Each of the properties is running a special rack rate of *R3, 500 (about $450) per person, per night, sharing.  Remember – that is an all inclusive cost, including amazing facilities, game drives and to-die-for meals.  A donation of R100 per person per night qualifies guests for this discounted rate and Shamwari Group will donate a further R500.00 for every room night sold on this offer.  All proceeds will be donated to the Wilderness Foundation with the donation proceeds audited by Grant Thornton.

Click here for more information.

Here’s Conde Nast Traveller’s top choices for enjoying a cocktail while overlooking London.

Cheers, sweetie!

Rooftop bars in London

In his life and work, Herb Ritts was drawn to clean lines and strong forms. This graphic simplicity allowed his images to be read and felt instantaneously. They often challenged conventional notions of gender or race.

Social history and fantasy were both captured and created by his memorable photographs of noted individuals in film, fashion, music, politics and society.

I think the photos speak for themselves…

Just back from a fun, rainy weekend in San Francisco, where we stayed at Stuart’s home away from home, The Galleria Park hotel – a chic and eminently functional little boutique hotel on Sutter Street, close to Union Square, Chinatown and the great restaurants of Beldin Lane, where Stuart hangs his hat two nights a week as part of his San Francisco commute.  I joined him on Friday for a romantic weekend in the city, where we celebrated his  hmm-hmmmth birthday.

Now, Stuart has stayed at the Gallery Park for a couple of years now, and has naturally gotten to know members of the terrific staff. And of course, given the 100+ room nights a year that Stuart stays at the hotel, you would certainly expect for the staff to take good care of him.  Which they do, but this birthday was pretty notable.

Last week when Stuart checked into his room, there was a special token of the hotel’s appreciation waiting for him.  Somehow, members of the staff learned that Stuart and I would be seeing one of our favorite Australian musicians, Paul Kelly, who was playing in concert at a local club.  So, he was greeted by a note from the hotel, wishing him a happy birthday, accompanied by a sheet of paper with the lyrics of one of Paul Kelly’s songs, and a “basket” of English-themed chocolate (Stuart occasionally misses the chocolate from back home), and a disposable camera.

Just this would have been an exceptional birthday gesture.  But the basket holding these goodies was the piece de resistance.  In fact, it was a record album that had been melted into the shape of a square basked, into which all these goodies had been placed.  This was not a cleverly purchased item.  Instead, this was created custom for Stuart, by Richard, an enterprising staff member of the Galleria Park, who took the time to do this.  Told me how you melt the album over a bowl in the oven.  I could not imagine taking the time to do this – my often-barely-functioning brain would not have even entertained the thought, but the fact that Richard did this for Stuart speaks volumes not only to Richard’s professionalism and character, but to the Galleria Park for hiring to a standard that makes customers feel as special as Stuart does each time he checks in, and is greeted by name, a la Cheers!

If Stuart has to be away from home every week, knowing that he’s taken good care of by the Galleria Park Hotel somehow makes it easier on all of us.  And for my part, the hotel ticks all the boxes I look for – especially in a city hotel:

• 5:30 wine hour in the lobby, where the corner fireplace is always going, providing warmth and a cozy, inviting ambiance
• Great rooms – well-appointed – modern yet approachable.  All the bells and whistles.
• Beds to die for!
• Great location – a quick walk to great shopping, Chinatown, North Beach, Union Square and the Embarcadero

Thank you to the Gallery Park Hotel staff.  Signed, the wife.

Steel Container Snack Bar

Our day began with a tour of Soweto given by a young entrepreneur who takes you through the township’s history and flashpoint areas.  I wasn’t familiar with Soweto, other than thinking it was a shantytown – a ghetto – not safe to travel into.  Dispelling pre-conceptions is very much a part of what Lesika Matlou’s new tour operating business is all about.  Soweto is Johannesburg – certainly a side to it that people, probably like myself, largely misunderstand.  What I learned is that Soweto is a community where people choose to be, regardless of the amount of money they have.  They stay here because their friends and families are here, and because frankly, the cost of living is cheaper than if they went to the suburbs.

Just hanging out after school

The main drag and primary tourist area of Soweto is a well-appointed street offering restaurants, shops painted with colorful murals, and generally serves as the hub of activity for locals and tourists who visit.  Walking up the street from the restaurant where we lunched, Sakhumzi, you see homes of all description – brand new, modern duplexes act as the new face of Soweto, helping to balance out the extremely poor homes, bathed in disregard – a throwback to the history of Soweto as a township started in the gold mining days, were migrant workers came to live, working on the mines, and living in often appalling conditions.  Soweto is still overcrowded.  Even the latest census, identifying the population of Soweto of just over 2 million people, is commonly accepted to be about 1 million short.

Nelson Mandela's Former Home

It’s worth noting that walking through Soweto – certainly the parts we did – never felt intimidating or threatening.  In contrast, the schoolkids, who had just gotten out for the day, were clearly accustomed to people walking around their neighborhood, they hardly even noticed us – just went on about their business of hanging out, chatting, listening to music and otherwise being teenagers.  Conditions, we are told by our guide who grew up in Soweto, are changing in Johannesburg.  These kids are too young to have witnessed the shooting of Hector Pieterson, a 12-year old boy by the police back in 1976 when the people in Soweto were protesting the requirement of learning Afrikaans – the language of the white African – in their schools.  The flashpoint of the protest took place right where we were standing, and the exact location is marked with a stone wall, commemorating the point where the demonstration went badly out of control, and the Soweto Uprising began.

