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Wander the World: Explore Kruger Shalati - The Train on the Bridge · Wander the World with Pippa Hudson

0:00
Speaker 1: And Kate Talk dot Seal done today on the app
0:02
Speaker 1: on DEARSTV channel eight eight five and across the city
0:06
Speaker 1: on five six seven am.
0:08
Speaker 2: Join the conversation. This is Kate Talk.
0:13
Speaker 1: Time to do some armchair travel as we wander the
0:16
Speaker 1: world together. And today we are wandering off to a
0:19
Speaker 1: much loved part of the country for me, but a
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Speaker 1: part of it that I've not experienced in a way
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Speaker 1: of experiencing it that is going to be new to
0:27
Speaker 1: almost everybody listening. I think I'll explain in just a moment. First,
0:30
Speaker 1: let me tell you that our guest in studio with
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Speaker 1: us is travel writer Alison Fote, who's blog Cape Town
0:35
Speaker 1: Diva has loads of lifestyle content and travel inspiration, including beautiful,
0:41
Speaker 1: beautiful photographs of their travels. So if you have not
0:43
Speaker 1: spent some time playing around on the blog, I suggest
0:46
Speaker 1: that you go and take a look. Just make sure
0:48
Speaker 1: you've got time in hand to get lost down the
0:50
Speaker 1: rabbit hole of all the places you're going to want
0:52
Speaker 1: to go and visit after visiting that site. It's always
0:54
Speaker 1: great to have you with us. Allison, welcome back. Good
0:56
Speaker 1: to be here talking trains, talking trains, but not the
0:59
Speaker 1: kind of training think we're talking because Allison is taking
1:02
Speaker 1: us on a train trip to a train that doesn't move.
1:05
Speaker 1: It sits atop a bridge in the Kruger National Park
1:08
Speaker 1: overlooking the Sabi River, and it is the newest luxury
1:11
Speaker 1: lodge suspended in mid air Kruger Shalati. When were you there, Alison.
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Speaker 2: A couple of months ago.
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Speaker 3: It was absolutely intriguing to see the train that goes
1:22
Speaker 3: nowhere yep, suspended on this incredible bridge. Everything's been restored
1:27
Speaker 3: and brought back, you know, vintage and revived, and it
1:30
Speaker 3: is quite remarkable and I believe the only one of
1:33
Speaker 3: its kind in.
1:33
Speaker 1: The world, in the world, not the world South Africa.
1:36
Speaker 2: Chat GBT told me that, Okay, I did a deep
1:38
Speaker 2: a dive.
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Speaker 1: All right. We always know we have to check everything,
1:40
Speaker 1: chat GBT tells us, but I'm certainly not aware of
1:42
Speaker 1: anywhere else offering that kind of of thing. If we
1:44
Speaker 1: are mistaken, and you have had the experience of sleeping
1:47
Speaker 1: overnight in a stationary train on a bridge over a river,
1:51
Speaker 1: in a game farm or a game park, let us
1:53
Speaker 1: know where it is. I suspect we're not going to
1:55
Speaker 1: get that message, Allison. But I mean, let's start with location.
1:58
Speaker 1: Because Sabi is a sizeable river and it runs to
2:02
Speaker 1: quite a bit of the park. So where in the
2:03
Speaker 1: park are we talking?
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Speaker 2: So we're talking in Pumlanga Kugar National Park.
2:07
Speaker 3: About if you look at time wise from Skakuza Airport,
2:11
Speaker 3: it's about fifteen minutes drive. Like us, you very close
2:15
Speaker 3: to close, very close to a number of key locations
2:19
Speaker 3: like the Hamilton Museum and this Coacusa golf course and
2:22
Speaker 3: of course that amazing cougar station that's been there whatever
2:26
Speaker 3: was once Thiskacuza station that'd been reimagined as a hub
2:29
Speaker 3: with restaurants bars, also an old a vintage carriage, and
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Speaker 3: that ancient locomotive, the three six three eight that's been
2:36
Speaker 3: there since time immemorial. Yes, and that's just the most
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Speaker 3: amazing little resource if you want to do a little
2:41
Speaker 3: spot of shopping or have a tipple. And it's right
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Speaker 3: literally five steps from the train on the bridge.
