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As I stand on the terrace of my giraffe treehouse, back turned as I pose for a selfie with the long-necked beauty we’re sharing our villa with, it’s a gust of wind on the back of my much shorter neck that catches my breath – 18-year-old Hummer has just sent a kiss my way and it’s quite literally blown me sideways.
While we’ve only just met, it appears the carrot I held out to him moments ago has done the trick and we’re already best friends… that is until he spots another carrot, this time in the outstretched hand of my next-door neighbour who’s standing just a few metres from me just a sliding door separating us.
Being so close to this giant of the animal kingdom is incredible, I can’t wait to meet the rest of the animal family during my stay here.
Our one-night itinerary began at lunchtime with a special ‘welcome’ high-tea and a familiarisation tour. By the time Hummer and I are acquainted I’ve been at Jamala Wildlife Lodge a matter of hours, and despite the safari-like landscape I find myself in, I’m not in the middle of South Africa’s Kruger Park or the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, I’m actually at the National Zoo & Aquarium in Canberra.
This safari lodge is as much about animal conservation as it is accommodation, with a good chunk of the funds collected here going back into animal welfare. The 19-hectare park has certainly come a long way since opening in 1998. Back then it wasn’t much more than a rundown aquarium and petting zoo, but 21 years on and with a relatively new safari lodge to its name it has become a thriving conservation park with an accommodation arm providing guests interaction and awareness in equal doses.
Owner Richard Tindale says it best when asked how he and his wife Maureen came up with the concept: “We tried to pick up a little bit of Africa and drop it into Canberra,” he says, adding that it is unique in so many ways.
“The experience is very hard to beat,” Mr Tindale admits, “We get people from all socio-economic backgrounds here, many who have saved up for the stay.”
Whether you opt for a night in a giraffe treehouse-like mine – kitted out with a king-sized canopy style bed, a sitting area with views of the giraffe enclosure beyond, and a spacious bathroom that’s got a mosaic giraffe emblazoned across the shower recess – or in one of the jungle bungalows where you’ll be joined by brown lions, cheetahs or Bengal tigers – all separated by glass panelling – you won’t be disappointed.
“Oh, it’s just incredible,” a fellow guest declares when I ask about her experience so far. “I didn’t sleep at all last night, the lions roared outside our room all night.”
“We’re in a cheetah bungalow,” says another lodger. “It’s a birthday gift from my sister.” The couple from Melbourne are celebrating a ‘milestone’ birthday and have also booked a one-on-one cheetah encounter. “We can’t wait,” they tell me.
While most people who fork out the small fortune it costs to stay here (from $1,150 per night per room) are aware of how it all works here and have certain expectations, you are assured of some surprises.
If you’re like me and love a feel-good success story you’ll just love the zoo’s celebrity pairing, Solo and Zama. Solo the cheetah, pictured below, and Zama the Border Collie/Belgian Malinois have known each other practically their whole lives and have grown to be best friends.
Zama is Solo’s stand-in sibling as the cheetah was a rare single-birth cub and needed a buddy, so at one-month-old the unlikely pair were introduced. The bond they’ve developed in the past 18 months has to be seen to be believed. Zama was chosen for Solo because her breed has the energy and determination to keep up with one of the world’s fastest animals, and so far the pair is inseparable.
This is just one of many heartwarming stories here and one that plays a huge role in helping to educate patrons about wildlife conservation.
As day turns to night and with a spring in my step I stroll the zoo confines. All the day guests have gone home for the day, this is one of the perks of being a Jamala guest – an access all areas pass before opening and after closing (for a set time).
Shortly after setting off from our treehouse the rare white lions begin to roar at their brown friends next door. Their fierce vocal gymnastics stop us in our tracks and then everything goes silent. I start to hum “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight”, only these beauties don’t sleep for long, the roaring continues into the night just as the lion bungalow guests had told us, it’s all very Lion King and oh so magical.
It’s not the last time we hear from them, the lion pair join us for the duration of our special African-inspired five-course dinner in the uShaka Lodge cave restaurant, well sort of, they are in their glassed-in den with warming lights to keep them cosy enough to stick around for most of the sitting.
It’s during the evening festivities and the final morning tour where during which we meet the resident rhino and watch the playful tiger sisters Mya and Melati have an early morning tussle that I wish I had another night here. But it’s not to be and as I prepare to leave senior keeper Katie Ness reassures me that the menagerie we’ve come to know is very well looked after and will be here when I next return.
“Everything is done on our animals’ terms and they receive the best care,” says Ms Ness.
As we make our way out of the zoo Hummer’s nowhere to be seen so I blow a pretend kiss his way and hope it reaches him – until next time my friend.
The writer stayed as a guest of Jamala Wildlife Lodge.
For as long as I can remember I have loved to write. Combine that creativity with an inquisitive mind and a desire for adventure and what you get is a career wordsmith whose prose is her craft.
