Botswana was entirely new to me. I’ve spent time in Morocco, but this was my first time on safari, and my first trip to southern Africa. The colors, the sunsets, the smells, the dust, and seeing animals so close, in a landscape that so clearly belongs to them, shook me out of my typical mental noise of kids and work, and pulled me right into the present moment. Being six feet from a pride of lions has a way of clearing your to do list.
I don’t need to tell you about the magic of safari. There are plenty of travel writers who can do a much better job of that. But I do want to share a few of the things I took home with me.
On one of the long flights back, I listened to an interview with a luxury travel advisor who said safari travel was up 24 percent for her firm in the last year. Her theory was that people are craving in-person experiences again. We all want time in nature, real connection, and a break from our screens that a week by a pool doesn’t always give us.
As I listened, I was still processing the experience of safari while mentally racing back toward real life in Connecticut. But it struck me that she was right. Being away from my phone was truly one of the greatest gifts of the experience.
At the camps, I could check in once a day, which was enough to know nothing was on fire, but for most of the day my mind was free from email, Instagram, and the reflex of looking something up the second I wondered about it. I found myself daydreaming again. Suddenly, I had time to think about old goals and ideas I have carried around for years but don’t always have the space to sit with properly.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to bring some of that mental space home. I do have a Brick, and I am going to try to start bricking my phone again for as much of my free time as I can. The thing that always pulls me back is the camera. I want my phone nearby because I want pictures of my boys. I want to remember the summer they were 5 and 7, down to the messiest details. But I also want those photos to live somewhere other than my phone.
I’m hoping this instant camera, which can print photos on the spot, might be the answer. The boys can take some pictures themselves, and I can hand them the good ones as we go. I want them to have a little summer scrapbook in real time, and as much time with a phone-free me as I can give them.
With my mind a little quieter than usual, I kept thinking about how a trip like this eventually finds its way into creative work. So many of my favorite designers have woven nods to African travel into their interiors.
A more recent favorite space of mine is Amanda Ross’s Arts and Crafts house in East Hampton, designed by Muriel Brandolini. Brandolini’s interiors are never about one reference. They are layered with travel, textiles, craft, and a sense of having absorbed many places over time. In Amanda’s house, she used woven African bowls much like the ones I bought in the camp gift shops, which were made by the camp staff. I love the way they sit in such an American-feeling room. They add texture and looseness and something handmade.
At every stop in Botswana, there were wire and bead animal sculptures that reminded me of Marie Christophe’s sculptures and lanterns, including the one Brandolini had custom-made in the sunroom of the same house.
The camps also had Tuareg mats brought down from the north, which I have always loved mixed with European and American pieces. They take the formality down a notch and make a room feel more relaxed and alive, like in one version of Lauren Santo Domingo’s East Hampton living room.
This longtime favorite room of mine by Jacques Grange carries more of the feeling of the camps in Southern Africa rather than any specific items. You can’t quite put your finger on it, which is, of course, the genius of Jacques Grange.
I came home with a few little things that could fit in my bag: a woven wrap (similar here), malachite ring dishes (like these), a few woven bowels (love these too), these hand-embroidered placemats that have my kids excited to set the table.
Even after two weeks of wearing mostly brown and green to avoid tsetse flies and predators, I am still reaching for some of what I packed:
This field jacket, which I first spotted on Julia Amory, is such an easy layering piece for a slightly chilly day.
Oversized scarves are always a staple for me, and this one from The Great is light enough for warmer weather and can double as a sarong.
The camps gave us warm water bottles for early morning drives and chilly nights, and I loved it so much that I picked up this cover in London on my way home.
A friend of mine recommended these sculpt swimsuits from J.Crew and I packed this brown one for Botswana and a night in East Hampton (along with this hat), so I think it’ll be a summer staple for me.
I’ve owned this Lindquist bag for a bit now and reach for it more than I was expecting to - I ended up using it every day on safari.
I included a few readily available pieces for the home that highlight African craftsmanship - Tuareg mats, African indigo pillows, and handwoven placemats and bowls that bring the same sort of unfussy, relaxed vibe as the interiors I spoke about above. You can shop the whole edit here!
And if there's anything you'd like me to write about in a future Field Notes, I'd love to hear it! Leave a comment below.
x Lilse
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