2:46
Speaker 1: Okay, you know you've just jolted the memory. I flew
2:50
Speaker 1: into Kruger a couple of months ago and I saw
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Speaker 1: the Shalati Bridge because it's very hard to not see
2:56
Speaker 1: a swimming pool suspended in mid air above a river.
2:58
Speaker 1: We'll talk about that in a month, but it did
3:00
Speaker 1: catch my eye, and of course you're right. It's right
3:02
Speaker 1: there outside the main Skakuza pass. So if you are
3:07
Speaker 1: looking for convenience, you've got to fly into Skakuza, which
3:10
Speaker 1: is nine incredibly easy to do giply direct from Cape
3:12
Speaker 1: Town these days, and then a short hop, skip and
3:14
Speaker 1: a jump of fifteen minute drive to get yourself to
3:17
Speaker 1: krugus Shilati Lodge. Tell us a little bit about the
3:20
Speaker 1: history of this project. I mean, who had the vision?
3:22
Speaker 1: When did it all start?
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Speaker 3: I believe that this whole project came into fruition with
3:28
Speaker 3: the dream from that one Jerry Mbanner from Theoebe Investments,
3:32
Speaker 3: who loved the train ride Otanikuwa Tutu back in the day,
3:36
Speaker 3: remember it from his childhood. I mean, obviously train travel
3:38
Speaker 3: is all about nostalgia, and he had this idea to
3:42
Speaker 3: create a train on a bridge. Got together great players
3:46
Speaker 3: in the industry. I mean I'm talking really superb names
3:50
Speaker 3: Rohan Foss from Rovos Rail, Dave Varti, Londolozi. So the
3:55
Speaker 3: consulting with these incredible engineers, you know, the real players
4:00
Speaker 3: in the industries. On Safari specialists daycold design of course,
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Speaker 3: like next level engineering teams, architecture, it is.
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Speaker 2: It was quite the operation.
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Speaker 3: And I believe that they sourced these trains on auction
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Speaker 3: some years ago, had them restored in Johannesburg, and then
4:17
Speaker 3: pop them onto low bed trucks, those flat beds and
4:21
Speaker 3: chundle them along into Johannesburg into the Kruger National Park.
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Speaker 1: I'm imagining the car on the road watching a train
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Speaker 1: drive past you on the highway way to the park.
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Speaker 3: Yes, so, And obviously then they deposited them onto the
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Speaker 3: tracks on the actual bridge WoT had been seriously reinforced.
4:38
Speaker 3: But yeah, it's just it's so unique in every aspect. Obviously,
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Speaker 3: when you say I'm staying in her train hotel, you
4:44
Speaker 3: know that conscous in itself something quite romantic and nostalgic
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Speaker 3: and all the charm, but they're really it's it's just
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Speaker 3: a tremendous feat from all aspects and there it is
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Speaker 3: this one of a kind stay that even David from
4:58
Speaker 3: Shitt's Creek, yes, he stayed there.
5:00
Speaker 2: Oh, oh gosh.
5:02
Speaker 3: During COVID there was there was that break in where
5:05
Speaker 3: you could travel and he was part of a show
5:08
Speaker 3: called The Reluctant Traveler, which is Apple TV, and he
5:11
Speaker 3: stayed there and he actually famously said, you know, he thought, oh,
5:14
Speaker 3: you know, rolling up the eyes a little bit, what's
5:16
Speaker 3: so fabulous about this? And apparently he said, and it's
5:19
Speaker 3: all over the interwebs, that it was magical and it
5:22
Speaker 3: was a place he went for a day or two,
5:23
Speaker 3: wanted to stay for way longer. It really impacted him,
5:26
Speaker 3: as it's a whole he must go on to the
5:28
Speaker 3: Reluctant Traveler. There's a whole segment on that, and it's
5:30
Speaker 3: actually divine. I've got a lot of intel out of
5:32
Speaker 3: that which is quite marvelous. And he is spot on
5:35
Speaker 3: in the way he describes it. So there's somebody is
5:37
Speaker 3: super famous.
