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Almodóvar’s Lanzarote

July 25th, 2009 | No Comments

Broken Embraces, which premieres in Britain this week, draws heavily on the dramatic landscapes of Lanzarote. Annie Bennett meets director Pedro Almodóvar and follows in his footsteps around the island

A decade ago, film-maker Pedro Almodóvar took a photograph of El Golfo beach in Lanzarote. When he got the pictures developed, he could just make out two tiny figures standing on the sand. Intrigued, he had the shot enlarged, and revealed a couple locked in a tight embrace, lost in the landscape.

The image, which he called The Secret of El Golfo, niggled away at him for years, eventually inspiring the story that would become Broken Embraces, his latest film, on general release here from 28 August. Although most of the action takes place in Madrid, the scenes shot in Lanzarote are crucial to the plot and set the tone for the whole film.

In Broken Embraces, the two main characters, Lena and Mateo, played by Penélope Cruz and Lluís Homar, stand on the same spot. He takes a photograph and Lena embraces him from behind, sheltering from the wind. I went to Lanzarote and stood there too.

Striated cliffs in shades of burgundy, russet and ochre frame a beach where wild waves crash on to the shore, with what looks like a slick of green paint splashed across the charcoal sand. It is the most extraordinary sight, and it is hardly surprising that Almodóvar didn’t notice the couple.

“It was like in Antonioni’s movie Blow Up, when David Hemmings takes the picture in the park and doesn’t see the body by the bushes until he develops the film in his darkroom,” said the director when I met him later in Madrid. “The camera lens sees more than the naked eye.”

The beach is actually a volcanic crater eroded by the sea, and the green stain is a lagoon, linked to the ocean by lava tubes hidden under the sand. The colour comes from the algae that flourish in a peculiar ecosystem created by the high salt content of the water and the composition of the rock. If you sift through the stones glinting in the sunlight on the beach, you might find crystals of olivine, the green mineral used as a gemstone. But you have to be patient and look very carefully: like the embracing couple, they are not visible at first glance.

“I’d gone to Lanzarote shortly after my mother died,” said Almodóvar, “and the colours of the island seemed to reflect how I was feeling. I found it somehow soothing – not just the blackness, more the soft tones of red, green and brown.”

I drove away from El Golfo along a road flanked by huge volcanic boulders, and turned north into La Geria, the wine-producing valley that Almodóvar filmed from the air as the main characters drove across it in their red hatchback.

The slate-grey, gently undulating terrain is scored with thousands of shallow circular hollows, each housing a single green vine protected by a semicircle of basalt rocks. I got out of the car and gazed at the perfect pattern, which looked like an immense art installation. I half expected to see the land artist Richard Long trudging towards me.

“I was knocked out by La Geria when I first saw it and knew that I would use it in a film one day,” Almodóvar told me. That was in 1985, when he went to Lanzarote to have a rest before shooting The Law of Desire. Back then, he stayed in a bungalow on Famara beach in the north-west of the island, which is where I headed next, as it is also a location in Broken Embraces

Since my arrival on the island, I had noticed that the very mention of Famara seemed to make people come over all dreamy and misty-eyed. I got the impression that it was the sort of place where people come for a week and never get around to leaving. The long, curving bay, backed by dusky pink cliffs, provides perfect conditions for surfing, windsurfing or kitesurfing, depending on the vagaries of the wind on the day. There is high-quality tuition on offer and professionals, including kitesurfing world champion Kirsty Jones, can often be seen training there.

In the film, Lena and Mateo stay, as Almodóvar did, in a bungalow in holiday village Bungalows Playa Famara. There are scenes in the reception area. When I walked in, I was a bit surprised to see that the receptionist was the person who appears in the film. “Pedro asked me to play myself,” said Lyng Dyrup, originally from Denmark, who turned out to be the manager of the complex. “It was hardly a stretch, particularly as I’ve been here for more than 20 years.”

Lyng told me that they had filmed in bungalow number two, in the row nearest the beach. I let myself into the semicircular building and found myself in the living room where one of the most poignant scenes takes place, with the couple on the sofa, watching television.

