Aman Karingani – Aman Heads to Mozambique

Aman has unveiled plans for its first safari lodge in Africa, Aman Karingani, set within the 150,000-hectare Karingani Game Reserve in southern Mozambique.  The reserve shares an 84-kilometre unfenced border with South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

But let’s be honest, the headline isn’t that Aman is doing safari.  Technically, they already do, with Aman-i-Khas, although it took me two visits to see one tiger, and I’m still bitter.  The bigger story is that Mozambique is finally getting the attention it deserves.  A country long held back by politics and underinvestment.  Until now, Kisawa has really been the only ultra-luxury option worth mentioning.  But there’s such incredible potential.  This Financial Times piece is worth a read if you have both the time and the subscription.

I’m long past the days when I thought Aman’s shit smelt like rainbows and unicorns, or that every new opening might fix all my many, many emotional problems.  But I am glad to see ultra-luxury brands entering this market, and Aman showing up is a good sign.

Royal Portfolio were due to open here, before having to pull out, so someone as notorious as Aman gives the green light for others.  I know other brands are working on things here.

But let’s not all crack open the champagne/meth/ivermectin just yet.

Because subtle, this is not.

We’re talking 30 pavilions (a mix of one- and two-bedrooms), plus 3- to 6-bedroom branded residences, which is a fancy way of saying someone pays $12 million for a villa and earns the privilege of letting Aman rent it out when they’re not using it.  It’s enormous by safari standards.  Most Great Plains properties barely crack six rooms.  Somewhere in the 8–12 range is typical for the best safari lodges.

This sounds a lot more like the diabolical Four Seasons Serengeti or the Ritz-Carlton Masai Mara — the one being sued for allegedly disrupting wildlife and generally bulldozing its way into the ecosystem.  But let’s not let this cynical Englishman shit on everyone’s joy.

No firm opening date has been confirmed yet — it’s just listed as “upcoming,” which hopefully means actual upcoming and not Amanvari-upcoming, which was announced during the Jurassic period.