5:38
Speaker 1: So rather than going eh, you can go exactly right,
5:42
Speaker 1: Dad Levy is the name we've been looking for. He
5:44
Speaker 1: played the character of David. And if you don't know
5:46
Speaker 1: what we're talking about, that means you haven't seen Shit's creak.
5:49
Speaker 1: I should have just got to go and watch it,
5:50
Speaker 1: because what a treat to have still lying in store
5:52
Speaker 1: for you. As an aside, But back to the trade, Okay,
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Speaker 1: So you are staying in these beautiful reconfigured carriages. The
5:58
Speaker 1: entire lodge experience is within a former train carriage, or.
6:03
Speaker 2: So they are.
6:03
Speaker 3: In total there are I think there are thirty four
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Speaker 3: units altogether. So you've got garden cottages and then you've
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Speaker 3: got twenty four carriage suites which are on the train
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Speaker 3: suspended above the sab which flows all year around.
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Speaker 2: So you must imagine.
6:18
Speaker 3: Hippos grunting morning and evening, elephants crossing the river, lots
6:23
Speaker 3: of incredible bird life. I mean, it's nothing finer than
6:25
Speaker 3: sitting with your glass of wine and watching the swallow
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Speaker 3: starting to flitch, you know they.
6:30
Speaker 2: Do at dusk. It's really beautiful.
6:31
Speaker 3: And I tell you something, bathing will never be the
6:33
Speaker 3: same again because you are sitting in this beautiful bath
6:37
Speaker 3: with this vast window right there, and you are having
6:40
Speaker 3: your glass of bubbly while watching whatever's going on the
6:43
Speaker 3: theater of Safari life in front of you.
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Speaker 2: It really is.
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Speaker 3: I mean, I can't even try and talk it up
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Speaker 3: because it really is just there for the taking.
6:50
Speaker 2: It really is beautiful.
6:52
Speaker 1: So yeah, okay, so we are talking about Krueger Shalati.
6:55
Speaker 1: For those who are asking how it is spelt, it's
6:57
Speaker 1: sha Lati. The train on the bridge. If you fly
7:02
Speaker 1: into Skakusa Camp you can see it from the air
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Speaker 1: as you come into land. The whole thing has been
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Speaker 1: constructed around the bridge over the Sabi River, the railway
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Speaker 1: bridge over the Sabi River and these rail transformed reconditioned
7:15
Speaker 1: rail carriages fitted out as sleeping units as part of
7:19
Speaker 1: the hotel offering and Bang in the middle Alison.
7:22
Speaker 2: The pool.
7:23
Speaker 1: Oh, if you were there a few months ago, and
7:24
Speaker 1: if you were in swimming weather, I.
7:25
Speaker 3: Was you know, winter in Johannesburg and Puma Langa is
7:28
Speaker 3: quite fly during the day, right, so yes, it was perfect.
7:33
Speaker 3: Actually it was around about April, so good timing. And
7:37
Speaker 3: this pool is quite something. So it's a circular pool.
7:39
Speaker 3: We are dipping pool rarely, and so it's on this
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Speaker 3: deck that extends out and the pool is sort of hovering.
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Speaker 3: It's like an extension hovering over the river and the
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Speaker 3: sort of lush pathway that's used by wildlife and it
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Speaker 3: really is the most divine place just to do some
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Speaker 3: game viewing or whatever you can see. And there's a
8:00
Speaker 3: little bridge right on the other side where you can
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Speaker 3: see guests arriving trunneling across the bridge in there's Safari
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Speaker 3: vehicle the new intake.
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Speaker 2: So it really has there. You can't. There is no
8:12
Speaker 2: bad position.
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Speaker 3: So whichever train carriage you're in looks out over this
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Speaker 3: view it is and there's a long wooden walker that
8:20
Speaker 3: takes you in to embark into into your little abode.
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Speaker 3: It's just so romantic. It really is beautiful. It's ideal
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Speaker 3: for two people sleeping. I think there's one carriage that joins.
8:31
Speaker 3: They'll organize fine dining for you. On the right, on
8:33
Speaker 3: the edge of the track, there's a space that they've
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Speaker 3: made sort of like a sunken dining.
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Speaker 2: Area, so that's something you can book.
