Take A Drive To The Tanzanian Coast With Me ....?

We'll pass the Usambara Mountains (home of the African Violet flower) and lots and lots of sisal plantations ..... (the plants which produce a stiff fibre used for making rope/twine)

Before leaving the tar road and travelling along a dry, dusty one .....

Which will end at the Pangani River .... where we'll drive on to the ferry and chug across the mighty river to the other side .....

The steady 'putt putt' sound of the ferry engine will accompany us as we float along ..... watching the river as it meets the sea .... a river with a tragic history, for it was here that many slaves were transported during Africa's wicked, wicked slave trade history. We'll look back on the town of Pangani - where the old slave depots and markets can still be seen - a town which was an Arab trading port for slaves to India to Arabia.

We'll drive off the ferry into a small but bustling coastal village ..... a heady mix of people dressed in bright cloths, wobbly bicycles, the sharp smell of salty fish and musky mangoes, multi coloured plastic buckets piled high with fruit and vegetables and balancing on heads, bleating tethered goats and lush green mangrove trees battling the incoming tide ......

Where we'll continue along soft, sandy roads lined with coconut trees and mud huts and littered with dried out coconut shells .... see people resting outside under the shade of ancient trees ... (providing little relief from the humid, stifling coastal heat, mind you).

Until, nestled amongst the coconut trees and tropical palms we'll finally arrive at the thatched beach house ....

Where we can - delightfully - stretch our legs and take a slow walk through the garden and along the pathway which leads to the beach at the bottom of it .....

Where we'll be met with this view .... of calm, azure Indian ocean waters lapping white sands .... and a few wooden fishing boats bobbing on the horizon ....

And miles of secluded and relatively untouched beach to either side of us ..............

And, after diving into the ocean, we'll turn out backs to the horizon and look at the beach from the sea itself ....

And say to ourselves -

That life is good.

Food, Fun & Sea Life In East Africa !

Well, 'Food, Fun & Farm Life !' temporarily became 'Food, Fun & Sea Life !' as I spent the last week on Tanzania's beautiful coastline ...... taking lots of photo's of interesting things to blog about on my return, of course ....

I'm very happy to report that I am now back in Kilimanjaro's cool foothills (that humid coastal heat is a killer & those who know me know that as beautiful as it is, the beach is not my most favourite place to be !) .... so I was just popping in to thank you for hanging around waiting for my return and to let you all know that regular blogging will resume shortly ;)

Gone Fishing !

'The Black Pearl' - a motorized dhow fishing boat pictured off Tanzania's coastline (who's on board ?!)

Just popped in to tell you that I'm not on the farm at the moment ... when you read this I will - hopefully (as this is Africa and anything is possible) - be sunning myself on Tanzania's beautiful coastline .... under the shade of a coconut tree, of course !

I'm taken a short break with my family .... and will have no internet connection whilst I'm away ..... but promise to fill you all in once I'm back next week.

Until then - kick your shoes off, make yourself at home and enjoy browsing around the blog and perhaps reading back on a few of my old posts which you may have missed .... there's only so much fishing a girl can do, you know - so I'll be back soon !

A Little Piece Of Africa ...........

A collection of traditional Maasai beaded and bone items which I purchased at the Ngorongoro Crater recently - read on to find out more about them !

I know that there are many of you who read this blog & follow it almost daily because you’ve either lived in or visited Africa before (& fallen in love with the Continent !), or because you plan to visit it sometime in the future, or because you know you cannot visit it, but would love to – so ‘visit’ it through the blog instead.

I must say that for whatever reason you read the blog, I always love having you all along with me and showing you parts of this beautiful Continent, and Tanzania in particular – over the (almost) 2 years I’ve been blogging, I have started looking at Africa through different eyes, thinking “Now, what would my blog readers like to hear about ?” and taking photos of, and writing about things, which I would have perhaps otherwise just have taken for granted.

So, when I was on my recent safari to the Ngorongoro Crater (you can read the first of the 3 blog posts I wrote about it over here), I wished that there was a way I could bring a ‘tangible’ piece of it back to share with at least one of you – who may never make it here yourself.

So - on the last morning of our safari, I bought some typical, traditional Maasai items at the Ngorongoro Crater, made by the people there. These are pictured above, and I am going to give them away to one of you, and will post them to you wherever in the world you happen to live !