“This is where the title, Broken Embraces, comes from,” Almodóvar told me. “They are watching Rossellini’s film Voyage to Italy, in which archaeologists find the entwined skeletons of a couple buried by lava, together for ever. Lena cuddles up to Mateo, and he sets the camera and takes a photo of them, unaware that their bliss will soon be shattered – and the photo torn to shreds.”

Back in reception, I asked Lyng what she thought of the film. “You need to see it more than once, because it has so many layers,” she replied. “It’s really more like a book than a film – a book you can’t put down, because you are totally absorbed by the story and the characters.”

I wandered down to the beach and watched surfers riding the waves, children flying kites and dogs dementedly chasing balls. The scene is remarkably similar to one near the end of the film, when all this carefree activity signifies an optimistic new beginning for one of the characters.

Earlier in the film, Lena and Mateo sit on the sand, framed by black rocks that shield them, like the vines, from the wind and the outside world. “Famara is a place of refuge, which is a key concept in the film,” said Almodóvar.

César Manrique, the visionary artist, architect and environmentalist whose influence is seen all over the island, spent his childhood holidays in Famara and always said it was his favourite place. Born in Arrecife, the capital of Lanzarote, in 1919, he lived in Madrid and New York before returning to the island in 1966. Passionate about his homeland, he campaigned for the introduction of regulations that saved Lanzarote from the ravages of rampant development. Highrise buildings are prohibited and there are no roadside advertising hoardings.

He also designed a series of extraordinary buildings which accentuate the unique geology of Lanzarote and are now its main tourist attractions, as well as making funky wind sculptures to adorn roundabouts across the island.

“Lanzarote is like an unframed, unmounted work of art,” he famously said, insisting that anything manmade had to be integrated into the landscape.

“Broken Embraces is a total homage to Manrique,” Almodóvar told me. “I met him on that first trip back in the 80s, and he took me all over the island and showed me his Lanzarote.”

Manrique’s home at the time, Taro de Tahiche, is built into the boulders in a lava field. He was so amazed to spot a fig tree growing up from the blackness that he decided to build a house around it. Now a foundation dedicated to his life and work, its ground floor is an exhibition space with works by his renowned contemporaries, including Tàpies, Millares, Picasso and Saura, but it is the view framed by the huge windows that draws the eye. Basalt steps lead down to a turquoise pool and five lava bubbles linked by passages in the volcanic rock. It looks more like a groovy nightclub than a home. “Oh yes, I went to some pretty wild parties there,” remembered Almodóvar, laughing.

Manrique died in 1992, at 73, in a car accident at the roundabout next to Taro de Tahiche, which features one of his wind sculptures. Almodóvar used the same roundabout for a crash in Broken Embraces, but was unaware of its sinister connotations. “I chose it because I loved the sculpture on it, and it was only afterwards that I read in the local newspaper that Manrique had died there.”

Almodóvar said that it was one of many strange coincidences that happened while they were filming. “There was a special atmosphere on the shoot. Everyone involved said they felt a really positive energy – and believe me, that is not always the case. And the whole crew said they had never slept so well, including me.” I agreed with him on that. The day after I arrived, I woke to the distant sounds of a donkey braying and a cockerel crowing, feeling totally refreshed. I hadn’t slept so well for years.

I was staying at the Finca de Arrieta, an eco-retreat on the north-east coast, between the mountains and the sea. The small complex, built in the local basalt stone, is so low-rise it is barely visible from the coast road, its existence given away only by the palm trees blowing in the breeze. As well as a cottage and a villa, there are three yurts, all with a sort of Moroccan/Indonesian feel. My yurt was a sumptuous structure lined in pink silk with a marble floor, and a wetroom and kitchen just outside. I made a pot of coffee and an omelette with organic eggs from the finca’s chickens and huge spring onions from the garden, before having a swim in the solar-heated pool.

This mini paradise was created by Britons Tila and Michelle Braddock, who live here with their four children. “We have 30 solar panels and two wind turbines, which provide energy for the whole finca,” said Tila. “Lanzarote has plenty of sun and wind, and there’s no reason why the whole island shouldn’t use renewable energy sources.”

