’s all. We collect art we love, and there is an integrity to collecting the art but not selling it.

Mary Sibande's 'They Don't Make Them Like They Used To'

AWD: Who buys the art for Ellerman Contemporary?

Dreyer: It is a collaborative affair. Myself, my colleague Mitch Terry, Paul Harris. We get advice from Mark Read, the owner of Everard Read Gallery in Johannesburg. We go to the Johannesburg Art Fair. We find out about an artist and investigate.

AWD: Are there any success stories?

Dreyer: I don’t think Ellerman can claim the success of any of these artists. As I said, we merely introduce clients to them.

AWD: Are there set tours of the gallery or do clients simply wander down?

Dreyer: It’s a small intimate hotel, so one of the managers goes with guests. Often they go down by themselves.

AWD: The Independent of London carried a story on the ‘big six’ hotels in the world that have art collections. Besides one in Melbourne, which is named after the artist whose works it carries, Ellerman was the only one of the six with the idea of promoting living artists.

Inside the Gallery

Dreyer: We have had very important art collectors stay at the hotel and they have purchased hundreds of thousands of rands worth of local art as a result.

AWD: How do you arrange the art in the gallery?

Dreyer: As soon as work comes in I put it up and take other things down. It’s not a huge gallery, and because some of the works are very large, we can only put up maybe two dozen artworks at a time. It is a bit like a store, and sometimes there are even things on the floor propped up against a wall.

AWD: The artist Angus Taylor, who did the striking head outside the gallery entrance, is now a consultant to the hotel on a building project. So your relationships with the artists go even further?

Dreyer: Angus spent three months on the property putting up the head. He made a grid of steel and then layered the rocks inside. We liked the way he worked, always with organic materials, so we asked him to be a consultant on the new villa we are adding to the property.

Who They Are

Possibly the most astonishing thing about Ellerman House – and there is plenty here to be amazed by – is that so few people know about it.  Now almost 20 years old, it has succeeded by being as under-the-radar as it has been reverentially consistent in luxury. The people who need to know about it, do.

Room No. 7

This former residence (or, to be exact, mansion) high above exclusive Bantry Bay, is a study in refinement and peacefulness. Even though the gracious building is in the heart of Cape Town, its 9 rooms, two suites, and 5-bedroom villa, each with unsurpassed views across the Atlantic, offer the perfect amount of isolation.

Room No. 10

Below the spacious yet cozy reception rooms and large porches spreads a manicured garden and pool. The rooms throughout the property are decorated with magnificent works by South African masters, including Irma Stern and Pierneef.

At the Villa

The rooms have recently been buffed up – new fabrics, bedding, and wallpapers – although subtly enough that repeat clients (of which there are many, despite the prices) probably won’t notice. While the main residence has a more traditional ambiance, the more modern villa’s rooms – with names like Aqua and Lilac – are lushly simple. The kitchen has a glass wall that opens electronically for you to ask the chefs any questions, and across from it is a ‘pantry’ full of goodies for guests to raid at all hours and which has become infamously addictive.

What They Are Doing

Ellerman House owner Paul Harris, a well-known Johannesburg financier, was the main mover behind the creation of Penreach, which works with schools in rural communities in the north of the country. Established in 1994, Penreach now touches the lives of more than 2,000 teachers a year, working in over 900 schools, and directly benefiting more than 350,000 learners . At least ninety percent of the teachers are women.

A Painting by Irma Stern at Ellerman

Penreach has also gone beyond schools, to help fund beneficial projects such as the provision of psycho-social support to teachers, orphans and vulnerable children; the improvement of state-run feeding schemes; the establishment of vegetable gardens; the development of sport and sports facilities; environmental education, with a view to turning schools into profit centers through waste management; the provision of IT training; youth leadership development camps; and administration training. So successful has it been that Penreach is aiming to reach other parts of the country in the future.

The Contemporary Gallery

Harris, who is also a patron of the arts, has one of the finest ‘galleries’ in the country decorating the walls and rooms of Ellerman House – you can find not only every South African master here but possibly also their finest work. In 2009 he opened a magnificent specially built gallery on the property to foster contemporary artists (see News). The gallery now has enough artworks to rotate the exhibition four times annually, and the exhibition there of artists has led clients to buy their works.

