What is being “at peace”? A series of gentle-but-fleeting impressions or experiences that linger to make a lasting, more integrated, whole? Quietly sharing a special moment with family, wife, husband, partner, parent?  Being able to spend time doing what you wish in an environment that takes one back to one’s evolutionary roots? How and where to find “Peace” is, of course, a variable feast for all of us with a million-and-one possibilities but a luxury African holiday can provide this sought after, overlooked and (regrettably) often-ephemeral spiritual commodity.

Luxury African Holiday - Simple Happiness With AfricanExplorations.com

And, then, how to define luxury?!? To me, as I sit writing this, it would be luxury to just be in the bush; flycamping in Katavi or, perhaps, at Sosian knowing the camels are safely “done” for the night. Or to sit and watch Wild Dog for an hour that might stretch to several. Cantering down a sandy track in South Africa or (yes, I know, off subject on an African website but why not?) to be camped by a river in Canada with the call of the loon and wolf nearby are also, to me, simple, effervescent, life-enhancing luxuries. Thus, to myself (I hear my colleague, the wonderful Hashim, agreeing) the “luxury” is obtained from the experience per se rather than the accoutrements of where I stay. Again this is (and can only be) a highly personal opinion and I fully accept that, to many, “luxury” is Egyptian cotton sheets and towels in the middle of the bush or champagne for sundowners. Make no mistake about my own motives here, either, I’d say “Why not, indeed!” to such luxury and I certainly wouldn’t turn it down; we all have differing ideas and I have no axe to grind at all with whatever your own definition of “luxury” may be. But I do think that there is a peace that comes from being somewhere you really want to be, in an environment with which you connect, that gives you an inner feeling of luxurious satisfaction that is common to all these experiences.

Luxury African Holiday - Surrounded By Africa With AfricanExplorations.com

There’s a point to these musings and I’m not going to even elaborate here on excellent food, great guiding (crucial) or super-comfortable beds in huge en suite tents in the most extraordinarily lovely locations, let alone stunning wildlife. That’s for other blogs and my point is this: I often get asked – sometimes in roundabout ways – to create a “luxury” African holiday.

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But we know that luxury is different things to different people so, in order to do my duty to you, oh esteemed client, I need to know who you are! What makes you tick? What is it about Africa that entices you – perhaps for the second, third or fourth time? Can I empathise with your own feelings, desires and passions so that I can create exactly the right safari or holiday for you, with all the right nuances? For this, to me, is another luxury; in the process of creating exactly the right balance within a holiday I have the privilege of conversing with (and, sometimes, getting to know rather well) a wide range of very special, often talented, individuals. Most have skills I can only dream of and all are totally different yet have a single unifying desire: to go to Africa. What a luxury…….

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Siwa Eco Lodge – Unique and remote, the Siwa Eco Lodge is an altogether different way to experience Egypt – and a real highlight if you’re looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.

I’ll never forget the first time I got to Siwa. It’s not easy to get there – a seven-hour drive along the Mediterranean coast from Alexandria, and then south cutting through the desert. You’re a long way from anywhere, wondering if the barren expanse will ever change.

And then, magnificently, jaw-droppingly, it does. Siwa itself is an oasis town, only connected to the rest of Egypt by road in the last 50 years. Things are different here: unique, traditional, independent. The natural springs sustain it, and the scenery of salt plains, dunes and palms sustain it.

Siwa Eco Lodge with www.africanexplorations.com - Photo Tronics CCA

To cap it all, there is the Eco Lodge. Also known as the Adrere Amellal, this is a personal favourite place of mine to stay in the Middle East.

It is hard to explain how beautifully the hotel marries simplicity with style. The lodge has been constructed from mud walls, the furniture from the wood of the local palms, or even from salt.  There is no electricity, with the night lit up by beeswax candles and torches, and the stars of clear skies.

Siwa Eco Lodge with africanexplorations.com

The 40-rooms are hand-built, each different and inviting. The majority of the food is grown on site, and expertly prepared by the hotel’s chefs. The surroundings are charming – a salt lake to one side which attracts a variety of bird life, the shelter of the White Mountain to the other.

It is not the easy choice to visit – but stunning natural landscapes and rich history, including the Oracle of Alexander, the remains of the old town made out of mud, and so much more – reward you handsomely for getting there.

Luxury Egypt Tours – you’ll hear the term used all the time, but you have to be very careful with your choices if that’s truly the experience you want.

Take Nile cruises, for instance. It doesn’t seem to matter greatly what the qualities of the boats are, or whether they’re six months old or sixty years old – they tend to have been accorded five stars!

There are ‘five star ships’, and then there are truly five star ships. And the only way I have ever been able to tell the difference as an Egypt specialist is to go out and see them for myself.

And in fact, you often only find true luxury on the Nile away from the cruisers anyway. A personal favourite here at African Explorations are the dahabiyas – small, characterful sailing boats. No chugging engines, no swarms of people – just you, a handful of passengers and crew, and the Nile. And, of course, a stunning vessel.

Luxury Egypt Tours with AfricanExplorations.com

That’s the way we think of luxury – and we apply it to every aspect of the country that we suggest, to every guide that we pick for your trip.

We adopt that approach from the moment you get in touch, working out a programme that suits you, rather than shoehorning you in to a pre-arranged package.

So there are many ways to experience luxury Egypt tours – but there is ‘luxury’ and then there is luxury…