Manrique would be proud, but at the moment Finca de Arrieta is the largest sustainable energy project on the island. We were having dinner right by the sea on the terrace of the Amanecer restaurant in Arrieta, the village just down the road. As we devoured sizzling prawns, Tila pointed out a romantic-looking little cottage a couple of doors away, which they also rent out. “Being so close to the sea, you can fish out of the window if you want. We put a solar panel on the roof there too,” said Tila, dipping fried goats’ cheese into the mojo dips which are traditional throughout the Canaries. “The green one is made with coriander, and the red one with paprika,” said Michelle, topping up our glasses with Bermejo, a delicious local white wine.

The next morning, Tila whisked me off on a tour of the north of the island. We drove high into the hills, through lava fields covered in lichen in soft shades of gold, green and cream. On our left was the Monte Corona volcano, and standing alone on the hillside below it was La Torrecilla, the large house that is used as a clinic in Broken Embraces

A lava tube runs from the volcano to the sea, billowing out to form caves along the way. In one of these, Manrique created Los Jameos del Agua, a massive grotto that contains a recently restored auditorium, where Broken Embraces had its first screening. “The acoustics there are amazing,” Almodóvar later told me.

At the northern tip of the island, Manrique turned an old gun battery on the edge of a cliff into a restaurant and observation point, the Mirador del Río, where the bar has a curving panoramic window with views across to the island of La Graciosa. Almodóvar did shoot a scene in this dramatic setting, but it didn’t make the final cut.

“We organise an annual charity event, the Tres Islas,” said Tila, “when teams swim from La Graciosa over to Lanzarote, climb the cliff near here, then cycle the 60km across the island before sailing across to Fuerteventura.”

The road wound to the south and we drove towards Haría, where Manrique lived for the last few years of his life. Hidden in a lush valley and surrounded by palm trees, it is one of the prettiest villages on the island. We stopped for lunch at La Frontera, a popular family-friendly restaurant with views down the valley, and ate chunks of aubergine with palm honey, and tender lamb chops.

Later on, Tila dropped me off at El Aljibe in the remote village of Los Valles, where I was going to spend my last night. From the outside, it looked like a traditional Canarian farmhouse, albeit a rather chic one. Inside, however, a staircase led down through an archway into an enormous stone space with a vaulted ceiling and mezzanine sleeping area. Originally the underground water cistern for the farm, El Aljibe is now stylishly decorated with paintings and sculptures by renowned local artists, all friends of the owner, who was also close to Manrique and worked with him on some of his projects back in the 70s.

Sinking into the outdoor Jacuzzi in this incongruously glamorous setting, my mind wandered to the amazing parties you could throw there – but you would need both Manrique and Almodóvar on the guest list to really make it swing.

Essentials

Iberia (0870 6090500; iberiaairlines.co.uk) flies to Lanzarote from Heathrow via Madrid from £166 return. Thomas Cook (flythomascook.com) flies from six UK airports to Lanzarote, from £96 return. Cachet Travel (020 8847 8700; cachet-travel.co.uk) features boutique hotels on the island; a week at La Casona de Yaiza costs £585pp in September, including flights and car hire.

Cesar Manrique’s home, Taro de Tahiche (00 34 928 843138; fcmanrique.org) is open daily; entrance €8, under-12s free. Los Jameos del Agua (00 34 928 848020; centrosturisticos.com) is open daily and from 7.30pm to 2am on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday; €8, children €4. Mirador del Río (00 34 928 526 548; centrosturisticos.com) is open daily; adults €4.50, children €2.25.

El Amanecer is on La Garita beach in Arrieta (three-course meal with wine about €20). Mesón La Frontera is on the edge of Haría (Casas de Atrás 4; 00 34 928 835310).

Further information from the Spanish Tourist Office on 0870 8506599; spain.info.

Five fabulous places to stay

Finca de Arrieta

The estate of Finca de Arrieta comprises an eco-villa sleeping eight and large yurts sleeping up to four. The yurts have marble flooring, original hardwood Mongolian furniture and an ensuite bathroom. Arrieta is an eco-retreat, where the yurts and other properties are run on solar and wind energy, and holistic therapies, spa treatment and art courses are on offer.
• Yurts from €575 a week; 00 34 928 826720; lanzaroteretreats.com

