Travel + Leisure April 2023

Shamilee Vellu ON THE PROWL During a course in South Africa’s Pridelands Conservancy, Vellu shadowed guides as they worked to habituate leopards to the presence of humans. Tracking the animals proved difficult when heavy rains washed away their pawprints—a potent reminder, she says, “that nature runs on its schedule, not ours.” Yasara Gunawardena SPACE AND TIME While on assignment around California’s Joshua Tree National Park, the photographer, who lives in Los Angeles, was struck by the area’s sense of community. “We ran into the same people again and again, a reminder of how tight-knit the place is,” she says. Gisela Williams SAND CASTLES The T+L contributing editor stayed at a one-of-a-kind resort in Siwa, Egypt, and observed an ongoing project to revive the town’s historic center. Another highlight: “My guide and I had the Great Temple of Amon…

HAVE YOU TRIED getting an Uber during rush hour in Paris lately? I have, and it was torturous. Fresh off a red-eye from New York, my family and I were trying to make a 7 p.m. dinner reservation at La Poule au Pot (jeanfrancoispiege.com; entrées $37–$76), a 1930s-era bistro reborn under chef Jean-François Piège near Les Halles. We’ve all become spoiled by ride-sharing services, the convenience of tapping a button and—voilà!—having your chariot await. So at 6:30 p.m., with what I thought was ample time, I ordered an Uber from our home base, the grand Hôtel de Crillon, a Rosewood Hotel (rosewoodhotels.com; doubles from $1,910). A driver accepted my request, then canceled. Maybe that throng of cars ringing the Place de la Concorde was a bad sign? A second and third driver…

A GLOBETROTTER’S GUIDE TO THE LATEST IN TRAVEL FOR THE THIRD time in 15 hours, I lowered my body into a hot spring on the slopes of a volcanic peak. During my first dip, the previous day, the sun was glinting off the water; the second soak unfolded beneath a nearly full moon. This time, my pre-breakfast bath was shrouded in morning mist and steam. The urge to spend almost every second immersed in water is impossible to resist at Kai Yufuin (hoshinoresorts.com; doubles from $187), a new ryokan resort on the island of Kyushu. Japan is known for its hot springs, or onsen, many of which have adjoining bathhouses or inns—and Kyushu is home to more than a third of them. The volcanic landscapes that heat Kyushu’s springs also give the region…

A MAN IS suspended by a harness from a towering tree in the cloud forest of Costa Rica. He twists and contorts his body, moving through the leaves and branches—a new way of interacting with this rich ecosystem. It’s part of a multimedia piece choreographed by the Costa Rican art collective Wimblu—the culmination of a two-week residency at Hotel Belmar (hotelbelmar.net; doubles from $239), a sustainable 26-room retreat in the mountains outside Monteverde. Wimblu’s members connected with the dancer, a local artist named Mario Rivera Camacho, during their time on property. “Hotel Belmar creates this atmosphere that allows you to slow down,” Wimblu cofounder Alessandra Baltodano Estrada later reflected. “This opens up the mind to create.” Around the world, hotels are getting into the art game—not only opening galleries and displaying one-of-a-kind…

FOR MORE THAN a century, high-quality grass-fed beef has been Argentina’s gastronomic calling card. But in Buenos Aires, chefs are catering to an increasing number of vegetarians—and as a result, plant-focused eateries are cropping up all over the city. “For years, I sent my vegetarian clients to the same places,” says Maita Barrenechea, a T+L A-List travel advisor based in Buenos Aires. She cites her long-running favorites, Donnet (instagram.com/donnet_te_ama; entrées $4–$10), which specializes in mushrooms, and Sacro (sacro.com.ar; entrées $14–$27), known for its haute vegan cuisine and pleasant patio. “But now there are many new options to choose from.” The hottest table is Marti (instagram.com/marti_barra; entrées $8–$17), a meatless fine-dining restaurant that opened in December 2021 from acclaimed (and now vegetarian) restaurateur Germán Martitegui in the tony Recoleta neighborhood. The airy, terrarium-like…

“OUR GOAL IS to save quiet for the benefit of all life,” says Gordon Hempton, cofounder of the nonprofit Quiet Parks International (quietparks.org). A self-proclaimed terrible listener turned scholar of soundscapes, Hempton has spent four decades searching for the planet’s rarest natural sounds, from the harmonic vibrations inside a Sitka spruce log to the echo of western meadowlarks through a canyon. “Originally, my aim was simply to listen more carefully to the world around me,” Hempton says. “It quickly evolved into a lifelong campaign to preserve natural areas free of noise pollution.” He and an all-volunteer team seek out remote stretches where nature still reigns sonically supreme, making recordings and measuring levels of human-made noise. By designating these areas as Quiet Places, the organization hopes to preserve them—and encourage visitors to…