Conde Nast Traveller present Guludo with 3 World Savers Awards
Winner: Overall Best for Education,
Winner: Overall Best for Poverty
Winner: Doing it All — the Best Small Hotel/Resort
Runner-Up: Overall Best for Health
What: Hyper-secluded beach getaway.
Where: Quirimbas National Park, Mozambique.
Why: Because this hotel has leveraged upscale travel to change the lives of 15,000 Africans.
The nine shabby-chic bungalows of Guludo Beach Lodge sit along a mile of white sand beach. That’s one reason Joey McCune traveled there from Seattle with her two pre-teen children-
“to experience the simple life married to luxury.” The other: “I wanted to teach my kids the love of travel and also about humanitarianism.”
The integration of philanthropy and tourism was exactly what Amy and Neal Carter-James had in mind when they were looking for a location to develop a resort. Their beach abuts a community that in 2002 had no access to clean water, few children going to school, and one child in three dying before his or her fifth birthday. The resort works with more than 150 local suppliers and employs 80 villagers, and its Nema Foundation attacks the causes of poverty, like poor health and lack of education. The results are astounding: clean water for 15,000 people; school meals for 800 children; 9,000 mosquito nets distributed; two new primary schools; and 162 secondary school scholarships.
Meanwhile, the setting isn’t bad, either. The private villas feature outdoor showers with water spewing from coconut shells. Even the toilets are alfresco-with sea views. When guests aren’t lying on the beach or gazing at humpback whales, they can head to the nearby village, meet locals, and visit water wells and school programs.
“My kids used the money they’d been saving for souvenirs to pay for a water-filtration system,” McCune recalls. “I always describe Guludo as my favorite place ever”.
*If you go: When departing, opt for a James Bond-style farewell: Take a speedboat to nearby Matemo Island, then transfer to a small plane-you might spot humpback whales from the air!
Originally published at https://www.guludo.com on October 30, 2012.