Finca de las Salinas

This eccentric-looking rose-coloured finca in the picturesque town of Yaiza has 19 comfortable rooms. Although it’s just a short (10km) drive from the beaches, the inland location gives the hotel a peaceful feel, and there are bicycles to hire. The hotel has two restaurants – a bodega with an impressive selection of Spanish wines, and a more formal restaurant. A full-service spa is opening this summer.
• Doubles from €104; 00 34 928 830325; fincasalinas.com

Finca Malvasia

There are just four small apartments at Finca Malvasia, which lies in the heart of La Geria, Lanzarote’s spectacular wine region. Built from volcanic stone, the rooms are stylishly furnished with well-equipped kitchens, and private terraces with stunning views. The apartments are set in gardens full of fig and avocado trees, and there is a good-sized pool, yoga room and mini-gym, with massages available on site.
• From €110 per night for two people; 00 34 928 173460; fincamalvasia.com

Famara bungalows

Located between the stunning beach at Famara and the high cliff, these bungalows have private terraces. Sleeping two, four or six, they sit in a large garden with a communal pool. The village of Caleta Famara is a short walk away.
• From €60 a night for a two-person bungalow; 00 34 928 845132; bungalowsplayafamara.com

El Aljibe

This converted water tower is a spectacular bolthole for two; the exposed brick walls and vaulted ceiling create a dramatic backdrop to sleek modern furniture and a mezzanine sleeping space. The apartment has a surround-sound stereo system that makes the most of the property’s incredible acoustics, satellite TV, outdoor Jacuzzi and pool.
• From €160; 00 34 902 363318; rural-villas.com

• Broken Embraces has its UK Premiere on Thursday at London’s Somerset House

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Riding the surf bus to Newquay

July 16th, 2009 | No Comments

Georgia Brown takes the Big Friday bus down to Cornwall for a weekend of surfing



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My favourite US national park

July 16th, 2009 | No Comments

It would be a crime to close any of America’s parks. We asked experts for the best ways to enjoy the epic landscapes of 10 national parks

In pictures: views from America’s national parks

“The best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” That’s how Pulitzer prize-winning author and historian Wallace Stegner described America’s magnificent national parks.

California was the inspiration for the national park system – early visitors to Yosemite were so awed by the grandeur of the scenery that it was the first special area to be preserved by the government for public use. It sowed the seeds for the first national park to be created at Yellowstone eight years later in 1872, “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people”.

It is a cruel irony then that it should be California’s governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who has proposed the closure of 220 state parks in order to save money and balance the books. Just to be clear, these are parks run by the state of California – closures would restrict access to the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas, the beaches and wetlands of Big Sur, and the deserts of San Diego among others – not those run by the National Park Service (NPS).

The NPS has already warned that it might take control of six California state parks if they are not kept open. But there is no suggestion that national parks are facing closure – indeed they have seen their budgets increased this year to make improvements to roads and facilities.

More Americans will be holidaying at home this year because of the recession that has given rise to the proposed park closures. And when “the economy is not in shape, that bodes well for the park service”, according to David Barma, chief of public affairs for the NPS. The latest figures from the NPS show an increase in the number of park visits over the first four months of this year and bookings are up at national park campsites.

Nowhere does the great outdoors better than America. It is epic – cinematic – in its scale and beauty. There are deserts, great lakes, swamps, canyons, mountains, rivers, forests, oceans and beaches. It would be a crime to close any of it.

We asked 10 experts to share their favourite wild spaces with us.

1. Best for wilderness: Katmai and Kenai Fjords National Parks, Alaska

The expert: Ken Burns, filmmaker, whose latest TV series, National Parks, America’s Best Idea, premieres in the US on PBS on 27 September

At the Brooks River Falls in Katmai in summer there can easily be 50 grizzly bears gathered as thousands of salmon from the Bering Sea swim upstream to spawn. It looks almost anthropomorphic, a grizzly symposium, and the human observers are definitely outsiders – the bears own this place and they are seriously gorging on fish. You’re coming all the way to Alaska for the pristine wilderness, so do also drive to Aialik Bay, Kenai, to see humpback and orca from kayaks and watch the glacier “calving” great booming chunks into the sea, sending the seals on the ice floes bobbing furiously – it’s a transformational experience.

• Where to stay: Katmai: Brooks Campground, protected from bears strolling nearby by an electric fence. Kenai: camp in Abra cove or stay at the Aialik Bay Cabin.

