Dera Amer, Rajasthan, India

Six safari style tents of Swiss canvas, in the colonial campaign style, are set out across the scrub with no one else around for miles. The camp takes twelve adults at most, and never more than one family or two couples at a time.

The furnishings. King or twin beds with deep mattresses and fine linen, and Cawnpore cots and planter’s chairs taken from Raj era models and made by local artisans.

The shower room. Attached to every tent, with hot and cold water around the clock, a wooden shower tray, a heater, a hair dryer, bathrobes and slippers, and Forest Essentials toiletries.

In every tent. A heating and cooling unit, a safe, charging points, a Bose Bluetooth speaker, board games, binoculars and a guide to India’s birds and trees, hot water bottles on cool nights and a turndown each evening. An extra bed can be added.

Meals at Dera Amer are taken in the open air, and much of what reaches the table is grown on the camp’s own organic plot.

Breakfast and dinner. Served al fresco, in the clearing in the morning and beneath the trees by lantern light at night.

Around the fire. Drinks by a bonfire as the light goes, with a barbecue cooked live in the open.

With the elephants. Lunch, dinner or high tea in the company of Laxmi and Rangmala.

The farm. An organic vegetable plot tended by villagers and the camp’s staff, free of pesticides and watered by solar powered pumps and drip irrigation.

Music. Private performances by local folk musicians and dancers can be arranged for the evening.

Two elephants live at Dera Amer, both adopted from city work at Amer Fort: Laxmi in 2006, after her mahout passed away, and Rangmala in 2009. They have been inseparable since.

No riding. Dera Amer does not support elephant riding. The elephants wear no saddles, and the only time they are restrained is for a visit from the vet; otherwise they live in camp with their mahouts.

Walking with them. Guided walks beside the elephants and their mahouts through the Saluwar Forest, in the morning or the evening, followed by lunch or dinner in the open air lounge.

The morning bath. Through the year, mornings only: arrive early and help hose them down. Rangmala in particular is in her element under the water.

Dera Amer lies in the foothills of the Aravalli range, beside the village of Kukas beyond Amer, in 180 acres of protected scrub and forest.

The land. Largely neglected scrubland when the family bought it in 1981, it has been returned to the wild over four decades and is now a sanctuary for animals, domestic and wild.

The wildlife. Early walks with a guide for birds such as the white naped tit, the dusky eagle owl, the Siberian rubythroat and Marshall’s iora, and on a lucky morning a leopard or a darting antelope.

The natural pool. Built from local materials in the middle of the protected forest and filtered by plants; its overflow waters the dry jungle around it and the wild animals that drink there.

The neighbors. The camp’s staff come from the surrounding villages, some since the beginning, and Dera Amer funds the nearby junior school with computers, books and stationery.

Families. With never more than one family in camp at a time, the elephants, the fire and the forest paths are yours, and the camp welcomes children.

Couples. Honeymooners share the camp with one other couple at most, with dinner by lantern light and the stars overhead.

Walkers and riders. Guided walks through the Saluwar Forest, early mornings for birds, and a three hour ride across farmland and scrub with a professional polo player, for every level of rider.

Culture. A village walk to the nearby Meena community, who have lived on this land for centuries, and by jeep to the sixteenth century Amer Fort at sunset, the Old Delhi gate and a medieval stepwell.

Good to know. There is no spa; the luxury here is space, quiet and time with the animals.

Dera Amer lies beside the village of Kukas in Amer, off the Jaipur to Delhi highway. The old city of Jaipur is a little over half an hour by car, and Amer Fort about twenty minutes.

By air. Jaipur International Airport is about an hour’s drive, with connections through Delhi and Mumbai.

By rail. Jaipur Junction station is about 27 kilometers away, with services to India’s main cities.

On arrival. The last stretch to the tents is on foot, a walk of about fifteen minutes from where the car stops, so pack light.

Your advisor arranges the car and times it to your flights.

Across India. See our India country guide for the seasons and the routes between stays.

Dera Amer is a seasonal camp, open through the cooler months and closed for the heat of summer and the monsoon, broadly from May to September.

The cool season. From October to March the days are clear and comfortable and the nights cool enough for a hot water bottle in the bed: the classic time for walks, birds and the fort.

Spring. In April the days warm quickly, and outings go out in the cool of the morning and the evening.

Your advisor confirms season dates and tents when you inquire.