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Speaker 3: That's something special for individuals or small families.
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Speaker 2: There's three pools on the properties, and not just so if.
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Speaker 3: You are staying on the on the train, on the bridge,
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Speaker 3: you can actually enjoy that dipping pool. But there are
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Speaker 3: two other pools which people can enjoy closer to the
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Speaker 3: main lodge.
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Speaker 1: On the banks of which is right there exactly on
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Speaker 1: the banks. Because I'm facing a dilemma, I have a rule, Allison,
9:01
Speaker 1: and it dates back to childhood when we didn't have
9:03
Speaker 1: a swimming pool, that if I went somewhere and there
9:05
Speaker 1: was a pool, you have to swim in it, and
9:07
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if that is Stellenbosch in the middle
9:10
Speaker 1: of winter as it was last year, or wherever.
9:12
Speaker 3: You may be.
9:13
Speaker 1: If there is a pool, you've got to swim in it.
9:15
Speaker 1: But I'm also quite afraid of heights, so the sort
9:17
Speaker 1: of a pool that is kind of sticking out into
9:20
Speaker 1: the nether is a little bit intimidating for me. Perhaps
9:23
Speaker 1: I'll go to the one on the bank side. Okay,
9:25
Speaker 1: so you are staying in this extraordinary train carriage experience
9:29
Speaker 1: or in the cottages on the side on the banks
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Speaker 1: of the river. Obviously it looks good enough to make
9:34
Speaker 1: you want to stay there and just just relax in
9:36
Speaker 1: the carriage for the entire time you there. But of
9:38
Speaker 1: course you've got all the way to Krueger. You want
9:40
Speaker 1: to go and explore the game while you're there. Yes,
9:43
Speaker 1: how does it work? Is it a just accommodation and
9:45
Speaker 1: you self drive or do they offer game vehicle drives?
9:49
Speaker 1: How does it work.
9:49
Speaker 3: It's pretty much like a Safari lodge, so it's all included.
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Speaker 3: You get your usual game drives early morning and late afternoon.
9:58
Speaker 3: And the one thing people should notice that Kricker National
10:01
Speaker 3: Park is a national park. It's open to the public,
10:04
Speaker 3: so you can find yourself in slight traffic situations, which
10:07
Speaker 3: I haven't seen in a long time because of the
10:09
Speaker 3: type of lodges that I go to. But having said that,
10:12
Speaker 3: these guides are on their game. They know how to
10:15
Speaker 3: scroll around the place, how to find those hidden gems,
10:18
Speaker 3: those spots. So say there's a sighting of wild dog,
10:21
Speaker 3: which we saw a lot of which was amazing painted dogs,
10:24
Speaker 3: they will know exactly where to go, how to avoid
10:27
Speaker 3: other cars so that you are getting that exclusive experience.
10:31
Speaker 3: And then of course when they want to stop and
10:33
Speaker 3: give you that sort of sundowner of your dreams, they
10:36
Speaker 3: know too where to do it where you don't.
10:38
Speaker 2: Have any other eyes on. It's just you, your guide.
10:41
Speaker 3: She or he unpacks the region, the history, the backstory,
10:45
Speaker 3: and all the guides and all the people that work
10:47
Speaker 3: at Chalati are sourced from the immediate environment in terms
10:51
Speaker 3: of the local communities and the towns nearby. So it's
10:55
Speaker 3: really a very nice holistic approach, you know, creating micro
11:00
Speaker 3: economies for all these people, and I think it's just wonderful.
11:03
Speaker 2: So your guides, that's it.
11:04
Speaker 3: They will find you those gem hidden spaces to enjoy
11:09
Speaker 3: whatever it is that you need to be seeing.
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Speaker 1: Okay, so you're going to get the whole guided experience.
11:13
Speaker 1: I mean we'll talk about costs in a moment, but
11:15
Speaker 1: it means if you're bringing visitors in for the first time,
11:17
Speaker 1: I mean, everybody should be so lucky as to experience
11:20
Speaker 1: absolutely a park from that perspective of the really personalized.
