PAMUSHANA Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve, Zimbabwe
we've been avoiding zimbabwe, for good reason (mugabe). But since good guy Prime Minister Tsvangirai urged tourists to return, fans of the beautiful Country have been slowly trickling back. Zim just bowls people over: the refurbished Bulawayo club, the camps run by Beks Ndlovu-an Obama-like man in looks and charisma and one of africa's top private guides-and then the Zambezi, probably the best safari spot in the world. But this is the showstopper lodge, converted from a cattle farm by the American multimillionaire Paul Tudor Jones and now one of the most extravagant properties in Africa. It has raw energy. The eight cavernous thatched cottages (what a fashion shoot you could do here!), each with a plunge pool, mix ethnic and sophisticated in a thrillingly bold way: beaded chandeliers and beautifully carvedfour-posters. Eat Still-warm carrot cake on silver platters while lying by the pool watching iridescent paradise-flycatchers swoop into the water. And beacause there's 100,000 acres of wilderness it feels totally private, inhabited only by elephant, lion, leopard and more than 100 rhino. Added bonus? All proceeds go to a local trust, which feeds 25,000 children. Certainly the most exciting African zone this year.
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