With Capanne, a conservation-minded retreat
opening this month on Nkombo Island in
Rwanda’s Lake Kivu, Swedish-Italian preserva-
tionist Daniele Kihlgren takes the winning
formula from his Sextantio concept further.
There’s still the nod to traditional architecture
(here that means standalone huts in the local
vernacular style), but for Kihlgren’s first
property outside Italy all profits will be funneled
into a health insurance plan to help the island’s
autonomous Mashi-speaking population.
Price by donation; sextantionlus.org
The residents of the isolated Anambas archi-
pelago in Indonesia have long relied on the
ocean for their livelihood. When the eco-luxe
Bawah Reserve arrived three years ago, it set
up an independent nonprofit tasked with
protecting those waters. A second location, Elang
Private Island, will open in May, consisting of
six sustainable freestanding lodges and a tidal
saltwater pool carved into ocean-facing rocks.
Doubles from $1,980; bawahreserve.com
Opening in Botswana’s Okavango Delta this
June, Xigera Safari Lodge is resource neutral:
Built without the use of concrete and suspended
on stilts to protect the delicate floodplain, the
hotel itself is 100 percent solar powered, and
eventually even the game-drive vehicles will
be fueled by the sun. Its owners, the Tollman
family, safari vets for more than six decades,
show their commitment to their employees by
spending as much on amenities for the staff as
for the guests. Doubles from $2,550; xigera.com
The Haida principle of yahguudang, or
respect for all living things, underpins every
aspect of First Nations–owned–and–operated
Ocean House, located in British Columbia’s
Haida Gwaii, a remote island chain known for
its pristine waterways, abundant wildlife, and
old-growth forests of Sitka spruce and cedar.
For two years it’s been a floating ecolodge,
accessible also by seaplane. This summer it
will move to a new, land-based location near
the traditional village of Tlaga Gawtlaas and
add 10 oceanfront cabins. Doubles from $245;
oceanhouse.ca –mark ellwood
out to touch an iceberg or spying a minke whale
from the oceanview restaurant that I go on about,
but rather the utopian hospitality model. It’s Zita’s
concept of “economic nutrition” that excites me
the most. Mimicking food labeling, a visual card
breaks down where the money from a night’s stay
goes: 49 percent to labor, 18 percent to operations,
4 percent to marketing. Fogo is constantly evolving
its mission to inspire more businesses to approach
commerce in a way that strengthens local econ-
omies while preserving culture and the natural
environment, and Shorefast has plans to open a
Community Economics Institute in order to share
lessons from enterprising communities around the
world. Hopefully it will inspire economic nutrition
labeling on everything. –juliet kinsman
On the Horizon
Four new properties that reflect and give
back to the destinations they showcase
Canada’s Fogo Island Inn
fuses high-level design and
sustainable development
CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER APRIL 2020 59
PHOTOGRAPH: CORBIN GURKIN