11:24
Speaker 1: As much as I love the camping trip, pile the
11:27
Speaker 1: whole family in the make your own way with Bobril
11:30
Speaker 1: sandwiches for breakfast at nine o'clock in the morning, whatever
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Speaker 1: it may be, that's a wonderful way of experiencing Kruger.
11:35
Speaker 1: But that way of having that input of a guide
11:38
Speaker 1: with you who knows the bush, who knows deeper than
11:41
Speaker 1: what your guide to mammals or birds is going to
11:43
Speaker 1: tell you, is something very special.
11:44
Speaker 3: It is. And of course, I mean the sightings were fantastic.
11:48
Speaker 3: Aside from you know, the elephant and the lion and
11:51
Speaker 3: the panther dogs, I've never seen so much extraordinary bird
11:56
Speaker 3: life in terms of the kingfisher.
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Speaker 2: Variety, and quite situated.
12:00
Speaker 3: So the game vehicle would drive past, say there was
12:03
Speaker 3: a kingfisher perched on a branch or on the on
12:05
Speaker 3: the edge of the bridge. We would be able to
12:07
Speaker 3: edge quite close and just observe this bird. I mean,
12:10
Speaker 3: I haven't had that opportunity ever. And then I was
12:13
Speaker 3: a skittish exactly, and though they were quite chilled, I
12:15
Speaker 3: must say I saw some remarkable bird life.
12:18
Speaker 2: And that's that.
12:19
Speaker 3: If you're a twitcher and you love your you know
12:21
Speaker 3: your binox and all that, Johnathan, I'm talking to you,
12:24
Speaker 3: then this is for you.
12:26
Speaker 1: Just in case you've come in midway to this conversation.
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Speaker 1: My guest with us in studio, Allison Fote, travel writer
12:32
Speaker 1: from Cape Town, Diva, talking to us about her fairly
12:35
Speaker 1: recent experience of the magnificent Kruger Shlati, the new lodge
12:39
Speaker 1: that has been built in the Kruger Park just outside Kakuza,
12:41
Speaker 1: guest camp on a railway bridge on top spanning the
12:45
Speaker 1: Sabi River. An absolutely extraordinary experience in terms of where
12:49
Speaker 1: you get to sleep and experience life inside a train carriage.
12:52
Speaker 2: That isn't going anywhere.
12:54
Speaker 1: Talk about going nowhere slowly, I know, going nowhere at all,
12:57
Speaker 1: not at all. Yeah, love it. Okay, let's get the
13:01
Speaker 1: nasty pricing conversation out the way. Where does this fit
13:04
Speaker 1: in terms of this the hierarchy of how much you
13:06
Speaker 1: are paying for this experience.
13:07
Speaker 3: I would say mid range to higher range for sure,
13:10
Speaker 3: because of where you're located, this unique experience, and it's
13:15
Speaker 3: just one of those coveted trips one has to do.
13:17
Speaker 3: So it's not cheap, I guess one wants to put
13:20
Speaker 3: it that way, but it's the value is tremendous. So
13:23
Speaker 3: aside from your actual stay this unique location suspended in
13:27
Speaker 3: Bliss above the River, you've got full service in terms
13:31
Speaker 3: of all your meals, provided your game drives all your drinks.
13:35
Speaker 2: The food is excellent.
13:36
Speaker 3: They've got a team led by a guy called Vusy
13:39
Speaker 3: and it's an extended cuisine team, and you get really
13:43
Speaker 3: it's a really well curated menu and it's paired with
13:47
Speaker 3: excellent wines that are all grounded in South African vineyards.
13:50
Speaker 2: So gun Ferrara, the GM, he's really adept at switching
13:53
Speaker 2: that up every six months.
13:55
Speaker 3: So there's that just that local authenticity that threws all
13:58
Speaker 3: the way through from top to toe. So if you're
14:00
Speaker 3: going to be paying a top dollar, then you're getting
14:04
Speaker 3: that and more so. I'm sure there's a saturd grade.
14:07
Speaker 3: It's all on their website, which I didn't do a
14:10
Speaker 3: tip dive into the actual prices, but it's all there
14:12
Speaker 3: for the inquiring, okay.
