Africa’s Urban Treasures

En route to a spell-binding safari in Africa, flying across the ocean with visions of lions and golden-hour G&Ts almost within reach, it’s perhaps all too easy to let the cities we pass through – Cape Town, Nairobi, Kigali, Arusha – fade to the background of our itineraries. 

This, we insist, is a mistake. 

From the queenly countenance of Cape Town’s waterfront to the raw energy of Nairobi, Africa’s thrumming metropolises and their vibrant personalities are destinations in themselves. When a trusted advisor from our team crafts a bespoke journey shaped entirely around you, these urban playgrounds reveal fantastical experiences that transport our guests, well before the first game drive even begins. 

Here’s a look at urban treasures, from of-the-moment fashion and design to pioneering hospitality and craft. We love these experiences for several reasons – not in the least because they hand us a story to carry home. 

Cape Town’s Grand Dame – with a Designer Twist

In Cape Town, the rose-hued Mount Nelson is a longtime grand dame of hospitality. Recently, a new guest has taken up residence in a whirl of Afro-modernist style: the irreplaceable trappings of South African designer Thebe Magugu. Ten years into his celebrated fashion house, Magugu has crafted a two-story suite on the hotel’s storied Palm Avenue, decked with rich indigos, plush emerald sofas, and a hand-sketched wallpaper that depicts the South African landscape. Upstairs, a private balcony frames Lion’s Head mountain from a bed dressed in Magugu’s bespoke textiles – the kind of view that reminds us, instantly, why this city keeps calling us back. Right next door, the Magugu House opens up to a rotating gallery and concept store, where celebrated artists such as Zanele Muholi and Zizipho Poswa exhibit their photography and sculpturework, all meditations on craft, identity, and inheritance. If you’re heading to Cape Town, our team will be more than happy to share details about the space’s monthly film screenings and salon-style events. 

In Arusha, a Legacy Comes to Life

This fall, an exciting landmark is poised to debut. In October, six decades of primatologist Jane Goodall’s fieldwork will settle into a permanent home in Tanzania’s capital with the opening of Dr. Jane’s Dream: The Goodall Centre for Hope. 

This museum is the culmination of months of quiet anticipation (and the vision of a design team that counts a Disney’s Animal Kingdom alumnus among its ranks). Across six interactive galleries, including a theater and a garden, visitors will trace Goodall’s path from a curious child to a global leader of conservation, with Kenyan stained-glass artisans recreating her beloved Gombe forest in colored light. Thanks to on-the-ground connections, our team can arrange private tours of this remarkable museum. 

A Taste of Kigali’s Future (plus a Swank New Hotel)

What a delicious proposition: to plan a few days in a city as dynamic as Rwanda’s capital Kigali entirely around our taste buds. 

A surefire place to start is the coffee scene. Chef Kevin Mbundu is behind the hip Kivu Noir cafes, coffee shops at the forefront of Kigali’s caffeine scene that source their beans from Rwandan volcanic soils and prioritize fair trade. While we’re at it, allow us to recommend Mbundu’s stylish cocktail bar and restaurant, Ruä, where haute bites of mizuzu (fried plantains) pair devilishly well with cocktails splashed with craft spirits from Rwandan producers. 

Looking for a special night out? In the Kicukiro district, the five-course fine-dining meal at Uruhimbi transports us with farm-fresh ingredients, served together in dishes such as creamy pumpkin and coconut milk soup with fresh herbs, or warming risotto with crispy okra in green oil and sweet corn salsa. (Try the tree tomato sorbet for dessert, made from tangy ibinyomoro fruits that are popular in Rwanda.)

After a meal like this, you’ll want to linger – which is precisely why our team is ready to recommend choice accommodations at the Pinnacle Kigali, the hotel home of Uruhimbi. Located on a hilltop, this intimate, women-led hideaway delivers just nine supremely luxurious guestrooms, along with amenities to spoil us silly (a saltwater infinity pool, a spa, padel courts, even a bowling alley and a private cinema).

The Story of Craft in Nairobi

In Nairobi, the city’s creative soul thrives not only in galleries, but in the hands of contemporary artisans that still shape it today. Just beyond the edge of Nairobi National Park stands the African Heritage House, Kenyan architect Alan Donovan’s ochre-toned homage to the continent’s building traditions – part Moroccan kasbah, part Djenné mosque, and part Swahili coastal manor. Our team knows precisely who to call in Kenya to arrange a behind-the-scenes visit of these gorgeous rooms, each layered floor to ceiling with textiles, sculpture, and jewelry gathered from across Africa. 

At Kitengela Glass, on the city’s outskirts, molten color takes on a life of its own: sculptural gates and mosaic-clad walls announce a studio where artisans blow, shape, and fuse glass into vivid one-of-a-kind forms. The surrounding grounds are open for those of us who want to meander – and perhaps take on a felting or mosaic class of our own. 

For travelers interested in wearable art, the phrase “labor of love” takes on greater meaning at Kazuri. In the cooperative bead workshop, founded in 1975, more than 300 local women hand-roll and paint clay beads, a mesmerizing atmosphere to see and explore. Should you choose to buy any of these craft beads, you’ll see that each and every piece carries the Kazuri name, which means “small and beautiful” in Swahili.