Under The African Sky

The towering blue expanse is overwhelming and you are sure that you can hear the soundtrack from the 1985 film Out of Africa. Arriving from a European winter where the sky can seem level with your forehead, you find yourself lost under the sheer power and beauty of an African sky.

Here on a plain, through swirls of cinematic red dust, a cluster of East African tents hark back to the time when travel was filled not with obstacles, but with opportunity and excitement. In the savannah, chirping crickets are joined in song with zebras and, somewhere in the distance, the occasional laughter of the hyena.

It was a mixture of knowledge and luck that brought Jörg and Marlies Gabriel and their son Donyo here. “We were looking for a site to build a camp that would be an offshoot of our lodge in Hatari,” explains Jörg. “At the foot of Kilimanjaro, we drove around and found ourselves facing two roads. I chose the one less travelled.” The car broke down and while Jorge was fixing it, Marlies took her young son for a walk. “We walked slowly up a hill and then as we came over it, we saw a large group of elephants just grazing.” Jorg fixed the car and followed them. “They were on a natural platform, covered with grass. It was as if this spot was waiting and made for us and our plan of Shu’mata (in Masai language it means “heaven”). We ate our picnic there, amidst this incredible beauty.” Today that piece of grass is the site of their main tent at Shu’mata where the spirit of Hemingway is much in evidence.

“I love that whole 1920s safari feeling,” explains Marlies. “Hemingway and his friends might have taken longer to get to Africa than we do today, but it all seemed so effortless and spontaneous when they did it. I wanted Shu’mata to reflect that luxurious simplicity.”

The main tent of Shu’mata is divided into three. Tea is taken in the colonial style area with its wicker chairs while next to it, wooden tables and cowhide chairs sit beneath a striking crystal and horn chandeliers for a dining experience that Marlies describes as ‘baroque-safari.’ After dinner or when the mood strikes them, guests can lounge, Arabian style, on plump cushions. Daughter of a Namibian farmer, Marlies has cleverly combined vintage fabrics found in markets with Masai handcrafted accessories such as the beaded decorations, made for her by the Masai women.

This is Masai land and building the camp meant negotiating with the locals. Jorg’s knowledge of Africa gleaned from his diplomatic childhood and his background, as a geographer was invaluable. “The Masai villages are always built on plains where their goats and sheep can graze as well. Thus, the Gabriel’s plan fitted perfectly as did their agreement to provide as much help to the Masai in the form of helping their sick to hospital and giving them work in the camp. “They are very gentle and charismatic people,” says Jörg, “but we are on their land so we do have to understand that.”

The Masai’s red shukas, worn simply wrapped around their bodies, have found their way into Marlies’ décor where bright, red bedspreads and bed linen inspired by Masai cloth with embroidered elements such as wild animals’ footprints or wildlife adorn the iron beds. For the outdoor bathrooms, Marlies has taken the organic, natural principles of Hundertwasser and created sensuous curved outdoor shower areas using the Moroccan Tadelakt technique. Finished in dusty red-brown colour and adorned with locally made beaded curtains, they contrast with the inherent masculinity – the Hemingway factor – of the décor. Marlies’ understanding of her clientele has resulted in somewhere truly special where guests can enjoy being pampered while giving reign to their inner explorer and hunter.

At Shu’mata, unlike some other parks, the wildlife roams free. Experienced rangers and Masai lead game drives where guests can spot elephants, zebra, wildebeest, and oryx along with curious insects and a profusion of flora not found anywhere else. At the end of a rewarding day it’s time to pour a whiskey and reflect. With stunning vistas of the Amboseli plains, the Seven Sisters and Kilimanjaro to take in before dinner, Shu’mata enchants its guests, providing memories that will last a lifetime.