14:14
Speaker 1: And that website is Kruger Shalati dot com for those
14:18
Speaker 1: who want to go and look it up and see
14:19
Speaker 1: some photographs, Alison, before we wrap up, Like many of
14:23
Speaker 1: these lodges, I know that this one has made an
14:25
Speaker 1: effort to ensure that they benefit the surrounding community, not
14:29
Speaker 1: just the visitors who are coming there to enjoy the experience.
14:31
Speaker 1: Tell us a bit more about how they do that
14:33
Speaker 1: at chill Oh.
14:33
Speaker 3: There's so many different ways, but one of the things
14:35
Speaker 3: I picked up on was that they support a community
14:39
Speaker 3: creesh called Happy Homes and you can actually go and
14:41
Speaker 3: visit see what the teachers are doing with the young children,
14:44
Speaker 3: and it's always wonderful. And I do this on any safari.
14:46
Speaker 3: I go to our tap into the GM and I
14:49
Speaker 3: say what can I bring? And for this situation, you
14:52
Speaker 3: know crayons and pencils and you know stationary for children
14:56
Speaker 3: drawing utensils. I think that is a wonderful thing to do.
14:59
Speaker 3: But I like the you, as a guest, are able
15:01
Speaker 3: to visit. I think most lodgers do that if they're
15:03
Speaker 3: in proximity to a local community, whether it's a beading
15:07
Speaker 3: community or weaving workshops or whatever the case may be,
15:11
Speaker 3: there is something that you can visit and just by sheer,
15:15
Speaker 3: just by your visit, you are contributing in a way
15:17
Speaker 3: because you've now staying at the lodge and there's always
15:19
Speaker 3: this interaction and they see the benefit. The community always
15:22
Speaker 3: sees the benefit, and it is legit. There's no talking
15:25
Speaker 3: it up and strap lines at us, so dujure, you know,
15:29
Speaker 3: but it really is legitimate efforts being made and everybody wins.
15:35
Speaker 1: So Kenton telling us it's not just the Levy family
15:38
Speaker 1: who've been experiencing this. Apparently Gary Barlow took a turn
15:42
Speaker 1: past this venue as well in the TV series he
15:44
Speaker 1: made just the other day. I do remember mentioning that
15:46
Speaker 1: in our TV slot, but I haven't watched it, Kenton,
15:49
Speaker 1: So that's.
15:51
Speaker 2: Was it Wasstlife. I don't know see the boy band.
15:54
Speaker 1: I think it was WestLine. I do remember seeing him
15:56
Speaker 1: doing a trip that included South Africa in his travel program.
15:59
Speaker 1: So there we go. Okay, So the rich and famous
16:01
Speaker 1: are popping in. If you're lucky, you might rub shoulders
16:03
Speaker 1: with one or two of them in the next door carriage.
16:05
Speaker 1: Although Frankly, if I had the opportunity to go and
16:07
Speaker 1: stay in a railway carriage hovering over a river, I
16:09
Speaker 1: wouldn't want to know who was next door, Alison. I
16:11
Speaker 1: wouldn't want to know anybody was anywhere near me.
16:14
Speaker 3: And you can't hear anybody either, because they're very nicely
16:17
Speaker 3: spaced apart. So that is very nice about the design too.
16:20
Speaker 3: So if anyone has to have a party and whatever,
16:22
Speaker 3: you're not going to be disturbed on this, and you
16:24
Speaker 3: don't want to be loud and boysed. Just the kind
16:27
Speaker 3: of people that are there are there to enjoy the
16:30
Speaker 3: silence and the wonderful wildlife, the bird life. Just taking
16:33
Speaker 3: that desperately gorgeous fiery sunset or that pastal sunrise.
16:39
Speaker 2: It's just something to be seen to be believed.
16:41
Speaker 3: Really.
16:42
Speaker 1: Twenty four carriage suites, seven bridge house suites, which are
16:46
Speaker 1: the cottage is located alongside the bridge in the garden area,
16:49
Speaker 1: and I'm just seeing on their webside a little extra
16:51
Speaker 1: bit of history. The choice of this location, Allison, is
16:55
Speaker 1: that this was the very bridge where the very first
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Speaker 1: visitors to the Kruger Park would come to stay. Yes,
17:01
Speaker 1: they had been brought in to visit the new declared park.