Before reading on to find out how you could perhaps become the lucky recipient of these items, let me tell you what they are -:

- 2 traditional handmade Maasai beaded bracelets

- 1 leather beaded key ring/holder

- 1 leather beaded watch strap decoration (thread your existing watch strap through it) - or you could use this as a bookmark instead !

- 8 bone buttons – 4 Zebra, 4 Elephant. These are handcrafted from cow bone & have hand painted details on them

I tried to include items for both a man & a woman, as I don’t know who will get these. The bone buttons are included because I know that several readers are very ‘crafty’ people and make a lot of their own things, sew etc & these are quite unique.

If you’d like to read a previous post I wrote about the Maasai people and their beautiful beadwork, you can do so here.

If you’d like to stand a chance to ‘win’ these items, all you have to do, is to leave a comment at the end of this post and in it, tell me -:

1.) The title of your favourite blog post which appeared on ‘Food, Fun & Farm Life !’ during the past year/2009 (this is to prevent spammers or people just passing briefly through the blog !)

2.) Your name - or initials/nickname if you wish to remain anonymous

I’ll close the comments for this post at 11.00 am Tanzanian time on Monday 18th January, and will then draw a winner who will be announced on the blog on Tuesday 19th January at 11.00 am Tanzanian time. (I will print all comments out, cut them up & get my daughter to draw one for me - with photographic proof !)

I’ll then ask that winner to contact me via email with his/her address details (Don’t leave your email or contact details in the comments section as I would hate you to be hit by a spammer - I’ve had a few trying their luck on the blog lately !) and will pop the items in the post to that person within the next week or so - whenever I am next in the city.

I guess all that's left for me to say now, it - 'Good Luck' everyone !

Part 3 Of Our Safari To The Ngorongoro Crater

(If you'd like to read the first two posts about this safari, you can read Part 1 over here, and Part 2 over here). I took the photo above from the wooden veranda deck off the main lodge lounge. The dining room, bar and lounge are housed in the same building - with the dining room upstairs and the bar/lounge downstairs. As you can tell, all have magnificent views out over the Ngorongoro Crater.

The photo above shows a wall feature in the lounge - bushmen paintings (well, copies of them I should say !) can be found throughout the lodge and in all the bedrooms, too. They give the lodge quite a unique feel, I must say. Along with the uneven wall surfaces due to the rounded stones beneath them - who needs framed pictures, anyway ?!


The photo above shows a side view of the veranda deck outside the lounge - I was standing here when I took the first/top photo. I imagine that on a sunny day (it was a little overcast and rainy when we were there) they may even put dining tables and chairs out here - it would make a great spot for afternoon tea and cake to be served !

This photo above shows our bedroom. (Note the bushmen style paintings on the walls again - lovely !) We had a family room and it was quite spacious with a small private entrance/ passageway and walk in closet (with separate luggage storage area) which led through to a very roomy bathroom with shower, toilet and large vanity slab/basin. Both the bedroom and bathroom had heaters that were on all the time, as it does get quite cold here at night.


Our bedroom had it's own private wooden veranda deck with incredible views out over the Crater. I took the photo above from our veranda and once again, couldn't help but think how almost "English Countryside-ish" it looked - I have never seen the Crater area looking so green before.

The last photo which you see here above, was taken from our bedroom veranda the morning before we left. I simply love the reflection of the blue African sky and clouds in the water in this photo. The night before, on returning from dinner, the moon was full and low and reflected in the water and was a sight to behold. By the time I'd finished settling our baby son and found my camera, the moon was covered in cloud so I was unable to take a decent photo of it. (Oh well, that's a good excuse to return sometime in the future for another try, isn't it ?!)

I hope that you enjoyed coming on safari to the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater with me ! (We did not go down into the actual Crater to view game this time - although we have before - as apart from being very busy down there with lots of vehicles, it is a very long trip for a 5 year old and a 7 month old - and extremely boring, too - if you're that age !)

On Friday, I have a special post relating to all 3 of the recent posts I've written about the Crater which I hope you'll enjoy - something different, and nothing seen before on "Food, Fun & Farm Life In East Africa !" - so I'll see you then, okay ?

