South Africa #33

The place we are staying is the Malealea Lodge, and it is genuinely amazing, though my first thought was not exactly that. We were given our room keys (the rooms were individual rondavels, or small “huts” for lack of a better word) and my room was rather far away from everyone else and it was a 4-plex. I walked in and was a little disappointed. Very scruffy looking. Oh well. I flung the sheets back as I always do when I first go into a room, and I’m pretty sure they hadn’t been washed, and they also had old stains on them. And there were odd beetles on the floor. Yuck and ugh. I opened what I though was a closet and it was actually an adjoining door to the room next door. No big deal, except.....it didn’t lock. Ummmm....I’m not sharing a space with a total stranger, thanks but no thanks. I started to unpack, thinking that it really wasn’t a big deal and I hate confrontation, and then I thought to myself: “You know what? It is a big deal.” I certainly didn’t pay for, or expect luxury by any means, but I did pay for cleanliness and safety. I found Wellington and explained the situation to him and he quickly got me a new and clean rondavel in the vicinity of everyone else. 

The lodge is solar powered and we have lights from 7AM until 10PM, unless it’s overcast, in which case I guess we don't have light. Look how sweet! There is no heat, so the folded blankets on the bed were some heavy type of wool. It was only +2 one morning, so it definitely cools down at night. There is a tiny bathroom to the left, and because of the severe water shortage they use the adage “If it’s yellow, just be mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down.”

 Each rondavel has a solar powered water heater on the roof, and this machine, called a “geyser” heats the water. You peer through the small black hole to make sure the pilot light is on and then have your super-speedy shower. 

First thing we did was find the restaurant/bar, which was actually only a bar. There was nowhere to eat other than the dining hall, which served a breakfast and dinner buffet at certain hours. We all have little snacks in our backpack though, to stave off starvation. The bar was a fun place to meet up and socialize and guess what? I even had a beer. A local beer.  Apparently it was an excellent lager, but I didn’t care for it. Mine is the (of course) baby size. I quickly discovered South African ginger beer (non-alcoholic) which became my drink of choice.

The outside of the bar. It doesn't rain much at this time of year, but they are prepared to catch every drop. 



Dinner was cooked on the BBQ outside, and served in a surprisingly fancy hall.

It was lamb, sweet potatoes, chard and cheese, ugali with a chunky tomato sauce. They serve this bread that is like no other bread I’ve ever had, sort of dense and chewy and vaguely sweet. I ate way too much of it. Desert is a cake and custard. This custard is everywhere, and poured on everything, even ice-cream. I may or may not have eaten way too much of it as well. 

Early to bed. This is the roof of my cozy little home. I had the best sleep of the entire trip here, it was so dark, and the crickets were so loud. It was like heaven.