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Cutting up a cow for the cheetah. My trip to the Savannah was to be a working vacation though I did not have to perform many of the tasks that I would have expected. The Savannah's day staff of ten people take care of most everything including picking up the cheetah feces. The staff was so diligent about this that near the end of my stay, I was starting to worry that I would never see a cheetah poop. So, one day I went to the cheetah enclosures before the staff arrived at 7:00. Some projects I helped with included feeding a sick cape buffalo which was penned-up in a remote area, repairing a fence which had been trampled-twice-by the rhino, cutting up a cow donated by the local slaughter house, and constructing a giant wedding-sized meeting tent.

The most intriguing accommodations aren't even rooms at all; they're tents. Five tents are situated around a watering hole. These tents are located several hundred feet from the lodge along a lighted and curvy boardwalk. The tents are not what you'd expect. Each one has three canvas roofs to keep them cool in the summer and each have a private connected bathroom made of either stone or wood. Zippers are everywhere to open windows or even holes in the roof. Each tent also features a wood balcony out front where one can sit in chairs and watch the wildlife go by. Inside there's real furniture. I stayed my last night in a tent and it was a wonderful experience. I did not see much wildlife but the lighting along the boardwalk between the tents gave the place a surreal look and the lullaby provided by all the little critters out there was unforgettable.

The boma are round, free-standing concrete guest rooms with thatched roofs and integral bathrooms. They are just a few steps from the pool. This is normally where you'd stay if you were volunteering at the Savannah. There are two boma.

If you visit the Savannah today, you won't have to stay in an adobe shack. There's three guest rooms in the lodge. Each of them is themed. Of course, I stayed in the Cheetah Room. The lodge is also where you would eat your meals either in the indoor dining room or the outdoor covered veranda (under construction when I visited.) The lodge also includes a TV room with satellite, a library room, and a meeting/computer room. The computer room has an always-on internet connected computer perfect for picking up emails.

The Savannah is a place I will never forget. My sincere thanks go out to Bobby Hartslief, Pieter and Estelle Kemp, and FCF for making it possible for me to realize my 20 year dream.

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