Ditch the smelly sleeping bag and go clamping – glamorous camping
Did a bad experience turn you off to camping: Maybe your tent leaked in a rainstorm or you shivered all night in a borrowed, smelly sleeping bag. Or that thin foam pad you were trying to sleep on didnot do much to protect your back from the rocky, uneven ground beneath your tent.
It does not have to be that way. Tour companies and resorts now offer luxury camping, and the term “glamping” shorthand for glamorous camping is starting to turn up in reports from the United Kingdom and Canada. The New York Post recently mentioned “glamping” in an article on a new website for luxury travel, www.globorati.com
In British Columbia, Canada, the Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, a 30 minute boat ride from the town of Tofino, is offering “glamping” on a fjord on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Tents have Persian carpets, down duvets and even electricity. There are sauna and hot tubs on site, and activities including fishing, horseback riding, kayaking, hikes and wildlife watching.
But if you thought camping was a budget vacation option, you will have to readjust your expectations for glamping. Three night packages at the Clayoquot resort begin at $4,100 a person, double occupancy. Details at 888-333-5405 or www.wildretreat.com
Other tour companies offer luxury tent accommodations as well. Abercrombie & Kent has several trips to Africa that include high-end camping, such as guided tours of Botswana that include game drives and accommodations in “walk-in tents with extra length beds, crisp sheets and warm blankets,” plus a “mess tent” for what is described as “bush-style haute cuisine” served on china and linen tablecloths. Details at www.abercrombiekent.com or 800-554-7016
Closer to home and a bit less upscale, but still a world away from the do it yourself leaky tent, Maine Family Adventures offers a deluxe guided camping trip to Acadia National Park; www.mainefamilyadventures.com/ Meals prepared by the guides, camping equipment and activities are all included in the cost of about $1,000 a person.
Courtesy of usatoday.com
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