Part 2 Of Our Safari To The Ngorongoro Crater

(You can read Part 1 of this safari over here and Part 3 over here). The lodge which we stayed at on our recent safari to the Ngorongoro Crater was the 'Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge' (you can see the official website here). It was built in 1996 on the rim of the Crater and has magnificent views of the Crater itself from the bedrooms and main areas (bar, lounge, dining room etc). This was my 3rd stay at the lodge - my last stay there was at least 8 (or 9 ?!) years ago and although the lodge is a little old in places, it is still lovely and you just can't beat the views ! The photo above shows the view of the Crater from our bedroom (did anyone say "English Lake District" ?!)

The photo above shows part of one of the wooden decks which are found throughout the lodge. This is the veranda deck which leads off the main lodge lounge/bar area - I love the stone and wood 'wall' barricade at the edge of the deck - don't you ?

Below is a photo of one of the decks leading from the bedroom area of the lodge to the dining room/bar/ lounge - note the unusual ceiling with the dark 'criss cross' wooden beams. (Also note - yes, you guessed it - hubby pushing baby son in his pram to the dining room for lunch. We took the pram with us, knowing that it would come in handy at this particular lodge with all these wooden decks ! In the photo, hubby is looking slightly annoyed & had just said something like 'Come on, haven't you got enough photo's for the blog already ? I'm hungry !' to which my daughter - walking beside me - replied 'Mamma, I think I also want my own blog !')

The photo below shows another passage - this one leading down to one of the areas housing the guest bedrooms - the floors of this are coloured cement ....

The dining room is pictured below. This is where all meals were served during our stay - many of the dining tables are situated alongside huge floor to ceiling windows (to left of photo) with views out over the Crater. Fireplaces are dotted all around the dining room (it get's COLD at the Crater during the Winter months) & there is also a raised platform dining area at the back of the central area where we ate at night by candlelight - really nice.

This photo below shows the view from the dining room. I think you'd be hard pressed to find such a unique and magnificent view to gaze upon as you tucked in to a tasty meal, don't you agree ?!

More to follow on Wednesday, with photos of the room we stayed in, and the view from there, too .....

Part 1 Of Our Safari To The Ngorongoro Crater

You have to pass through the town of Karatu, above, to reach the Ngorongoro Crater/Conservation Area

I have so many photos of our recent safari to the Ngorongoro Crater - and it is just such a magnificent place - that I couldn’t possibly squeeze it all in to one or even two posts – so our recent visit there is going to be covered over 3 posts, with today’s post being ‘Part 1’. ‘Part 2’ will then publish on Monday and ‘Part 3’ will publish on Wednesday.

Then on Friday .… oooohhhh ….. well, I have something very special lined up for all you lovely people on Friday ;) which will tie in with these 3 posts on the Ngorongoro Crater - something I’ve never done on the blog before, and something which I hope you will all enjoy and be able to participate in. So, watch this space ! But in the meantime (if you can bear the suspense ! the excitement !) …. back to our recent safari ………….. the photo’s in this post show you the road’s you take to get to the Crater.

Shops along the roadside in the town of Karatu

The Ngorongoro Crater has not only been declared a ‘World Heritage Site’ (and is referred to by many as ‘The 8th Wonder Of The World”) but is also the largest Caldera in the world – basically, it was once (around 2 – 3 million years ago !) a volcano which erupted and collapsed in on itself. You could think of it as a large ‘basin’ with a dense concentration of wildlife inside it. It is around 260 square kilometers (100 square miles) in size and lies within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (‘NCA’) which totals around 8 280 square kilometers (3196 square miles) in size. That’s pretty big – Tanzania is such a vast country !

Inside the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the deep rust coloured earth of the narrow roads contrasts with the lush green of the surrounding vegetation

The NCA borders the Serengeti National Park (which, incidentally, was my home for some time several years ago as my husband & I both lived/worked within the Park !), and also includes the world famous archaeological site, Olduvai Gorge – which is considered to be the ‘Cradle of Humankind’ - it contains hominoid footprints dating back some 3,5 million years aswell as the earliest known specimens of early hominids ‘Paranthropus Boisei’ and the human genus ‘Homo Habilis’. (We did not visit Olduvai Gorge this time, but have in the past – and it is quite an incredible place, and well worth the visit – especially if you are en route to the Serengeti National Park).

Dense, lush vegetation surrounds you as you climb higher and higher towards the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater ....

