My name is Michele and I am an anti-camper. I’ve regaled you with my camping stories (okay story) in a previous blog, just to prove that I am not someone who voices discontent with an activity without trying it first. What can I say? I’m just not the camping type. At least that’s what I thought until I heard about “glamping.”
Have you heard of “glamping?” According to tour companies, the word is shorthand for glamorous camping. Resorts in the United Kingdom and Canada have turned the spotlight on luxury camp sites in an effort to lure high rollers to give sleeping in a tent a second (or in some cases, first) try.
Obviously, “glamping” resorts don’t consist of leaky tents and smelly sleeping bags. Rather, “glampers” spend their days in “tent-like” structures furnished with Persian carpets, down comforters, and… (gasp!) electricity.
The Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, located in British Columbia, Canada offers “glamping” on a fjord on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Forget about bringing your own canoes and bug spray, this place is equipped with on-site saunas and hot tubs. In addition, a resort coordinator will help set up a day filled with outdoor activities including fishing, horseback riding, kayaking, hikes and wildlife-watching. Sounds pretty nice, huh? It should—-since it costs a pretty penny. Three-night packages at the Clayoquot resort begin at $4,100 a person, double occupancy. And you thought camping was a low budget affair.
If money is no object then you may consider “glamping” in Africa. Tour company Abercrombie & Kent offers several high-end camping trips to Africa that include guided tours of Botswana featuring game drives. And forget about having to spend the night on an uneven foam mattress. The “glamping” accommodations on these trips include “walk-in tents with extra length beds, crisp sheets and warm blankets,” plus a “mess tent” for what’s described as “bush-style haute cuisine” served on china and linen tablecloths.
So much for roughing it.
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