2. Best adventure: Rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon

The expert: Abe Streep, Outside Magazine

As far as epic adventures go, this is a classic: roaring down the canyon through a 100-degree desert landscape looking up at jagged layers of vermillion rock, some half as old as the planet itself, in wild water that’s very cold. It’s not about “wanting” to do it in your lifetime, it’s about “needing” to do it. They stagger the raft permits, so it’s not crowded. You shoot the rapids like a bucking bronco, hanging on for dear life, then float on a smooth section past Native American ruins. It takes two weeks for a full trip, but you can get the idea in four days if that’s all you have, camping on beaches, feeling like a little ant under the massive walls and taking day hikes to hidden waterfalls.

• Oars.com organises rafting trips lasting from four days to a full canyon trip of 18 days. Oars: four-day rafting trip all-inclusive (equipment, local shuttle transport, camping, food, etc) this season is $1,758 per person (£1,085); 16-day trip at $4,916 (£3,034) or an 18 days in a wooden dorie boat $5,401 (£3,333). +1 209 736 4677.

Best regards,

3. Best-kept secret: Precipice Trail, Acadia National Park, Maine

The expert: Robert Earle Howells, National Geographic Adventure Magazine

You’ve done the gorgeous drive up the coast of Maine, now for the aptly-named Precipice Trail. The first thing you see are all sorts of warning signs – this hike, well it’s really a non-technical climb, is not for the faint of heart or those prone to vertigo – then you notice all the iron rungs drilled into the rock from long ago, to help you monkey up the exposed eastern face of Mount Champlain. Getting to the top gives you a heck of a rush and you’re looking down at magical islands and coves in the bay, and inhaling spruce and fir. Your reward is the freshest catch from the lobster men for dinner – nothing fancy, just the critter and 100 napkins.

• Stay: There are two campgrounds in Acadia National Park. You can make reservations for Blackwoods Campground only. Seawall Campgrounds operates on a first come, first served basis. Campgrounds normally fill up early in July through September, so plan to arrive early. The Claremont Hotel’s waterfront cottages, from $152 (£92) per night, minimum three nights; +1 207 244 5036.
• Eat: Beal’s Lobster Pier, 182 Clark Point Road, Southwest Harbor, +1 207 244 7178.
• Further information: acadia.national-park.com.

4. Best on two wheels: New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia

The expert: Karen Brooks, Dirt Rag Mag

Mountain bikers are no longer the enemy of the National Parks – there’s been a lot of diplomacy and more trails are now being allowed, and designed so that we don’t wreck the place. The New River Gorge is known for white water rafting, but there are four mountain-bike routes through beautiful forest, built along railway lines that used to serve the coal industry. It’s a buzz to bike through a canopy of trees where all you see is lush greenery, right next to the gushing, tumbling river, and maybe the odd fly-fisherman. Biking in West Virginia is generally rough and tough, but these trails are a little more mellow. And the autumn foliage is to die for. Prepare to get mud on your face.

• Where to stay: There’s a choice of RV sites, economy cabins, car-camping or primitive camping at Rifrafters Campground, Fayetteville, West Virginia, +1 304 574 1065

5. Best off the beaten track: Back-country hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

The expert: Marcus Woolf, writer for Backpacker and guidebook author.

The most-visited national park in the US drew 9.4 million visitors in 2007, according to the National Parks Service. But strike out to the north-east, into the back-country and you’ll get some solitude – there are 800 miles of hiking trails – and can absorb spectacular views across the rolling mountains bathed in milky haze to the horizon. The misty ‘smoke’ is actually not weather but plant respiration on a scale and diversity to rival a rainforest – it’s dreamy stuff. From the cosy wooden huts of LeConte Lodge, take the Rainbow Falls Trail, past the wonderful plunge, to the top of Mount LeConte and connect at high elevation to the Appalachian Trail then eventually to the Maddron Bald Trail wending through ancient forest. Doss down in your sleeping bag in the three-sided shelters along the way.

• Stay: Smoky Mountain Park campsites. All backcountry campers are required to have a free backcountry permit (available at most ranger stations and visitor centres). Camp in a designated site or shelter. Campers need reservations to stay in any shelter, and 14 tent areas also require reservations. Campers can make reservations by calling +1 (865) 436 1231. LeConte Lodge, $110 per adult, per night dinner, bed and breakfast +1 865 429 5704.