Singita Lebombo

Is it possible for a travel destination to be luxurious, hot (as in magazine-worthy), and sustainable? If anyone proves it, Singita does.

This African-based company has properties that go a long way to show that their hearts and minds are in the right place – they care about where they are and what they are doing. Travel is their business, but a business that has to last and in a country that has to last. Singita Grumeti, in Tanzania, has virtually turned what used to be a virtual wasteland (after years of illegal hunting and poaching) into an Eden. Bordering on the Serengeti, the 350,000 acres now have as good as you’ll get animal-wise (and probably even better than) in the iconic park next-door.

Sabora Tented Camp, Grumeti

Working with the community surrounding Grumeti is as much a part of the day-to-day as it is in Pamushana,  in Zimbabwe. For years now the property, which lies adjacent to the stunning and barely visited Gonarezhou park, has served thousands of meals daily to local children. Singita’s community work dates back to 1998 already. Whether it is buying products locally, supporting a cooking academy for staff (watch the video), or contributing to local schools, the company is doing it.

At the ever-popular Lebombo and Sweni lodges in Kruger Park, South Africa, Singita has tried to emphasize low-impact design, creating stunning rooms made of glass, steel, and reeds, perched singly on a ridge. An ongoing program of monitoring the wildlife and land around Singita’s first lodges, Ebony and Boulders lodges, in Sabi Sand, South Africa, endeavors to keep the much-used park seemingly untouched.

Children at Pamushana

At each of these properties, the work with low-impact design, the community, and the wildlife goes on daily and never ends. And that Singita doesn’t forget.

Le Quartier Courtyard

Who They Are

Le Quartier Français is an exclusive boutique hotel situated in the stunning yet quaint town of Franschhoek, just 50 minutes from Cape Town, in a spectacular valley that is a must for any food or wine lover. Always on hand and keeping an eye on keeping the hotel’s sterling name is the larger-than-life owner, Susan Huxter.

A Feast of Colors

A Grande Room

Tucked away in secluded gardens, you wouldn’t think that LQF’s gorgeously decorated rooms and suites, with their mountain views, are still so central. It is so quiet that you could be in the countryside, yet you are close enough to stroll to the myriad shops and eateries springing up in this increasingly popular hideout. Huxter has also created a fantastic shop selling local things that will leave you with your arms loaded, as well as a private 30-seater moviehouse.

The Four Quarters by Night

Lesotho Highlands Trout, Squid Ink, and Avocado

Known for its gastronomic experience – at restaurants ICI and the Tasting Room – LQF starts your day with a breakfast that is incomparable … and from there on it only gets better. Whether it is bistro lunches or homemade truffles or sensational sold-out dinners, they all come from the kitchen of award-winning chef Margot Janse and her team. Make sure to ask LQF about their range of cooking and eating adventures.

What They Are Doing

Three years ago 68-year-old Mrs. Ndaba (LQF prefers to not give out her first name) began a nursery school in her little pink shack in the informal local settlement Langrug, and she soon had 67 toddlers – aged two to six – to support and teach, but with no funding. Hearing about this in 2009, LQF, with the aid of a dietitian, began a program to make muffins crammed full of all the daily nutritional requirements growing children need. These are delivered every Friday, and any interested guests and visitors can not only join in the delivery but help bake the muffins. (Watch a video of Mrs. Ndaba’s Fridays, below, with a funky soundtrack.)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B8UrS3g8g0

But that’s only where the story starts. On the very first day of the Friday program, one guest was so inspired that he offered to fund meals at the school for every Monday for a year. He became known as Mister Monday. Before long, every day of the week had been sponsored, even by people who had not stayed at LQF.

The Cottage Entrance

A significant portion of the produce used in the restaurants is sourced locally and come from very small producers who knock on the back door with their produce of the day, and LQF’s restaurants support Streetsmart, which adds money on to each diner’s bill to finance programs that help street children. The hotel also contributes to the Kusasa Project, which is aimed at improving the lives of underprivileged children. LQF also supplies food to the local soup kitchen, and it donates its old linens to the local hospice.

iCi, the Restaurant

LQF has a three-year in-house training program focused on local kids who have completed high school. Of the 15 who have completed the course, a number have worked at Wheatleigh and Blantyre, both luxury hotels in Lenox, Massachusetts, as well as at Singita.

