Canvas beyond safari: The remote tented camps springing up everywhere from Morocco to Mexico

In The Independent’s travel trends column, Trendwatch, we dig into the types of trip, modes of transport and top buzzwords to watch out for.

There is something so romantic about a tented camp. Last month I sat outside my smart canvas-wrapped suite at new Moroccan retreat Caravan Agafay, barefoot on locally sourced leather cushions and woven rugs, as the sun set over the rock desert in front of me. After dark, I would follow lantern-lit paths through pitch-black grounds to the communal log fire pit, to eat delicious tagine of the day at the al fresco restaurant, or to gaze up at crystalline constellations with the house astronomer, under the most jet-black, hyperreal night sky I’ve ever seen.

Tented camps – featuring relatively luxe, often-walled canvas tents in a remote, naturally beautiful location – are a stalwart of safari life. But in the past few years, camps have sprung up in nature-blessed locations away from the big game drive nations: as well as Afagay in Morocco, this year alone saw Nayara Tented Camp pop up in Costa Rica and Canoe Camp launch in South Africa’s winelands.

And these are just a few out of a wave of safari-style glampsites getting us closer to nature in countries not traditionally known for luxe canvas accommodation. There were a few pioneers before this wave: Al Maha’s desert camp in Dubai has been around since 1999 in the wild-feeling dunes of the Emirate’s Desert Conservation Area; Cambodia opened Cardamom Tented Camp and Shinta Mani Wild in 2017 and 2018 respectively; Bali’s first camp, Capella Ubud, was unveiled in 2018.

At least four more high-end glampsites are slated to open in 2023. After the success of Shinta Mani Wild in Cambodia, the interiors-focused Bensley Collection is opening not one but two new ambitious camps and lodges in 2023: one in Nepal, the other in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Meanwhile, Botswana’s on-trend Okavango Delta is getting an exclusive three-tent camp of its own.

So why the boom? A recent Booking.com survey of 24,000 global travellers found that 55 per cent are looking for “off-grid” style vacations to escape from reality, a fantasy fulfilled by tented camps – which, although they have hot showers and delicious cuisine, often run on renewable energy sources such as solar power, and experience…