Glamping: a new trend merging camping and luxury travel
Glamping is the perfect marriage of five-star luxury and a rare look at some of the most beautiful sites nature has to offer
Camping has been around for as long as man has sought shelter from the elements. From native Americans setting up temporary homes to armies on the move in the last two centuries, camping has been a way of lighter living in the wild. But it was only in the later part of the Victorian era when camping changed from being a pragmatic function to a recreational activity. A British travelling tailor, Thomas Hiram Holding, stoked the leisure fires and wrote a book in 1908 called The Camper's Handbook to share his enthusiasm for the great outdoors - and more than 100 years later, the enthusiasm is inextinguishable.
Around the same time that camping turned to enjoyment, "glamping" - glamorous camping - started to come into favour. European and American travellers were exploring Africa but unwilling to abandon the good life and all the thrills of a luxury lifestyle. Free from the hassles of pitching a tent or the unhappiness over the lack of hot water African escapades could be enjoyed in total and utter splendour - all the way from Colorado's Dunton Springs to Africa's Maasai Mara and India's Rajasthan.
And in response to the excess of the 1990s, the world has been paring down and stripping back in order to get back to the basics. "Glamping is the antithesis of a gilded overdone classical hotel model," says Boyd Ferguson of Cécile and Boyd, designers of lodges for the African luxury safari company Singita.