Some people enjoy going on safari but don’t yearn to return. Others just cannot wait to get back into the bush. Xavier Marie, the French founder of the furniture company Maisons du Monde, is firmly in the latter camp. As his wife, Julie, relates, their holidays always consisted of “epic road trips across Africa — with many adventures and many flat tyres.”
For 20 years, the couple spent their holidays searching out the wild places that Marie had experienced growing up in Algeria and Senegal. His chance to remain more permanently came in 2015, while walking in Tanzania, he told his guide Andrew “Moli” Molinaro that his dream had always been to own an African camp. The following day, the guide introduced him to Charles Dobie, a lifelong conservationist and founder of the Selous Safari Company, and by 2019 Marie had become the owner of Jongomero in Ruaha National Park and Siwandu in Nyerere. He also acquired Rhino camp in Ngorongoro Crater and Fanjove, an island south of Dar es Salaam, in a separate deal.
The timing, however, proved challenging. Within a year, the Covid pandemic began to impact travel and businesses, including fashion brands such as Paule Ka and Eric Bompard, that Marie had recently purchased. “But I bought seven in a year, and suddenly all the work I’d done was in ruins. It was very difficult. All my life fell down,” Marie admits. He became so burnt out that “was not able to take a call, or to work at all.”
By 2021, the couple realized a radical change was needed. Instead of seeking medical intervention, they retreated to their new Jongomero lodge and spent their days living quietly in the bush. Marie gratefully says that this experience “rebuilt me totally. Jongomero has a special energy, and I had contact with nature, with the peace and wildlife… It did a lot of good.”
This stay also altered the course of their business lives. Rather than returning to fashion, Marie decided to focus on attracting travelers to the wild parts of Africa he loved. In 2023, the couple launched Laba Laba (“butterfly” in Yoruba), a new safari brand encompassing their three lodges, a Serengeti camp, a mobile migration camp, a private island, and a guesthouse in Arusha.
Walking into Jongomero, it’s clear that the interiors were designed by someone with both taste and an appreciation for natural materials: Julie. She has created calming African spaces adorned with local craftsmanship: chandeliers strung with pottery beads, antique cabinets gleaming with shell marquetry, and Malawi reed-woven chairs, alongside ceramics and wildlife bronzes.
Unlike their newest camp, Grumeti Art Lodge in the Serengeti, which features luxurious interiors with rich Masai-red fabrics and fine pan-African art, the focus at the solar-powered Jongomero is the bush itself. Ruaha is one of Tanzania’s wildest and second-largest parks, spanning more than 7,800 square miles, offering ample opportunity for exploration. Every day, guests can venture out at dawn with a guide to experience the park’s diverse wildlife, from leopards and elephants to long-crested eagles.
Between game drives, downtime can be spent sampling Ottolenghi-inspired salads under the giant winterthorn trees, swimming in a riverside pool, or visiting the lodge’s new bush spa. Here, guests can admire male weavers building nests, watch elephants rolling in the mud, and soak in hot, mineral-rich volcanic pools created by the couple to offer “wellness in the bush in a slow way.”
The couple’s commitment to understated luxury is equally apparent at their private island, Fanjove, a 30-minute boat ride from the Songo Songo airstrip. The island, approximately 1,200 yards by 660 yards, offers a wide white beach, coral cliffs, a restored 1894 lighthouse, and 16 wood and palm-thatched beach bandas, along with three family villas, all surrounded by lush tropical foliage.
Beyond the accommodations, Fanjove offers a cliffside spa, a gym, a dhow for sunset cruises, kayaks, paddleboards, and a dive center for exploring reefs and swimming with whalesharks. For those seeking relaxation, daybeds line a chic white living space and bar, where cocktails are served.
The high standard of the cuisine is particularly noteworthy. Head chef Edmund Mahunga trained with award-winning French chef Ludovic Pouzelgues in Nantes, resulting in inventive and flavorful dishes such as coconut-enriched curries, caponata salads, and spiced grilled octopus.
Before creating Laba Laba, travelers seeking a combination of luxury Tanzanian safari and beach holiday typically headed to Zanzibar. Laba Laba offers a compelling alternative. With the opening of Laba Laba Ngorongoro in April, the company will have camps in four national parks, as well as what they describe as the prettiest beach stop-off in Tanzania. It’s a significant turnaround for a man who once felt almost destroyed by burnout.
Details Doubles at Jongomero cost from £750 a night, all inclusive, and at Fanjove from £885; labalaba.com.