6. Best for wildlife: Yellowstone Park, Montana/Wyoming in summer, and Everglades, Florida, in winter

The expert: Mark Wexler, National Wildlife Magazine

The first national park in the US may seem over-exposed, but when you’ve been haunted by the howl of the wolf pack and the grizzly is ambling by, you’ll appreciate it’s the best. If you want to escape the camera-clicking crowds clustering the Old Faithful geyser – magnificent as it is – and rushing at some poor buffalo, head into the wilds on foot or horseback. Here, you stand the chance of seeing see black bear, bobcat, grey fox, mountain kingsnake, white-headed woodpecker, spotted owl, beaver, chipmunks etc. My winter favourite destination is the Everglades. Make for Alligator Alley and you’ll definitely encounter reptiles but the birds are fabulous, a line of white ibis flying against the sinking sun, the endangered wood stork, bald eagles. Hike the Anhinga Trail on boardwalks over the swamps and listen to the feathered hosts waking up at sunrise.

• Stay: Camping in Yellowstone. Headwaters of the Yellowstone B&B, Gardiner, Montana, +1 406 848 7073, rooms from $140; Mountainview Cabin with full kitchen for up to 4 people $165.
Hiking trails in Yellowstone; Horseback riding outfitters and guides; Sleep in traditional native rough huts in the Everglades, seminoletribe.com +1 863 983 6101.

7. Most extreme activity: Slot canyoneering, Zion National Park, Utah

The expert: Kate Siber, adventurer and writer for Outside and National Geographic Adventure

The Subway is one of Zion’s more trippy, tunnel-like slot canyons, sculpted by millennia of wind and water, where sunlight glows round corners, turquoise water swirls in rock cauldrons and the psychedelic walls undulate in abstract curves. The deal here is the wow-factor of being deep in this narrow space that looks as if Gaudi or Dr Seuss concocted it in a daydream. A couple of abseils, scrambling, some chilly swims (pack a drybag) and wading in ankle-deep water ups the adventure quotient, but it’s not generally dangerous, particularly with a guide. If you don’t want anything to do with ropes, you can boulder and hike in part way from the bottom and get the gist.

• Stay: Primitive and tiny Lava Point Campground in Zion is free. Many other camping and lodging options. Information and canyoneering guides at www.zionrockguides.com, +1 435 772 3303.

8. Best family camping: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California

The expert: Stuart Bourdon, editor of Camping Life Magazine

The parks overlap, so it’s a Sierra Nevada two-for-one, and each has record-breakers. Giant redwood (sequoia) “General Sherman” in Sequoia is one of the largest trees on Earth at 275 feet (83.8 metres), and grows in the Giant Forest, which contains five out of the 10 largest trees in the world. Kings Canyon has Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the Lower 48 at 14,505ft (4,421m), with a shark’s tooth peak, and the US’s deepest gorge – who knew? Campsites are designed for car-camping – neither backcountry nor motor-home – with basic fire pits and showers. Spy black bears on wilderness day-hikes. Kids enjoy Crystal Cave – a marble cave – and the stone staircase up Moro Rock – a large granite dome in the Giant Forest – where the view extends for 300 miles on a clear day.

• Stay: Lodgepole and Dorset Creek are the largest and busiest campgrounds and the only ones that can be reserved in advance. All other sites in the parks are first-come, first-served daily. nps.gov/seki, +1 559 565 3341.

9. Best view: The Teton Range of mountains from Jackson Lake Lodge, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

The expert: Stephen Freligh, Nature’s Best Photography Magazine

From the patio at the lodge, there’s an utterly incredible view of the Teton Range, all jagged and snowcapped, across a beautiful piece of open country, where you can easily see moose wandering and perhaps a bear. The beautiful Jackson Lake is in the foreground and the mountains are so close, you feel you could touch them. It is one of the most amazing views in the world, with the spirit of the American West and the pioneer feeling of being so close to nature. The view is very accessible for park visitors, but hike a few minutes from the lodge towards the view and you’ll leave the crowds behind.

• Stay: camping at Jackson Lake. Jackson Lake Lodge, Moran, Wyoming, +1 307 543 2811, rooms from $219.

