|
|
|
The Game of the Elite, over-riched or overdrafted
|
|
|
|
|
The place is Chobe Game Lodge.
The guests are the rich, the famous, the lucky. Or those just plain stupid enough to ignore the credit card bills at the end of the month. To the average South African holidaymaker, Chobe is an extravagance straight out of “Dynasty”. But to anyone who has made the unadulterated pleasure of spending a few days at the river lodge in the north eastern Botswana, it is the proverbial dream come true. Where elephant, waterbuck, hippo, impala and the rest of the animal kingdom come together.
Where the majestic Chobe River flows down to meet the great Zambesi.
Where man can, in the lap of luxury, meet with Africa as it was meant to be.For if ever there was a place where five-star comfort mingles with beasts in their natural habitat, it is the Chobe Game Lodge. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton thought so. So did a host of other notables, the most recent being New Zealand Prime Minister, Mr. Richard Longe and actor, Richard Chamberlain. But the great Richards could not have enjoyed Chobe more than you and I. Rarely does a holiday resort live up to its advertising. Certainly Chobe does not. For no inane hand-outs talking about “an exclusive and restful retreat from the rest of the modern world” could hope to do justice to a bushland retreat a lifetime away from the madding crowd. Yet developing Chobe as King Sol, Sun International and partners have done is no great feat. Neither is importing an old booze cruiser from the Victoria Falls to ply the waterways of the Chobe. Or laying in direct charter flights from Lanseria.
The truth magic of Chobe comes not from the convenience and luxury of the lodge, but from unspoiled nature. So in the midst of this land of plenty, what is there to complain about? Firstly, the cries of the King Fishers and the moans of the hippo mingle with the chatter of the Yanks. Chobe is the playground of the American dollar , a veritable melting pot of those proud possessors of foreign currencies which make the Rand look like main ingredient of banana custard. “About 60 percent of our guests are from overseas,” said Chobe official Mrs. Gill Hanniger. A fair proportion of those southern African-based foreign diplomats. But with a still weak Rand, and the consequent price of overseas holidays, the people who make Chobe tick are looking towards more South Africans making the trek to their lodge.
The accommodation is sumptious. Breakfast is great; lunch designed to make you curl up like an elephant who had one marula too many; but the dinner menu can be disappointingly thin. Lovely as the fare on offer at supper time may be, myself and my fellow proles are accustomed when eating out to having a far wider variety of dishes than is on offer to Chobe.
Vivacious public relations lady Sue Campbell assures me that this ostentatious lack of choice is common to game lodges. But then again, if you are paying a Tutu’s ransom for my stay, why can’t you have a bigger choice when sitting down to the all important task of having dinner?
Anyway, Chobe still reigns supreme as a dreamland of wildlife, luxury and splendid isolation that Robert Redford and Meryl Streep came only close to capturing in “Out of Africa”. I’d rather be out in Chobe any day.
|
|
|
Reference Guide Navigation
You are currently on page number 2
|
|
|
Tel: (+27) 21 424 1037 
Fax: (+27) 21 424 1036