51 hours after leaving home, I finally arrived at Dumela Lodge, my home for the next 12 weeks. I was met with lots of hugs from the lovely people I worked with last year, and after taking my bags to my room I spent a couple of hours out in the garden with them enjoying a braii. (The South African name for a BBQ.) Having just left the UK when Autumn was definitely setting in and wondering when we could turn the heating on, it’s great to arrive in Spring and be able to sit outside in the evenings:)
I have my own Rondavel – a round thatched room with a bathroom at the back.
The inside of the ceiling is all just timbers and exposed thatch and typically African – I love the look of it and try not to think about what creepy crawlies could have made it their home! There is also a ceiling fan which I’ve already been grateful for, and air conditioning too which I’m sure I’ll be using – September is officially the start of Spring here and the temperature has already hit 40º in the sun!
The main lodge is huge and the entrance has a colony of fruit bats roosting in the thatch – they are so cute with their little beady eyes looking down at me, I just want to hold one in my hands! I’m sure however that Sindi, the housekeeper, wouldn’t agree as there is rather a lot of sweeping up to do underneath them! The fruit bats are 15cm in length, with a wingspan of 50 cm.
Here are images of the rest of the lodge. Hover over for captions and click to view at a bigger size.
