Elite Traveler November-December 2017

elite traveler NOV/DEC 2017 97

June

For literary buffs COLOMBIA As 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s most celebrated work, One Hundered Years of Solitude , boutique tour operator Amakuna is celebrating the occasion with a literary pilgrimage through the author’s treasured homeland to explore the inspirations that shaped his works. The literary adventure begins in Bogota, where Márquez was educated, before heading to Barranquilla (home of the legendary club of writers known as the Barranquilla group) and continuing to La Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino (see the spot where Colombia’s liberator Simon Bolivar was shot dead, as depicted in Márquez’s scandalous The General and His Labryrinth ). You’ll go on a guided hike in Tayrona through the lush rainforest and coastal lagoons, searching for the elusive Kogi tribe whose supernatural powers are described in many of Márquez’s novels. Your journey will continue to Aracataca and Mompós before reaching your final destination, the Colombian city of Cartagena, which served as the metaphoric setting for Love in the Time of Cholera . Go on a guided tour with a Márquez expert through the winding streets, check in to apartment 201 at Casa Pombo (the same one that actor Javier Bardem stayed in during the film adaptation of Love in the Time of Cholera ) and finally, enjoy a private recital of Márquez’s favorite genre of music, Vallenato. From $5,152 per person for 10 nights. Contact Marc Beale, co-founder, info@amakuna.com, +1 646 736 7582, amakuna.com

Art Basel, Switzerland, June 14-17 Tickets apply at artbasel.com or contact Michèle Sandoz, global head of VIP relations, vip@artbasel.com Stay Deluxe River Suite, Baur Au Lac, from $4,000 per night. Contact Matthias Köhler, front office manager, info@bauraulac.ch, +41 442 205 020, bauraulac.ch

Royal Ascot, Ascot, UK, June 19-23 Tickets the royal enclosure is reserved for members and their guests, non-members apply via ascot.co.uk Stay Opus Suite, The Berkeley, from $14,000 per night. Contact Saakshee Gahlawat, front of house manager, sgahlawat@the-berkeley.co.uk, +44 207 235 6000, the-berkeley.co.uk