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Speaker 1: This was where they met their rong.
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Speaker 3: Exactly and the whole Another part of the inspiration was
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Speaker 3: what they called the round In nine tour, which was
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Speaker 3: a rail safari that took prospective gold diggers or whatever
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Speaker 3: people that were curious about that or just tourists on
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Speaker 3: this low felled trip that took nine days and there
17:23
Speaker 3: was one night that they got to stop on the bridge.
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Speaker 2: And this is where that.
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Speaker 3: Colonel Hamilton Stephens Stephens is something like that. He was
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Speaker 3: the one who then pitched the idea to the local
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Speaker 3: authorities as then warden of the Kruger National Park to say, listen,
17:37
Speaker 3: this is so popular because he would greet the guests
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Speaker 3: and tell them wildlife stories and how he's aiming to
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Speaker 3: be part of the whole new conservation, forward thinking movement.
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Speaker 3: In fact, his nickname was Kukusa, which means the one
17:49
Speaker 3: who rethinks certain ways.
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Speaker 2: So I didn't know.
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Speaker 3: I found that out also in my deep dive on
17:54
Speaker 3: the chat chipity, you know, So that was fascinating. But
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Speaker 3: that's how the kind of I think that birthed the
18:01
Speaker 3: whole idea, and I think Jerry and Macbenna clocked onto
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Speaker 3: that and then one thing left to the other and
18:06
Speaker 3: got all these role players involved, and that's what they
18:09
Speaker 3: came up with.
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Speaker 2: And they have certainly done something special.
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Speaker 1: Creating something really unique. Lovelessen. If anybody listening to us
18:17
Speaker 1: this afternoon, thank you everybody correcting me and shouting at me.
18:21
Speaker 1: It was take that not wete time.
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Speaker 2: Oh okay, I got my boy bands mixed up.
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Speaker 1: I apologize. They all looked at the sound at the
18:28
Speaker 1: same Throw me a little bit of LeMay. Yeah, I digress.
18:33
Speaker 1: I was going to say, if anybody listening has been
18:35
Speaker 1: to Kruger Shalati had the experiences staying there, if you
18:37
Speaker 1: want to tell us where you stayed, what you thought,
18:40
Speaker 1: what you ate, what you saw, because of course no
18:43
Speaker 1: trip to the Kruger Park can be spoken of unless
18:45
Speaker 1: you're talking about the sightings. You were lucky enough to
18:47
Speaker 1: have wild dog, yes, boiled.
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Speaker 3: And elephant, lot of giraffe and lion. Yeah, just did
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Speaker 3: not all the Big five. But I'm not to say
18:56
Speaker 3: that they're not there. I don't know what the story
18:58
Speaker 3: is with Rhino, nervous to speak about Rhyana anyway, even
19:01
Speaker 3: if they were there.
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Speaker 2: But certainly the Big four. So I think you are
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Speaker 2: in for a feast. In terms of what you're going.
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Speaker 1: To see, I mean that part of the park is
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Speaker 1: always teeming with Yeah, that stretch between Skukuza and Lowers RB, Yes,
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Speaker 1: in my mind is the most sort of densely populated
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Speaker 1: you always see something, So a wonderful part of the
19:20
Speaker 1: park to be located in. Alison, you've wit our appetite,
19:23
Speaker 1: something silly. Thank you very very much for coming in
19:25
Speaker 1: to share this incredible experience or all the picks.
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Speaker 3: Up on your blog already, Yes, there are and then
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Speaker 3: some I've got a feast of photos from the PR people,
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Speaker 3: so yes, okay, So.
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Speaker 1: If you want to check out what it looks like,
19:36
Speaker 1: have a little look at the carriages and the pool,
19:39
Speaker 1: et cetera. Got Cape Town Diva which is Alison's blog,
19:43
Speaker 1: and then if you want to go and explore the
19:45
Speaker 1: offering and the rates, et cetera. The actual venue site
19:49
Speaker 1: is Krueger Shalati dot com spelled s h A l
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Speaker 1: A t I. Safe travels till next time, Alison, Thanks
19:56
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me