“I saw a child fall down. Under a shower of bullets I rushed forward and went for the picture. It had been a peaceful march, the children were told to disperse, they started singing Nkosi Sikelele. The police were ordered to shoot.”

These are the words of Sam Nzima, recalling the events of 16 June 1976, when over 500 people were killed as they protested over the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in township schools.

Nzima’s photograph of the dying Hector Pieterson being carried by a fellow student was published around the world, and came to represent the anger and tragedy of a day that changed the course of South African history, sparking months of clashes between police, schoolchildren and protesters.

Hector, 12, was one of the first casualties of what came to be known as the Soweto Uprising.

Read more: http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/hector-pieterson.htm#ixzz1nepAd2GT

Ironically, this event took place across and up the street from Nelson Mandela’s home, which is open to the public, and which seems to serve as a guardian of the children of the community – a constant reminder that, in the words of Mandela, “they are the next great generation.”

Typical Soweto House

New Build - Soweto Home

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“If we were any more Hollywood, our pool would be shallow at both ends…”

This is the tagline for the Sunset Marquis hotel – an establishment that I, as a native Los Angelino, am horrified to admit I have never entered.  Until this week when I was invited to a function at the hotel.  And fell in lust with the secluded little non-descript-from-the-outside oasis nestled within 5 glorious acres just south – spitting distance – from Sunset Blvd.

“The Sunset Marquis has served as a haven for the famous, the infamous (and, occasionally, the indicted) since 1963. It has been ground zero for some truly scandalous gatherings; yet offers opportunities for relaxation to rival even the most decadent luxury hotels.

Located in ever-glamorous West Hollywood, the Sunset Marquis is an oasis in an increasingly raucous world, a serene retreat from the uproar of the nearby Sunset Strip, a sanctuary in which to hide from vengeful former spouses, and so very, very, very much more.

Come. Eat. Drink. Record a power ballad. Rest. And if, as you leave, you want help dodging the paparazzi, we have some time-tested diversionary tactics up our sleeves – all complimentary of course!”

The rock & roll heritage is visible everywhere – great big b&w photographs of Daltrey, Morrissey, Slash line the walls inside and outside.  Not one but two recording studios on property.  Seriously!  Even a guitar gallery showcasing the vibrant history of music through famous instruments like Eddie Van Halen’s classic red and white guitar or BB King’s Lucille 2.

The grounds are funky with a mix of architectural styles, including West Hollywood apartment bldg chic, and small villas.  Lots of meandering pathways with subtle lighting and lots of foliage for discretion lead you to hidden benches and private little niches.

 Alas, I was only there for a couple of hours, but was totally enthralled by the feel of the place – the hidden treasure kind of cool vibe.  And if the hors d’oeuvres are any indication, the food is equally amazing. I look forward to returning.

"Blue" - Enrique Rottemberg

I came across this article in a Canadian magazine on Cuba.  The colors and texture immediately grabbed me.  I love the notion that a bed bookends our life cycle, and the intimacy of that whole concept.  I hope to meet with these photographers on my next trip to Cuba in March.  In the meantime, I think their work – and the concept behind it – is very interesting.

Sleeping with…

By Cristina Diaz

Sleeping with…is the photo exhibition of artists Enrique Rottemberg and Carlos Otero showcased during Photography month in November at the Cuban Photo Library.  This exhibition caused intense emotions and enormous interest in both the public and critics.  In direct contrast to the incessant public spectacle with which the lives of Cubans tend to be perceived, immersed in music and unmotivated bustle and clamor, this exhibit tells a different story.

We are introduced to people’s most secret space, the one of dreams, through photos of the most private place of a home, the bedroom.  These are photos to the intention of anonymous dreamers, the “unknown soldiers,” as Enrique Rottemberg called them in his opening speech, thanking the thousand people throughout the island who opened their doors to the widest of their hospitality.

The absence of inhabitants in the photographs fills the environments with subjective content, giving soul to objects that contain bits of the story of each character as well as their diffused national and personal identity.  These portraits of absence call on our own ability to dream, summoning the spectators’ consciousness and unconsciousness; from within the bedroom to the inside of us.

Enrique Rottemberg, award-winning Israeli filmmaker with seven feature films, also a writer and photographer, has been living in Cuba for more than 16 years.

It is in Cuba where his passion for photography was born.  Constantly moved by subjective conflicts, by the dark side of the heart, always with a tone more comical-tragic than dramatic, more human than epic, he uses his camera to steal the soul, always questioning ethics and power in the exercise of art.

Carlos Otero is a Cuban photographer who arose from the deep sea as champion of several national and international underwater photography events, work that has been showcased in many places.  His present work has an acute social involvement and an incisive sensitivity to his country’s present and the people who live there.

Beds contain a cycle.  It is usually where life is conceived and where it ends.  In the interval, the bed is the permanent witness of our loves and disappointments, of nightmares and sleepless nights, of solitude and company, of our dreams.  It is not an allegory, not a symbol, it is concretely that bed, that mirror, it is that red and those dogs on the wall.

The images express an emphatic silence, a petrification of time, a disturbing perpetuity.  Faceless, as voiceless is the great Cuban movie “Suite Havana”, Sleeping with…makes us see what is not in our everyday tamed vision.