Annual Research Recap
We’ve always said that the only way to truly know a place is to get on a plane and check it out. So we do that. A lot. This year, as every year, Trufflepig trip planners and coordinators have done a tremendous amount of research around the world. 217 days worth—by conservative count. Here’s a whirlwind summary of the highlights:
Africa
- After a year in the field running safari camps in Botswana and Tanzania, Dan returned to Trufflepig and resumed his role as an Africa trip planner. But before coming home in August he expanded his knowledge of the continent by doing some seriously cool safari research. In Tanzania he tracked chimps from his rustic luxe base at Greystoke Mahale. In Botswana he dodged hippos and avoided crocs for three days (and nights) on the totally off-grid Selinda Canoe Trail (a must for the adventurous, he tells us). And in Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, he seems to have done little more than swim and soak up the views from lovely hotels like Essque Zalu and The Residence. But hey, that’s what you’re supposed to do there.
- Greg kicked off the year with a multi-generational Africa family trip of his very own. Six adults, four small children. As you can imagine, he learned a lot—about nap time logistics, serving up safari for little people, and patience. The rigour of his research was made markedly easier with stays at Tswalu (a stellar private game reserve in the Kalahari) and Babylonstoren (a restored Cape Dutch farm in the winelands), two of South Africa‘s brightest hotel stars. In Botswana’s Okavango Delta, he experienced the ultimate stylish mobile safari (an elusive creature comfort he’s been tracking for some time) and attended a San Bushman trance dance. How trippy is that?
- Cait, our Africa coordinator, has just left for Kenya where she’s expecting to see thousands upon thousands of migrating zebra and wildebeest as the herds cross the Mara River. While staying at Sarara, she plans to visit the Singing Wells, a spiritual and traditional place where naked Samburu warriors sing while digging wells for their cattle in the dry river bed. I swear, not a word of that is made up. At Ol Lentille, she’ll have the Sultan’s House all to herself and will sample the over-the-top luxury of having a private safari car and Maasai guide. To be sure she doesn’t get wildly out of touch with the reality of Africa, she’ll spend her final day in Nairobi learning more about Safe Spaces, an initiative focused on supporting and training young women to be strong community leaders.
Asia & Oceania
- In the spring our Asia trip planner, Mike, headed far east for an extensive tour through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Hong Kong. Oh, and a few days in Thailand too. This region changes quickly, so we return often to see what’s new. His most memorable stay (and believe me, he wasn’t roughing it a single night) was at Six Senses Con Dao, a flabbergastingly gorgeous beach resort on an island off the coast of Vietnam. In Hanoi he found a roll-up-your-pants-and-sleeves street food tour that was jointly created by a British food writer and a local chef. The highlight of his trip was an hour spent in the very private back store room of Conservation D’Angkor (the organization that manages the preservation of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap), surrounded by priceless artifacts.
- Next month Mike heads to New Zealand where he’ll be checking out the heli-access only luxury tented lodge at Minaret Station, perched in the high alpine beauty of the South Island. He’s also planning to hunt down an elusive road side shack famed for its fishcakes, try his hands (and feet) at river sledging (think white water bobsledding), and enjoy lunch at Pegasus Bay Winery (after sampling one of their wine tastings).
Europe
- Befitting of a man who was recognized as a ‘Top Travel Specialist‘ for France by Conde Nast Traveler magazine, Jack has crisscrossed his adopted homeland (he’s a Brit, but has lived in Paris for several years) throughout the year. He’s spent countless long weekends slipping away from his desk to explore the backstreets of Marseille, sample bistros in Lyon, meet with local guides in the Pyrenees, hike and bike in Provence (basing himself at the scrumptious Crillon le Brave), and search for authenticity in the Cote d’Azur. He’s also filled many, many days in Paris checking out hotels, sampling restaurants, and trying cooking schools. But he reports that his best trip of them all was a week rambling around Corsica, including a stay at the Domaine de Murtoli, a collection of dreamy villas speckled across a vast and rugged private estate.
- Don’t tell France, but Jack also spent some time in Germany picking up the pulse of uber cool Berlin.
- Rudston, our Italy trip planner, has spent his research days getting to know the big boot even better than he already does. He travelled more backroads this year than Julius Caesar during his entire reign, and found fabulous new hikes around the Aeolian Islands, discovered an ultra exclusive wine tasting in Montalcino, and rested his weary head at Sextantio (a moody and magnificent hotel formed from a restored stone village). As of last month Rudston is living in Tuscany, in the hills above Siena, so every time he goes out to buy some groceries he ends up doing an hour or two of research.
Latin America
- As a Latin America planner, Anton often gets the short end of the research stick. Two weeks in Brazil, how lame is that? Wait, did you say Brazil? Indeed. His research covered some splendid ground including a few days at Caiman in the Pantanal, an ecologically rich wetland region where cowboys and horses are almost as common as anacondas and anteaters. In Rio he stayed at the luxuriously sexy Fasano Rio and somehow climbed Sugarloaf mountain without using the stairs (“just ropes and harnesses”, he says). Selflessly, he wrapped up the journey with some mellow days in the coastal Bahia region, checking out both Uxua and Fazenda Sao Francisco de Corumbau—ain’t research a beach. At some point before December Anton will be stepping on a plane once again, flying back to Turkey (he was there last year) to dig even deeper in Istanbul and explore the seldom-visited (but apparently amazing) eastern regions of the country.
- Victoria, our Latin America coordinator, has just stepped off a plane from Ecuador, where she was cruising the Galapagos Islands aboard La Pinta (the sweetest motor yacht in those waters). Just a few days before that she was reporting back on the phenomenal shower fixtures at the recently opened Casa Gangotena in Quito and the even newer Mashpi Lodge, a luxurious glass-walled hideaway in the rainforest.
Here & There
- Diane didn’t really go to Mexico in August for research, it was more of a honeymoon. But research and vacation are hard to cleave apart, and she was good enough to tell us all about her languorous days at Imanta in Punta de Mita. (Warning: do not look at that hotel website if you’re feeling sorry for yourself with this autumn weather). In Mexico City she was bowled over by the frantically cool and delicious food scene, and enjoyed a particularly fine meal at Dulce Patria.
- Charlie has returned from a few days on Fogo Island, off the coast of Newfoundland at the very eastern edge of North America. A cultural and economic renaissance is underway on this remote, rustic and rocky island, and he was curious to meet the visionaries behind the project and explore the crisp contemporary architecture of the artist studios they’ve recently built, as well as a luxurious 29-room inn scheduled to open next year.
- In November, Charlie will jet to London and Paris (to dig for curiosities with our planners who call those cities home) before flying onward to Marrakech to attend the PURE LIfe Experiences travel show, which draws tip top experiential hotels and operators from around the world.
