Out of Africa sends Berkman up a tree

By Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel

30 Aug 2010

I spent the night in a tree with a leopard. Okay, it was a Leopard Orchid and not the feline kind but they were around too - fairly nearby. In fact, there is nothing but a latched gate to stop leopard, boomslang, baboons or vervet monkeys or, indeed a myriad other dangerous creatures from climbing the two storey's to the open platform at Chalkley Tree House.

The arrival...

Said to be the tree that Lion Sands founder escaped into to get away from a predator, it is now available for rent for the night as part of your stay at Lion Sands Lodge in the Sabi Sands Reserve.

Since seeing Robert Redford wash Meryl Streep's hair in the African bush in Out of Africa I have had a romantic yen for deluxe life in the wild. My desire has been for the privilege of being alone in the wild but with five-star comforts nearby.

The setting sun turns the four-poster bed's mosquito net into an opaque golden screen which identically matches the August bush's golden colours. The dust has settled from the ranger's car, we can't even hear it now - we are alone in a dead, Leadwood tree. It is picture perfect. The oil lamps, situated as beacons at the compass points and down the steps, fight with the remaining sun until they win outright.

The 'barking' impala

Imagine finding this up a tree.

We are bathed in light in the darkness of the bush - I imagine ourselves on a brightly lit catwalk for the viewing (and eating) pleasure of the cats walking by. As is expected from winter in the Lowveld, the warm day makes way for a cold night. We remember reading the forecast earlier for a low of eight degrees and before we finish eating our fabulous picnic dinner of hot corn chowder, roasted chicken, kudu loin, pasta salad and roasted vegetables and toasting each other with double Amarula shots, we decide that bed will be the warmest place around.

Like all romantic ideas, this one suffers from a number of practical issues. Is the barking we hear from wild dogs? (Turns out to be an alarm call of impala - danger is near). How do we stop the sound from the river from making us need the loo (which is downstairs and very, very cold)? How do we sleep with so much light around, yet how do we see our way in the dark?

It's not always best to get your own back

Life's tough in the colonies, you know.

Even with the robe and slippers provided, even with long underwear, socks and beanies even in the warm, high-thread count bed, we're freezing. The wind comes up and blows the mosquito net onto us. Just after tucking it and ourselves back into bed, the river gushes and nature calls. Too cold to go downstairs I aim for over the edge of the platform. The wind changes direction. To have a sense of the experience I suggest you expose yourself to the frozen counter at Woolies on your next shopping encounter.

On your doorstep.

At dawn we (and our things) are covered in dew. The flasks of boiling water from last night are just tepid now. I make coffee and munch rusks. It seems to be getting even colder. The breaking dawn is beautiful and the bush smells fresh and clean. Birds are calling and antelope begin grazing. I remind myself that we have experienced one of those bucket-list once-in-a-lifetime experiences but the best moment for me though is when our ranger collects us with blankets and hot-water bottles.

For more information go to www.lionsands.com +27 (0) 11 484 9911.