Life, art, good taste

I encounter a diversity of aesthetics in recent travels to Polokwane and Port Elizabeth, unlikely bedfellows; with some Zambia thrown in. My journey takes me in and out of Art Deco, Rococo-meets-Boere-Baroque, modern Zen Bush Chic and Hip with an African Twist. As tenderness is the grace of the heart, they say, style is the grace of the mind. Here are some of the highlights:  

Art and Life I never want to leave this place. The hippest hotel in Mandela Bay - No 5 Boutique Art Hotel in Port Elizabeth’s Summerstrand. Think luxury Art Deco designed to feel like a salon privé from those heady days in Paris in the 20s, with a Champagne Bar, period furniture and glassware, a piano, cocktails. Except you’re in PE bru, and there’s a beach within walking distance, even better, there’s a bar right next to the pool. And – faints with delight – the most fabulous collection of South African art including works by William Kentridge, Robert Hodgins, Sam Nhlengethwa and Henk Serfontein.www.no5boutiquehotel.com

Hot Desks, Good Art This fabulous photograph by Zambian-based French photographer Francois d’Elbee hangs in the main lounge of The Works, a new business space that’s part of Latitude 15 in the Zambian capital Lusaka. The Works is a first for Lusaka – a collaborative and dedicated office space offering pods with hot desking and bean bagging, similar to Soho Works in London, or We Work in New York. www.latitudehotels.com

Rembrandt Comes to Polokwane  These gold framed portraits by the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt look down from the walls of Saskia's Restaurant (named after the artist's wife and muse,) which will soon be filled with the contented chatter of the black diamonds who so love this place. They're fake paintings, I may add, not that that puts anyone off the Fusion Boutique Hotel, undoubtedly Polokwane's most luxurious, and in parts, outlandish. Try the Hollywood or Bollywood suites if you’re feeling fanciful.www.fusionhotel.co.za.

Zen Bush Chic Deliciosa I love the simplicity and modernity of the tents at King Lewanika Lodge all the way out in the Liuwa Plains National Park in western Zambia. My intrepid compatriot Sally Young and I are the only guests in camp for three days. It's a real tough job but we feel we must do it. Designed by South African architects Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, this is my Soul Space of the year so far. www.timeandtideafrica.com

Nautical Kitsch Pool I confess that I fall in love this with this pool at the Boardwalk Hotel in Port Elizabeth. It’s so determinedly old fashioned, so nautically kitsch, it could be straight out of a colonial yacht club. The Boardwalk is a big, busy hotel right in the middle of the beachfront hub, with lovely views of the Indian Ocean. www.suninternational.com/boardwalk/

So Long Ethno Bongo Loving the clean Swedish lines and cool colours at the Park Inn by Radisson Polokwane of all places. A gal gets tired of all the ersatz animal prints, wooden carvings and horns. I trawl around Polokwane, there are more trendy place than I realize, although many decorating atrocities continue to be committed in the name of the province’s signature safari style. www.parkinn.com/hotel-polokwane

The Lucky Lions of Liuwa

I had the very good fortune to meet the famous lioness, Lady Liuwa, and some of her pride in the Liuwa National Park in western Zambia recently. The sad story of Lady Liuwa – but don’t worry it has a happy ending – has become an icon of lion conservation in the Liuwa National Park. 

Once the last lonely lion left in the park, Lady Liuwa now has a National Geographic documentary to her name, her own Facebook page and a Wikipedia write up. Here you can see her having a great big yawn about it all, typical cat.

We were staying at the new King Lewanika Lodge which is seriously sexy. The decor blends in with the bush, the colours are ancient; animal, stone. By night you can hear the lions, the roar that breaks the night, makes you shift a little in your luxury bed, primal memories astir.   

 By day you can feel that this is lion country. The blonde grass, the woodland pockets, the thousands of plains game like wildebeest and zebra, you just know they're out there....  

Our fabulous guide Rabi tracked them down on the second afternoon Lady Liuwa and her mate and the cubs and their mother had just eaten and were visibly full and chilling out along with the sunset. This little guy, an eighteen month old cub from another lioness, was too curious and came to sit a little closer, watching us watching him.

He was by far the bouncier of the two cubs. The other guy had plainly stuffed himself silly and he just lay there on his back, shallow breathing, his fluffy young balls in the breeze.

