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 | | | THE GUARDIAN - Where I'd Rather Be | |
| | | | Amy Carter, Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year
: What are you working on right now?
Four years ago, I founded a fair trade tourism company called Bespoke Experience (bespokeexperience.com) with the aim of developing lodges in areas of extreme poverty by using local materials and skills to maximise benefits to the community. Five per cent of the revenue goes to our new charity SERF, which is enabling us to build a school, water points, and run a research project on humpback whales.
: Where would you rather be?
I'm back in the UK five or six times a year. I'd rather be at Guludo Beach Lodge, northern Mozambique - the first of our lodges (guludo.com).
: What's so special about it?
We're in a national park with 12km of white, empty beach just for us and the elephants which steal our mangoes.
: What would you do there?
Go diving off Zala - an atoll that's home to reef sharks and turtles - and visit Rolas to see Coconut crabs which, according to local custom, own the island. I'd also go to Ibo island, the ancient capital of northern Mozambique, where the slightly dilapidated Portuguese and Arabic architecture evokes a sense of stepping back in time.
: Where would you stay?
One of our tented bandas, or bedrooms, at the lodge. You can watch the sunrise from your kingsize bed.
: Who would you take with you?
My boyfriend (and partner), Neal.
: What's the one place you'd like to see before you die?
Sri Lanka. My grandma went in the 1920s and had so many tales to tell - I'd love to retrace her steps.
*Amy was voted Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year at an event hosted by the New Statesman on May 10.
Interview by Maia Adams
Saturday May 13, 2006
The Guardian
: more stories
 BA HIGHLIFE - My Boy in Africa > 01/01/07
BUILDING DESIGN - Virtuous Vacations > 05/11/2004
CITY AM - Spotlight on Mozambique > 19/06/2006
CONDE NAST TRAVELLER - Word of Mouth > 01/09/06
GETAWAY MAGAZINE - Guludo, a luxury lodge with heart > 01/02/2006
NEW CONSUMER - Eco Travel Special > 08/2006
THE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW - Paradise Found > 07/2005
THE GUARDIAN - Chilled out at Thirtysomething degrees > 01/2005
THE GUARDIAN - Green Gurus > 20/05/2006
THE GUARDIAN - Longing For The Sun > 16/10/2004
THE GUARDIAN - Where I'd Rather Be > 13/05/2006
THE OBSERVER - 20 Best Deserted Beaches > 07/05/2006
THE TIMES - Travel Awards > 11/11/2006
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