Joss Kent and the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (left), pose in front of the palace because the financial outcomes are not predictable. The company is starting to invest in key partnerships, like the Lion Recovery Fund, that it estimates will support the conservation of an additional 16m hectares of key biospheres. In order to have a plan for scaling up the Africa model, Kent says that, a few months, ago he and his core team “locked ourselves down in one of our lodges in Botswana’s Okavango Delta for five days and argued and discussed until we were finally able to create a comprehensive plan that we could fit on one piece of paper.” Kent laughs: “It ended up looking like a mandala or a paint-by-numbers.” He explained it involved folding &Beyond’s foundation goals into its business plan. “Essentially, we hammered out what we are trying to do in terms of conservation and impact, and then reverse-engineered it to plot out the business strategy we need to achieve it,” he describes. “We were mapping something out that doesn’t exist at all,” he continues. But that is the direction that companies need to go: “It’s a road map for a new model for conservation, which is also profitable. When your impact strategy is your business strategy, that’s the holy grail.” When we reach the river, we are at a different, smaller suspension bridge and several staff members from the &Beyond Lodge are there waiting with prayer flags so that we can add some to the bridge. From there it is only about a ten-minute walk by rice fields to the lodge. (Set on 20 hectares, 12 of those hectares are given to local farmers to use and harvest). Some of the lodge had existed before &Beyond took it over but it has managed to reimagine it as an African tented camp meets Bhutanese village. The main building is built of stone and consists of several open rooms that include a library, dining room and cosy bar-lounge filled with meaningful Bhutanese objects: hand-woven cane baskets, old portable prayer wheels, arrow quivers and a beautiful antique altar with a statue of the Buddha. A stone-tiled terrace leads to a fire pit and then paths that head to six spacious “tents” and the river. There are two larger, very upscale accommodations: the one-bedroom, two-storey River House with a copper bathtub in the master bedroom, and the two-bedroom Family Villa with its own natural water pool and kitchen. (“Family travel is a big trend since Covid, and we are building it into the architecture of our camps,” says Kent). While the Aman and Six Senses, design-wise, are more traditionally luxurious and pampering, the &Beyond camp is all about encouraging guests to explore their surroundings, from white-river rafting adventures to hiking through the rice fields and to monasteries. In addition, as is its policy, &Beyond’s staff on the ground is almost entirely from the valley. “Other places might have gilded faucets and imported steaks,” says Kent, “but our guests appreciate the unique experiences and the family-like atmosphere that we create through our strong connection to the local community.” That night, men from the valley dance and sing on the stone terraces surrounded by glowing lanterns, and Sonam Dorji, also known as Bull, a local leader and the chairperson of the Punakha district, thanks Kent and &Beyond for the camp’s support of the local community and hiring locals. Then Kent stands in front of a fire pit on the main terrace and thanks the staff for all their hard work and commitment. Over a breakfast of Bhutanese spicy dumplings the next morning, Kent reveals he had received an unexpected call: the King of Bhutan had heard about the opening of the camp from &Beyond’s local partner and had requested Kent’s presence for a short meeting at the palace in Thimphu. He was leaving right after breakfast. The next day I received a text from him: “We thought it would be a 20-minute meeting but it was just me and him alone, and 90 minutes later we were still talking and his staff had to drag us out of the meeting rooms!” A few weeks later, Kent revealed that, among the various topics of their conversation, was a radically visionary project the King is working on: a “mindfulness city” in the south of the country that was to be built on four tenets: wellbeing; sustainability and nature; wisdom and values; and innovation and growth. And although, to many, this idea might sound as fanciful as flying on the back of a tiger, Kent believes that if any country can lead us in the direction this world needs to go, Bhutan can. He hopes that he and &Beyond can help to clear the way. “Collaboration is the key to success,” he says. “We need to build the way forward together.” andbeyond.com PHOTO COURTESY JOSS KENT 118 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
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