The NCA is unique in that it allows human habitation – livestock, humans (which include some 42 000 Maasai) and protected wildlife (25 000 – including the ‘big 5’ – Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Black Rhinoceros and Buffalo) all living side-by-side. The Maasai are allowed to take their livestock in to the Crater to graze/drink water, but are not allowed to live in or cultivate crops in the Crater itself.

Situated on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge (where we stayed) is built of stone - with wooden decks and stairs connecting the main areas - and blends well into the surrounding countryside

There are several hotels, lodges and camp sites situated along the rim of the Crater where you can stay when you are visiting, and in my next post I’ll be showing you inside the lovely lodge which we stayed in during our recent safari !

Our Stay At The Lake Manyara Serena Lodge

We decided to take a break over New Year and go away to the African bush for a few nights. Er .... well, let me rephrase that sentence - I decided that if I didn't book for us to go away somewhere over New Year then hubby would never get the break which he deserves & the whole family would be stuck on the farm for New Year watching the crops grow - ha ha !

You know how difficult it is for me to tear him away from his beloved farm ("Why do you want to go away somewhere darling, when we have all this beauty around us to enjoy right here ?") - so he sat on the veranda of our room at Lake Manyara - which had views reaching as far as our farm & beyond, and would make comments like 'Oh my goodness, looks like there is rain headed for the farm this afternoon' .... to which I would just yawn and look the other way. Honestly ! Anyway, all said and done he DID manage to relax and about a day into our little trip he said he was so glad we got away (and what a good idea of his it was, didn't I think ?!)

We spent the first part of our trip at the Lake Manyara Serena Hotel. Now, we visited this hotel for lunch a little over a year ago when we were staying in the same area, and I wrote a detailed post on it over here which you really should read if you are interested, as in there are many photo's of the hotel which don't appear in this post (I never like to duplicate photo's on the blog), aswell as a little background about the hotel and it's unusual - and quite stunning - design.

The very first (top) photo shows the rooms at the hotel - each 'rondawel' (round hut) style room consisting of 2 upstairs and 2 downstairs units. We had a family room on the ground floor, and it was lovely. The rooms all have their own private verandas with views out over the Lake (although the bush in front of the rooms is quite overgrown after all the recent rain, which obscures the view quite a bit).

Anyway, the top photo is one I took 'for the blog' from directly in front of our room, past all the overgrowth (hubby and daughter refused to walk with me through all that bush - honestly !) And - for those of you who know me 'in the flesh' - yes, I really DID do it in wedge heels. Because - for those of you who know me 'in blog land' and have never seen my actual feet (!!) - I do not go anywhere without wedge heels. No, not even at home on the farm and not even in the bush. And for my darling mother - no, Mum, I did NOT trip & break my neck !! (But it's bound to happen one day !)

This photo above, is the view we had from our breakfast table, looking out on to the dining area which spills out on to the veranda. Isn't it lovely and sunny and warm looking ?

The hotel had a fantastic African themed dinner laid on for the night of the 31st, to see the New Year in. Now, as this was a family holiday I did not want the kids to miss out on anything, but I am also one of those mothers who believes that kids should be in bed at a set time, and certainly not up late at night in a hotel dining room/dinner. But I would also never leave my kids with a strange babysitter in a hotel room .... so the kids came with us .... although we didn't stay until midnight, but left for our room at 10.30 pm .... our daughter was completely hyped up (also a result of the Coke she was allowed as a 'special' treat - rocket fuel for kids !) and our son slept beside the table in his pram the entire time !

The dinner. Ooohhh - the dinner. What can I say ? Even I, an African, was blown away - so I can only imagine how all the tourists enjoyed the evening. It was held in a 'specially built open air 'boma' (structure built with grass/reed sides, traditionally used to keep livestock in at night) in the hotel grounds. On arrival we were each given a hollowed out coconut with a straw to drink the milk through by a lady dressed in tradtional African attire .... we were shown to our table underneath the stars .... decked out in traditional Maasai cloth/blankets ..... (see above).

The meal consisted of a huge array of traditional African foods ..... all served buffet style, many of the dishes were cooked over open fires in front of us. Throughout the night we were entertained by a series of African dancers (showcasing dances from the different regions of Tanzania) - all in different (authentic) tribal dress. We also had an excellent acrobatic show (acrobat shows are quite common in Tanzania in many of the city restaurants and hotels, and these guys were GOOD), live band and fire eating (don't ask !) ... all in all it was a wonderful, wonderful evening and captured the very essence of the African people. (The photo's I took of all the live entertainment really did not come out very well as it was so dark, so I decided not to put them on the blog.)