ICI at Le Quartier Francais

Across the globe, eating a fabulous meal can make a difference. From the Bonham in Edinburgh to Le Quartier Francais in the South African winelands, from The Drake in Brighton and One Aldwych in London to the Steenberg and the Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town. Hundreds of restaurants, some linked to hotels but most of them not, are supporting organizations that contribute a small portion of the revenue from every meal to a charity.

In all the countries except South Africa, where Streetsmart runs throughout the year, the program is limited to the season before Christmas and is aimed at gathering funds for charities in the cities where the money has been collected or specifically earmarked charities. In the UK’s  Streetsmart program, diners have a note on their menus saying that a pound is being added to their bill, although it can be removed upon request. In South Africa,  the money is spent specifically on street children. In America, Streetsmart exists in San Francisco, where, at restaurants like Medjool and Slanted Door, diners are asked to donate $3 in an envelope provided with their check. There is also a Streetsmart in Australia, where 250 restaurants are now members of the program.

Says Gordon Ramsay, whose Maze restaurants are members in the UK , “Streetsmart has become part of Christmas for us. It’s everyone’s chance to do the right thing at the right time with only the slightest nudge.”

Since 1998 Britons have given 4.2 million pounds which has been sent to ‘reputable charities’ in the respective cities where Streetsmart restaurants are found. In Australia, $1.18 million has been made and distributed to dozens of projects since 2003.

The Pool on High

Karl Ammann, a Swiss-born former hotelier who now lives in Nanyuki, Kenya, has built a splendid villa for rent high above the turquoise seas of the Seychelles. Few people who stay in it probably know that Ammann is also a photographer and filmmaker, an avid conservationist who has helped uncover the terrible truth about the bushmeat trade – which got him named as one of Time magazine’s Heroes of the Environment – and  has made several devastating documentaries about animal smuggling and poaching, among other things. (Watch here.) Ammann uses the money he earns from Residence on the Rocks to finance his film projects.

A Villa as Haveli as Hotel

Situated on Intendance Bay, Mahé, a full 100 meters higher than the last hillside villas  of the Banyan Tree resort, which also manages Ammann’s property, the Residence was built in the tradition of the Indian mansions called havelis. The villa has a gargantuan 450 square meters of living space, with incomparable views – a wonderful hideaway, as Prince William recently found out when he stayed here. The main house, built around a courtyard, has two huge bedroom suites, and there is a third bedroom in the guest cottage. Both buildings, in Creole style, have flat-roofed porches surrounding them.

Much of the materials, décor, and furnishings were – in an attempt to re-create the splendor of the 1920s – collected by Ammann and his wife across Africa and Asia over three decades and include valuable tribal and ethnic art.

One of the Bedroom Suites

“I wanted the place to have a colonial style that would combine decor and furniture from Asia and Africa,” Ammann says. “This led me to India and Burma and northern Thailand. In the Jodhpur area of northern India there were still a lot of reasonably priced items. The region also has a tradition of carpentry – although no trees – and as such a lot of furniture-trading businesses set up shop and repairing old furniture was one of the mainstays of their business.”

When havelis are torn down traders go in and salvage what they can, sometimes collecting enough bits and pieces to spread across yards the size of several football fields. It is from one of these traders that Ammann bought 16 haveli doors, all of slightly different sizes, which meant the villa walls had to be built around them. The floors are of recycled Burma teak. Also from old buildings he got carved beams, a metal staircase, wood- and stonework, pillars, and a gazebo. All the carpets were woven in traditional tribal village cooperatives in northern India.

The Residence

“I presented the architect with the challenge to build these items into the design. I believe it worked and gives the place a pretty authentic and lived-in look.”

Bits of a Haveli Being Reworked in India

In the Seychelles, where minimal impact on the environment is encouraged, large rocks were incorporated into the building’s design and no large trees were cut, and were in fact often assimilated in the design.

The Residence is very high-end, with prices ranging up to 3800 Euros a night for the villa and guesthouse, with all the services (butler service, room service, laundry, housekeeping, wi-fi, turndown) that you would get at a hotel like Banyan Tree, whose facilities are also open for guests’ use. Any income that is generated from the Residence Ammann invests in his film-making ventures.

“With the present lull in the market, this is affecting (the documentary) investigations like the one in Egypt and Tanzania,” he says. (See below for link.)

