As India welcomes record numbers of tourists, there has been a renaissance of the tented safari, but with a twist. Tented camps are part of the history of India. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tiger hunts, which were extravagant killing sprees that severely depleted the country’s tiger population, involved silk-lined tents, five-course meals and Champagne in crystal flutes. Shooting tigers was made illegal in 1971, and today’s camps are more permanent affairs, with less bloodthirsty itineraries. They are mainly clustered in the state of Rajasthan, in or near the Great Thar desert, and have similar facilities: king-size beds, running water in en suite bathrooms, old-fashioned writing desks and awnings under which one retires to drink a gin and tonic while watching the flaming orange sun melt into a sand dune. The following five are the best I know: Moolsagar, Chhatra Sagar, Manvar, Rohet Garh, and Sher Bagh.

To help you plan your itinerary, I highly recommend Natural Mystic South Asia, the same India-based company that handled Elizabeth Hurley’s recent wedding extravaganza in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.