The following day was spent around the hotel pool (above) .... known as the 'Horizon View' pool due to it's edge which has been designed so as to 'merge' with the lake beyond (you can see a photo of it in the post mentioned at the beginning of this one)

The pool bar has stunning views out across the lake .... anytime is 'Kili' time ..... the photo above is of my husband's favourite Tanzanian beer 'Kilimanjaro Lager' ......

The photo below shows some of the lovely local paintings which were sold by the artists themselves in the hotel gardens, just outside the dining room.

This sign below, is one we passed each time we walked to our room - and I thought that I just HAD to take a photo of it to show all my American readers .... it says 'This Tree Was Planted By Ted Turner - Founder of CNN and CNN International'. There are trees planted by famous people throughout the lodge grounds, I think that whenever someone famous comes to stay, they ask them to plant a tree. The Serena group is quite big on conservation and the re planting of trees and have tree nurseries and projects on the go the whole time, which I think is GREAT.

So, that was the first part of our safari (a trip anywhere here - even to the city for a day's shopping - is called a 'safari') .... the second part will follow shortly .... when we headed upwards to the Ngorongoro Crater. I'll be back soon !

Back From My Safari !

Baboons seen near the Ngorongoro Conservation Area park gate over the weekend

I'm back from a wonderful safari ! We had a great time .... relaxing, eating (far too much !) and enjoying time spent in breathtaking spots in the beautiful Tanzanian bush .....

Thanks to everyone for all the comments and emails whilst I was away. Once the luggage is unpacked, the washing's sorted and the family meals are organised - I'll sit down to write all about our trip (& download all my photo's) and regular blogging will resume ;)

Last Post Of The Year .... And Off On Safari !

Lake Manyara in Northern Tanzania - I took this photo in October last year, & am returning to the area to see 2010 in !

I’m just posting quickly to let you all know that I won’t be around much until the first week of the 2010 as we are going away for a few days to spend New Year in the African bush – just my hubby, me and the kids. We leave the farm early tomorrow morning - and I can’t wait !

We’re going to the Northern part of Tanzania - spending time at both the Ngorongoro Crater (which is the world’s largest caldera and was formed between 2 and 3 million years ago when a giant volcano exploded & collapsed in on itself – I can tell you from previous visits which I’ve made there, that it is a place so beautiful it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up) and Lake Manyara (described by Ernest Hemmingway as being the ‘loveliest lake in Africa’).

Some of you may remember my trip to Lake Manyara in October last year. If you’d like to read about that trip, learn more about the lake and see the lovely tented safari camp we stayed in, as well as photos of the lake and surrounding areas you can read my post here about it and another post over here.

I do have a special post which I’ve scheduled to publish on 01st January 2010 though – a special New Year message for all you lovely people who read this blog – so look out for that !

I’ll be sure to take lots of photo’s of my trip – the roads, places we’re staying in, food that we eat and, of course, the views – and will blog all about it once I get back !

Until then … enjoy the last couple of day’s of 2009, and I’ll be back next year to fill you in on another Tanzanian safari adventure !

Greetings From The Top Of Kilimanjaro !!

Ha - I didn't fool you with the title of this blog post, did I ?! (Those of you who know me in 'real' life and those of you who've read my blog for sometime now, will know that I have no intention of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Well, not in this lifetime, anyway !)

So, that leaves the question ................... what was I doing one early morning last week, flying high above our farm eye-to-eye with Mt. Kilimanjaro's majestic peak ? Fluffy white cotton wool clouds stretching on forever .... Kilimanjaro peeking out above them .... and the sun gently rising (even more of a surprise as those who know me very well know that I don't get up before the sun rises. Unless I absolutely have to - eg. emergency/fire/flood/earthquake/child birth/travel.)

Another 'no-no' of mine ... I was flying in a rather small aircraft. Well, not small by African standards - but small, nevertheless ...................

The top two photo's show Kilimanjaro, and these two (above & below) show Mt. Meru's peak ...... I was flying directly above our farm when these were taken ..........................