Ammann, as anyone who has watched his searing 60-Minutes-like documentaries knows, does not shy away from controversy and showing what many people don’t like to see. After viewing The Cairo Connection, which won the SAB Environmental Journalist of the Year in 2008, you will never look at Egypt – or a small zoo – the same way again. (Beware: This film is graphic and disturbing.) His ongoing investigations include ape smuggling, the China wildlife trade, Sudanese chimp orphans, and Egyptian cheetahs.

The Gallery Different

Long known for its collection of art, much of it by local masters, the exemplary small hotel Ellerman House in Cape Town has recently opened a gallery to showcase young and upcoming South African artists.

“Our guests (the majority of whom are international) go down to the gallery and take in the art, see something that they like, and take the name home with them and spread the word,” the gallery says.

The Taylor Sculpture Above Bantry Bay

And spread the word they will, if the striking giant sculpture of a man’s head by Angus Taylor at the entrance is anything to go by.

The art pieces that have been carefully selected and collected for Ellerman Contemporary come from various art galleries throughout the country and cover various styles and disciplines, which gives any person visiting the gallery a fairly good understanding of the contemporary art scene in South Africa. The gallery, which was put together over a year, was in a location impossible to get heavy machinery to. All excavations had to be done by hand. Not only did this allow them to construct an entire gallery while guests were sipping cocktails only a few yards away, completely unawares, but it also gave them a green gallery.

Some of the artists that are featured include William Kentridge, Angus Taylor, Collin Richards, Anthony Scullion, John Walters, Kevin Brand and Phillimon Hlungwane.

Island Blues

Who They Are

“An island where nature thrives and man is a silent observer,” is how Cousine describes itself.

If the Seychelles has a name for conservation-minded tourism, Cousine Island was one of the first to lead the way. The 64-acre island is recognized internationally as one of the most ecologically important private islands in the world. It is a bird paradise, free of alien mammals, with all but five percent of the vegetation endemic, and Hawksbill and green turtles are regular visitors.

The Only Thing Not Endemic, Your Villa

The four exclusive villas near the water’s edge, while done in the old French Colonial style and luxurious, have attempted to keep human impact to a minimum. The island, which looks across to Cousin, Praslin, and Aride islands, is limited to 10 visitors at a time and can only be reached by helicopter.

What They Are Doing

Forming part of the Seychelles’ unusual granitic archipelago, islands like Cousine came under severe pressure over the past two centuries, caused mostly by activities such as coconut farming, with the result that many species disappeared.

In 1992 Cousine was bought and turned into a nature preserve, its management style focusing strictly on conservation. Many species have returned, even the giant Aldabra turtle, and the island’s conservation work is so respected that it also assists national and international groups. Numerous other islands have followed its example, creating high-end small resorts that help pay for an island its on to turn back the environmental clock.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz000kan0wI

Cousine created a trust to fund all the island’s conservation projects, of which there are at least 64 in progress. It was also involved in the construction and management of the Island Conservation Center on neighboring Praslin island.  This center promotes environmental visits to the region and provides a focus for all environmental and ecological work in the area.

Guests are encouraged to participate in the conservation work, be it through the simple but important act of planting a tree from Cousine’s nursery of indigenous species or assisting the resident ecologists to monitor critically endangered turtles and land birds. Even if guests choose to not get involved, they are still supporting the conservation and restoration programs by simply being on Cousine.

To minimize its impact, the island has rainwater catchment, some solar power, and it removes non-biodegradable waste from its shores to Mahé and Praslin.

In Their Own Words

Safe at Last

As far back as 1994, Cousine declared its mission was:

“To promote and practice nature conservation and the wise use of natural resources of the island and its surroundings and to share this philosophy with our guests. We believe that ecotourism is not about sitting and watching but rather it should involve direct and tangible benefits to the environment.”

The Pavilion

As part of its Instead of Christmas Cards and Gifts Program, the award-winning Le Quartier Francais hotel in Franschhoek, South Africa, paid for the children at a nearby nursery school – run by a woman who does it for little or no charge – to have their first Christmas party and a visit from one of LQF’s chefs dressed as Santa. The kids got healthy food, clothes, and a toy to take home. The children already are supplied with food for several days a week, and LQF is working on doing it for all five days for the entire year. Good idea!