Around the World in 80 Dinners - Bill Jamison [101]
At the Port Elizabeth airport, a driver meets us in the baggage area to take us to Lalibela, about one hour northeast. As he maneuvers through the oceanfront city toward the highway, he points out different residential neighborhoods, some affluent, others “shack towns,” as he calls them, where people still have no electricity or running water. He praises Nelson Mandela’s initiative in building modern homes for the poor, and says the national government has constructed a million and a half houses in just over a decade since the country’s first real democratic election in 1994.
“What other South African languages do you speak besides English?” Bill asks.
“There are eleven official languages, you know. I also speak Afrikaans, the local variation on Dutch, and my native tribal tongue, Xhosa, which is full of wonderful click-clack sounds.” He rattles off a few sentences in Xhosa to illustrate his point, producing tones that range from something like an English “tsktsk” to a booming pop reminiscent of a cork pulled from a bottle.
“I’m sure you are going to love Lalibela,” he says. “But do you mind if I ask why you chose it for your safari? It’s just a few years old and not well known.”
“I’m the one who pushed the safari idea,” Cheryl replies. “Bill agreed to do it if we could find a reserve easily reached from the Cape Town area that has the ‘Big Five’ game animals and reasonably affordable rates.”
“Affordable is relative, of course,” Bill says. “Many of these places pride themselves on grand European luxury and charge prices approaching U.S.$2,000 per night for a couple. Lalibela offers what seems to be a less snooty but similar safari experience for one-third to one-half the cost.”
“We like the emphasis at Lalibela on African food and atmosphere,” Cheryl adds. “Besides, I want to stay in a tree house.”
The driver drops us at a check-in office just off the highway, where the staff loads us and our luggage into a Rover for the fifteen-minute ride to Tree Tops, one of four lodges scattered around the 18,500-acre private reserve. Cornelia Stroud, the lodge manager, greets us and introduces us to ranger Juan. “Normally, my husband, Mark, serves as the ranger for guests staying here, but he’s away on family business and Juan is subbing for him. As you’ll notice, raised boardwalks connect our dining-room-lounge area, the pool, and the four guest quarters, with all the structures elevated on platforms above the ground.” Grabbing a handrail, Cornelia goes on, “Locals call this ‘sneeze wood’ because when you cut it, it gives off little fibers that make you sneeze. It’s virtually indestructible.”
Like the other accommodations, our spacious room is framed and floored in wood but contains a pitched thatched roof, zip open-and-shut canvas sides, a contemporary bathroom, and a covered viewing deck about twenty feet above the lush vegetation. Kilim rugs cover much of the floor, hand-printed African fabrics swathe the king-size bed, and carvings decorate the end tables and a storage chest. Conveniences include air-conditioning, heating (useful at night this spring), a phone, and, for dire emergencies, an air horn that would probably wake people as far away as Port Elizabeth. “At night,” Cornelia tells us, “a ranger will walk you to your room, just in case you have any unexpected visitors.”
Like most safari reserves, Lalibela includes two game drives a day in the price, along with all meals and drinks. Cornelia gives everyone a wake-up