10. Best challenge: Learning to rock climb in Yosemite National Park, California

The expert: Jo Whitford is a certified Yosemite Mountaineering School Instructor, who has climbed all over the US and the world and has settled on Yosemite as her base

Climbing on granite in Yosemite, even a small slab, is inspiring because you know El Capitan is just around the corner, where the world’s best climbers scale its intimidating 1,000-plus vertical metres. I guide on the Girls on Granite two-day course, on which beginners learn basic knots and techniques for hooking fingertips into seemingly-invisible cracks to edge up 40-metre mini-cliffs. Intermediates scale steeper climbs with smaller finger-holds, and learn to follow a leader up the climb. Catch a glimpse of stunning Half Dome mountain and aspire to climb that one day as you learn to abseil down.

• Girls On Granite is a two-day climbing and hiking package, with tent-cabin accommodation – beginner or intermediate: $181 (£110). Other rock-climbing lessons/guiding also available, all through Yosemite Mountaineering School +1 209 372 8344.

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Where to go wilder in Britain

July 10th, 2009 | No Comments

Scotland and Dartmoor are the only places to legally wild camp in Britain. But there are a few sites that offer a more rugged camping experience. Dixe Wills picks the best.

Find more unusual campsites in tomorrow’s Guardian Travel

Ah, the call of the wild. Unzipping your tent in the morning to discover you weren’t dreaming – you really are camped beside some tranquil mountainside tarn, or in a clearing in a mighty forest, or on a cliff top high above a sparkling sea. With a proper hot summer still on the cards, what could gladden the heart more than getting out into the British countryside with a tent and soaking it all up?

Except, of course, it’s not as simple as that. The enlightened Scots, who have long enjoyed a relaxed attitude to land access, have made wild camping legal more or less anywhere (with a few sensible caveats) since 2003. In the rest of Britain, however, the practice is only officially sanctioned in one area – a section of Dartmoor.

The good news is that there’s now a growing number of campsites south of the border that have begun to offer campers the chance to savour the joys of off-piste camping. Where these sites differ from the norm is that rather than providing beautifully tended croquet-flat lawns, electric hook-ups and hardstanding, they offer chunks of topography just as nature crafted it, open fires on which to incinerate your marshmallows and, typically, a compost loo for those campers who feel no compunction to imitate what bears do in the woods. It may not be wild camping in its purest form but it’s a darn good imitation.

Wales leads the way in wilder campsites, with southern England hot on their heels. The phenomenon, it seems, is yet to catch on in the north of England.

Here’s a selection of the best sites where you can go wild in the country.

Gwalia Farm, Cemaes, Machynlleth, Powys

A large area around a lake is given over to camping at Gwalia, an organic farm that enjoys some quite breathtaking views of Snowdonia. Closer at hand, there are wild orchids, buzzards, kites, nightjars, glow worms, and all manner of aquatic life to look out for, including an otter. Drinking and washing water comes from a natural spring, there are earth loos in the woods and, should you wish to wander, the farm is on the Cambrian Way, Glyndwr’s Way and the Dyfi Valley Way.

• Gwalia Farm. Adult £4, child £2; +44 (0)1650 511377.

Graig Wen Arthog, nr Dolgellau, Gwynedd

Graig Wen admits to playing host to a conventional campsite but, for four weeks a year, visitors are also given the choice of going further afield and pitching in secret meadows, sheltered glades or a high bluff with views out over the Mawddach estuary. Streams and dry stone walls forge their way over the fields and through the woods, while the facilities are suitably wild – extending only to something described as “a tree bog compost toilet”. Best not to ask, I think.

• Graig Wen. From 25 July to 21 August; adult £7 (£10 on Fri/Sat); child £3 (£5); discount offered for backpackers/cyclists; +44 (0)1341 250482.

Gwern Gof Uchaf, Capel Curig, Gwynedd

One for high altitude campers, Gwern Gof Uchaf is an exposed site directly beneath Snowdonia’s famous Tryfan peak and is part of a working hill farm stretching for 750 acres above the Ogwen valley. The Carneddau and Glyders summits can also be tackled from this base camp which is open all year, so you can even introduce your tent to some snow (it’s wonderfully insulating, you know). Comfort comes in the form of hot showers, close by.