But. Where was I flying to ? Who was I flying with ? Why was I flying in the first place ?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ......................... well. All will be revealed. Soon.

What I can tell you, is that I am not blogging from the farm at the moment. Infact, I am not even in Tanzania at the moment.

So - where am I ?

All will be revealed - soon !

The 'KIA Lodge' at the Kilimanjaro International Airport

Our room (above) at the KIA Lodge was clean & comfortable

The rooms all have mosquito nets over the beds & are equipped with safes, air conditioning units & a telephone

The rooms are individually set in the lodge gardens & surrounded by lots of local vegetation

The thatched dining room has large doors opening out towards the gardens, & letting in the cool night air

My husband's beverage of choice - served ice cold in the lodge dining room !

I can’t believe that I’ve been in South Africa for a week already. I’ve been keeping busy, & the time has flown. My daughter & I have another week before my husband arrives, and I can’t wait as we really miss him !

The night before we flew (or should I say, the night before our travel disasters and delays !) we stayed at a lodge near the airport, and I thought it would be interesting to do a post about it as I know a lot of people find this blog through online searches for info on travel and hotels in Tanzania, and over time and as I visit various places around Tanzania, I’d like to build quality content on the blog that people who plan to visit the country can use for future reference.

Tanzania has 2 international airports – the Kilimanjaro International Airport which is situated about half way between the town of Moshi & the city of Arusha, and the Julius Nyerere International Airport in the city of Dar es Salaam. Most tourists who come to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and / or to do the traditional ‘safari circuit’ (Serengeti National Park, Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater etc) fly in to the Kilimanjaro Airport. (KLM has daily flights to/from Kilimanjaro International Airport directly from Amsterdam).

The airport is situated less than 2 hour’s drive (in either direction) from Moshi & Arusha, and due to the fact that for most international flights you have to be at the airport an hour or two before your flight departs, this can make for a very early start or if your flight arrives late at night, a long drive to reach your hotel and for this reason many people opt to stay at the airport lodge, aptly named the Kia Lodge (‘Kia’ standing for ‘Kilimanjaro International Airport’). The lodge was only built/opened a few years ago (we first stayed there in 2003 and it was very new) and is the only airport accommodation, at just 3 minutes from the airport itself (with a shuttle service offered to/from the airport/lodge).

Unfortunately, we arrived at the lodge after dark so I was unable to take many photo’s but it is unlike most airport accommodation you’ll find in that it is set out in and amongst natural bush & vegetation, with sweeping views of Mt. Kilimanjaro on a clear day, and it feels like you are staying in a bush lodge in a national park somewhere.

The thatched rooms are individually scattered amongst the lush gardens, and are clean and comfortable. Most rooms contain single beds (we had a triple room as our daughter slept with us), and all have en suite bathrooms with showers. There are mosquito nets around the beds, and each room has air conditioning, a safe & a telephone. There are no TV’s in the rooms. The lighting in the rooms is quite dim for reading, and the only bathroom amenities provided are soap and towels (so take your own shampoo, body lotion etc). Small bottles of complimentary drinking water are provided in the rooms, too. Insect repellent would have been a handy addition to the room, as we found that despite the mosquito nets there were still many mosquito’s buzzing around throughout the night !

In general, we found the rooms to be clean, quiet (not many ‘planes taking off/landing throughout the night) , the beds comfortable and the water piping hot, and you couldn’t really ask for more in a short stay transit type hotel.

Dinner was a set 3 course menu served in the main dining room, and the food was simple yet tasty fare very nicely prepared and presented. For starters we had a delicious creamy vegetable soup and an avocado salad to choose from, and for main course I opted for the vegetable pasta bake and my husband had the pork chops (steak was also on the menu). Dessert consisted of a light and fluffy banana parfait or ice cream and chocolate sauce. Our only complaints about the meal were that despite being only one of two tables in the restaurant, the service was extremely slow (we were served our starters after waiting just over an hour) – not great when you want an early night as you have to be up before sunrise the next day ! We were also surprised that the lodge offered no children’s meals or children’s prices, and that our 4 year old was charged the full adult price for the meal, despite us requesting half portions for her !

Aside from that we had an enjoyable stay at the lodge and it is definitely a comfortable & convenient place to stay for a short stopover before/after an international flight. The lodge also has a curio shop, bar and swimming pool and of course, magnificent views during the day.