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GÉRALDINE BRUNEELGO WITH NAT GEO
UNIQUE LODGES
SÃO TOMÉ AND PRÍNCIPE
Fantasy Island
Wildlife-rich jungles, pristine beaches, and a vibrant culture convene on
Príncipe, part of an island nation marooned some 140 miles off Africa’s west
coast. With tourism in its infancy here, the SUNDY PRAIA eco-lodge—along with
three sister resorts—aims to provide a model for sustainability and community-
based development. In addition to cooking with a local chef and exploring with
a fisherman in a wooden pirogue, guests can create their own souvenir with a
group of women artists known as Mambos da Terra, or priestesses of the earth.
You’ll transform recycled glass into jewelry and learn about the artistic process
as well as the lives of the Príncipean artists, whose ancestors include enslaved
peoples and plantation workers. Fill your days with snorkeling, kayaking, and
hiking excursions in this UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. —Catherine Torphy
CANADAForce of Nature
When forest fires swept
through the British Colum-
bian backcountry in 2017,
Allyson Rogers—owner of
Siwash Lake Wilderness
Resort—fought to save
her ranch alongside a few
brave staff members. She
then established a nature
reserve to protect the
fragile postfire ecosystem.
Nature’s resiliency takes
center stage at Siwash,
where guests can join a fire
ecology hike and go horse-
back riding in a dynamic,
BOOK NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC UNIQUE LODGES natgeolodges.com/explore regenerating landscape.
COSTA RICANot Your Daily Grind
In the hills above San José,
where a muddy motocross
field once languished, lush
gardens and a tree-shaded
coffee farm now flourish.
Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee
Plantation Resort is the
vision of owner Sylvia
Jampol, whose purchase
of the land in the 1980s
helped revitalize the local
community. A stay at the
art-adorned hotel comes
with Latin-fusion cuisine,
panoramic volcano views,
and an immersion into
Costa Rican coffee culture.Sundy Praia is
tucked into verdant
forest sheltering
abundant wildlife.