When the world weighs so heavily upon your shoulders that you feel like you’re dragging your knuckles on the ground, it’s probably time to take to the trees. There are some lovely tree houses in the bushveld regions of South Africa, where you can breakfast on a branch, make love on a limb, or just sloth right out of this cynical world, where Tarzan eats Kentucky Fried and carries a cell phone.
Marc’s Camp
| About 40 kms from the Orpen Gate into the Kruger National Park in Limpopo, Marc’s Camp has a series of twelve tree houses set in a shaded grove overlooking the Klaserie River. It’s a glorious tree top retreat where you can safely flee life on the ground to reconnect with those days when we were arboreal. The beds are comfortable, the views soothing and your thoughts will be prompted back to that very early morning of mammalian reign when the death of the dinosaurs freed a small advance guard of mammals to descend from the trees and head own in the moist, warm, low-lying land.
You may well ask why we bothered coming down in the first place? Quest for food perhaps? Fortunately at Marc’s Camp, you won’t have to go out and catch your own meals. You can dine with ceremony under the stars in the open bush or alongside the river. And if you can tear yourselves away from your tree house, you can also go on guided game drives and walks into the Klaserie bush, perchance to spot elephants crashing through the bush, or hippos frolicking like playful aubergines in the water.
Pezulu Tree House Game Lodge
At Pezulu Tree House Game Lodge, you can’t help but discover the deeply soulful aspects of tree life. Pezulu Tree House Game Lodge is set in a private Big Five reserve close to the Kruger National Park in Limpopo province. |
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It’s hard not to feel a strong sense of connection with your arboreal ancestry when you’re eight metres up, looking out across a warm stretch of the African bush. Hard not be stirred by the memories of those ancient forests, where we once blithely swung from bough to bough, slowly sophisticating our survival skills (stereoscopic vision, depth perception, the loss of rodent-like claws) and never imagining the urban jungle that would await us in 65 millionyears time.
Wooden catwalks and giant bamboo balustrades lead high into a seriesof seven private tree houses with thatched roofs, reed walls, private balconiesand – there’s evolution for you - electricity! The honeymoon suite is set ina majestic huilboerboon (weeping boer bean) and has an en-suite bathroomand private observation deck. If you prefer life a little further up the evolutionaryladder and closer to the ground, book Terminalia 1 and 2 – which are only a metreup and are joined by a thatched lounge.
Hang out in the heady heights of your tree house, or clamber down and relax at the rock pool. Go on game drives or out on foot with a guide, inhaling the scents, enjoying the sounds and considering perhaps, that our descent from the trees was not such a bad thing after all. Evening drinks are a delightful occasion at the Waterhole Bar, and instead of having to go out and slay a dinosaur, you can simply saunter over to the charming reed boma for a feast under the stars.
Zululand Tree Lodge
Zululand Tree Lodge, in the heart of Zululand in KZN, is set in a fever tree forest. There are 24 thatched chalets raised on stilts, with all the mod cons like ceiling fans, mosquito nets and telephones. You’ve got an excellent chance of spotting rhino here, and the reserve is adjacent to the legendary Hluhluwe Umfolozi National Park, which is one of the country’s oldest, most evocative parks and was the hunting ground of the mighty Zulu king, Shaka .Watch the sunrise, go on walks, explore the koppies and hillocks. Enjoy long, slow breakfasts, nights round the fire, under the stars, like humans have done for so many thousands of years.
Jaci’s Tree Lodge
Voted one of the 101 Best Hotels in the World by Tatler in 2003, Jaci’s Tree Lodge is in the Madikwe Reserve, near Sun City in the North West Province. There are eight tree houses here, each built around either a giant leadwood or tambotie tree. Raised wooden walkways in the forest canopy connect the main lodge to the tree houses – and this is tree life at its most elegant. Each tree house is 6 metres above the ground, and has been built using a combination of rosewood, thatch and sliding doors, inviting in the sounds and scents of the surrounding forest. This is a delightful escape for romance, and highlight of Jaci’s Tree Lodge is undoubtedly their outdoor Jungle Shower!
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