• Gwern Gof Uchaf. Adult £4, child £3; +44 (0)1690 720294.

Glyn Y Mul Farm, Aberdulais, West Glamorgan

The river Dulais runs through Glyn Y Mul’s 18-acre wood, making it a memorable location for a bit of communing with nature. The owners particularly welcome grub-eating survivalists to their Lone Wolf Campsite but are also happy to accommodate visitors who merely want to get away from it all. Best of all, should everything go pear-shaped with your attempt to create a shelter from mud filtered through the shells of beech nuts, you can crawl out of the woods for a hot power shower.

• Glyn Y Mul Farm. Adult £5, child £2.50; +44 (0)1639 643204

Camping Wild Wales, Trefin, Pembrokeshire

This is a site whose owners’ mission statement importunes visitors to slough off their urban selves, “strip away those outer layers and feel the breeze of freedom”, so chilling out and relaxing are pretty much compulsory. Lodged halfway between St David’s and Fishguard, just off the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, there’s plenty of room to spread out your shelter of choice or you can take refuge in one of their tipis.

• Camping Wild Wales. Adult £7, child (4-14) £3; +44 (0)1348 837892.

Hole Station Campsite, Highampton, Devon

There are 45 acres of meadow and woodlands at Hole Station but only twelve pitches, making it a little piece of heaven for those who agree with Sartre’s maxim that hell is other people. Approached down a long private lane in a sumptuous, yet quiet, corner of Devon, it’s little wonder that Hole railway station, from which the site takes its name, has long since given up the ghost. You can also rent a tent – very useful if you’re travelling light on the Devon coast-to-coast route, for which Hole marks the halfway point.

• Hole Station Campsite. £12 per pitch (inc. 2 people), extra adults £4, U16s £3, dogs £1. Camp fire kit £5; +44 (0)1409 231266

Yellow Wood Bush Camp, nr Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire

The folk at Yellow Wood are very much in touch with their inner Ray Mears and offer all manner of courses on bushcraft and wilderness survival on their clutch of forested sites in the shadow of the Black Mountains. However, if you just want to bring along your tent, or string up a tarp or a hammock and do your own thing, that’s cool too. For that added wild touch, the precise location of their sites is not revealed until you’ve booked yourself in.

• Yellow Wood Bush Camp. Adult £5, child £3; +44 (0)7800 767519.

Ashwood Farm, East Grinstead, West Sussex

Proving that being within commuting distance of the capital is still no barrier to camping in the wilds, this farm near the Sussex/Surrey border provides a haven of sylvan tranquillity. It’s also a paradise for children who are free to race up and down the hill, build their own woodland wigwams, dens, shelters or fairy houses according to taste, or just idle away the hours on a tree swing. There’s also a big discount if you can arrive by public transport or under your own steam.

• Ashwood Farm. With car: adult £12; child £6. Without car: £8/£4. Fire kit £5. +44 (0)1342 316129

Dernwood Farm, Waldron, East Sussex

A small family-run farm, Dernwood has an 8-acre field in the woods in which you can pick your spot and another 60-odd acres of ancient forest to explore once you’ve set up camp. The only concessions to home comforts are a water tap and a recently installed loo in a nearby shed. For those who insist on being kept in touch with the outside world, newspapers can be delivered to the farmhouse, a ten-minute walk away. A fleet of wheelbarrows is also on hand for ferrying your gear through the woods.

• Dernwood Farm. Adult £6.50, child (5-15) £4.50, family (2 adults 2 children) £17.50; +44 (0)1435 812726.

And a final one for anyone who wants to try out a wild campsite in Scotland before heading off into the countryside beyond:

Duloch Hamlet, Inverkeithing, Fife

Offering what they euphemistically describe as “limited rustic facilities” (a sawdust toilet and a stand pipe), Duloch Hamlet is a mixture of clearings in woodland and meadows. There are fifteen acres of woods to get happily lost in and hides for watching badgers and deer. There’s also a herb garden if you fancy adding that final flourish to your al fresco feast, and a few pre-erected tents available if you prefer to travel ultra-lite.

• Duloch Hamlet. £6 per person; log kits £3; +44 (0)1383 417681.

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