The reintroduction of lions into Liuwa has been successful so far. Along with the two male cubs, there are two female who we didn't see. Much credit to filmmaker Herbert Bräuer who came to Liuwa to document hyenas in 2005 and ended up befriending the lonely lioness. It spurred him onto making the documentary Lady Liuwa, Last Lioness, which then generated momentum and money for lions to be reintroduced into Liuwa. 

Brauer tells here of his first meeting with the lonely lioness back in 2005: “Nothing could have prepared me for our first meeting. As I stood outside my tent, a huge lioness appeared and strolled up casually to within ten metres of where I stood - I was frozen to the spot. All my years of experience taught me to be extremely wary of lions, but it was clear that she was totally relaxed and happy. She looked me up and down, and then settled nearby, rolling and purring. I had never seen anything like it in my life".

Into the Liuwa Floodplains

I experience the eternal poetry of rivers as we fly over the upper Zambezi floodplains of western Zambia. These aerial views are heartbreakingly beautiful. Bounded by the Luambimba and Luanginga Rivers, the floodplains are underwater and inaccessible during the rainy season, then as the waters recede so this ancient wilderness area reveals itself.  This place is remote – a two-and-a-half hour flight from the capital Lusaka, an hour's river crossing via pontoon, depending on the season, and a three hour drive into the Liuwa National Park. 

We fall into the friendly arms of the sexy new five-star King Lewanika Lodge, which is deep in the heart of the plains and was designed by acclaimed South African architects Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens. They also designed Norman Carr’s flagship camp Chinzombo, in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park; and Miavana, a new lodge in Madagascar, both marketed by Time + Tide.  King Lewanika Lodge is a funky new take on the traditional tented camp.  

Our first sunset is spectacular. I am a complete slut for a good African sunset and this one really rates. I'm travelling with Sally Young - both of us from Sawubona magazine - and our sunset drill is Grey Goose vodka and and tonic and lots of ooh-ing and aah-ing, much to the delight of our guide Rabi and tracker Mr K. We can’t believe how lucky we are. They agree.

In the next few days we explore the soul spaces of the Liuwa floodplains. One morning, we stand in a spot where all around is flat and golden. 360 delicious degrees of flat and golden, except for a small koppie and a lone palm tree that break the horizon. You’d think it would be still and quiet but it’s not. It’s so busy. I’ve never seen so many birds in my life as out here. Under ancient skies, endlessly busy birds. Clouds of pranticoles, flocks of herons. Crowned and wattled cranes, fish eagles, herons, egrets, storks, thick knees, hamerkops, secretary birds, pelicans. An egret rookery with thousands of fluffy cheeping chicks.

The guides at King Lewanika Lodge are seriously good birders. You will see lifers - ours was a rose-throated longclaw and a lesser jacana. The guides explain the magic of the mood swings of Liuwa. We also saw hyenas, jackals, plains game, as well as this gorgeous male lion cub, who looked like he was learning to write.

This guy is descended from the famous Lady Liuwa who was once the last forlorn lion in the Liuwa national park, the others all hunted out. Other lions were then successfully reintroduced. The lions had just eaten when we saw them in the afternoon. This cub was playful and curious and approached the vehicle; the other cub was so stuffed he couldn't even roll over, just lay on his back with his tummy in the air. Their mother watched with those eyes. 

King Lewanika Lodge in the Liuwa plains was one of the most extraordinary places I have ever visited. Not just the fabulous staff and the delightful manager Noelien - but everything. The space, the style, the soul; the legends of the Lozi people who live here. I dream of it often, the faraway, golden wilderness that stole a piece of my heart ...

I didn't ever want to leave the Liuwa Floodplains. I wanted to be dropped off at the Hashtag Bar - a little place I spotted on our drive out of the town of Kalabo - to stay forever in awe of the riverside people here, whose lives are determined by the rise and fall of the flood plains. 

This little-known region of Zambia is a showcase of transformation. Since 2003, the park has been managed by African Parks through a public-private partnership with the Zambian Government, the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) and the Barotse Royal Establishment, and now Norman Carr Safaris.

Contact: www.normancarrsafaris.com; bookings@normancarrsafaris.com; www.timeandtideafrica.com