Re: Roodewal Private Camp

[Sprocky]

Dear All

I can confirm that there was a fire at Roodewal Bush Camp on Sunday evening. The fire started at the kitchen and spread to the dining hall. As a result both the kitchen and dining hall were burnt down completely. At this stage it is not clear as to what is the cause of the fire. No one was injured and all the guests were safely transferred to Satara Restcamp.

[Flutterby]

Thankfully no-one was hurt! Hasn't this happened before at Roodewal....or am I mistaken?

[nan]

oups, what did they do
glad nobody was hurt

[Twigga]

By the looks of RP pics a lovely camp, such a shame about the fire!

[Richprins]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyUzZwUoaXY

[Richprins]

From Gillian Hazell, facebook:
·
Roodewal update July 2024.

Please excuse the long post but I would have loved more details before going

Fridges:

2 chest freezers in kitchen- left one currently running as fridge, right as freezer.
2 chest freezers in dining room- both running as freezers but left one slightly warmer so the baskets we could use as a fridge for things that wouldn’t get damaged by cold.
Tall narrow fridge which took a decent amount of fresh goods in dining room. Runs on electricity so was off when generator was out of diesel.
Each chalet has a chest freezer- all running as freezers but the one in chalet 4 was not working

Tip: if you have a camping fridge bring it with as really does make the fridge situation easier. You will need to run it in your car as cannot plug into the solar.

Electricity :

Solar during day, generator switched on once solar finished at night (about 2 hours into dark) ran all night. After 3 days the diesel ran, out so night 4 we had no electricity after 8. We reported this to Satara the next morning and diesel was delivered that afternoon. Seems crazy to run the generator all night when not needed and then run out rather than have on a timer but at least the response was quick. Maybe they are running the generator as much as possible to keep the fridge going.

Generator is closest to chalet 4 so could be heard but didn’t keep us awake.
Plug point in kitchen (didn’t actually work) plus 3 in dining room plus one in each chalet for charging cameras, lamps, phones etc , not for anything that draws strong current. Sign advises to charge during daylight so as not to drain solar at night.
Tip : bring extension cord or Multiplug to be able to charge more than one thing at a time.

Also bring lanterns, lights, etc incase something goes wrong with the solar or generator- I think most of us travel with those anyway nowadays thanks to loadshedding! Rooms all had fans.

Showers :

All chalets had newish gas geysers which worked. As always a bit of a jiggle to get balance correct so it doesn’t go out. One chalet had issues the first night. Camp attendant cleaned the geyser and turned up temperature and it seemed to be ok after that.

The maintenance manager for the Satara area came to the camp while we were there. He explained the situation with the geysers : the geysers had previously been larger than the current ones so there was an issue with there not being enough pressure to keep the pilot flame alight to allow for warm water. They first installed a pressure pump but the water pipes kept bursting which then meant zero water on occasion. They have recently installed smaller geysers which do not require as much pressure to give warm water which seems to have helped a lot. If several people shower at the same time there can still be an issue with pressure, so ensure that each bathroom showers one at a time. If there is sediment build up in the geyser it can also cause a flow issue which reduces pressure so just ask the camp attendant to clean it and the issue usually resolved.

Hot plates :

Chalet 1,3 and 4 had a working hot plate connected to gas with a kettle supplied. Bring matches/lighter. Chalet 2 had no hot plate.
Each chalet had plates, mugs, glasses, cutlery for the number of people chalet sleeps.

Monkeys :

Vervets always around and ready to take a chance so just be aware and take care to keep everything closed.
Kitchen and dining room doors had bands on handles to keep closed but maybe bring something with incase they go missing.
Baboons forage through camp each afternoon but didn’t cause trouble.

Kitchen supplies :

Kitchen crockery, cutlery, glasses well stocked, very few bowls so if you are a cereal eater bring your own bowls.
2 huge potjies.
Skottels with gas.
Several chopping boards, braai dishes etc supplied.
Advisable to bring sharp knives and potato peeler and any other cutlery you specifically use for preparing meals.
Plug for sinks always a good idea to bring with. They did have when we were there but I imagine they go missing regularly.
Tips and extras :
Bring drinking water.

Supply your own firewood bought in park or just outside
.
Camp attendants service the units and clean kitchen/dining/braai area each day. We did our own dishes etc. Maria was happy to do some clothes washing for us and we paid her for that.

We booked a sunset drive via the section ranger at Satara. We were collected at Roodewal and it was only our group on the drive.
We checked in at Satara thinking that only one of us had to check in with everyones wildcard numbers but each car had to go to either Olifants or Satara to have their permits checked to ensure we weren’t sneaking in any extra guests.

Zero signal at the camp and very occasional signal on the tar road. Olifants had decent signal but at Satara zero MTN reception and some Vodacom signal.
Only slightly negative incident we had was that on the day we arrived, ash and coals from the fire pit had been thrown down the bank next to the deck by the camp attendant and in the late afternoon we noticed it smouldering. With everything so dry it could quickly have turned into a full blown fire if one of our kids hadn’t noticed the smoke. We had a volunteer firefighter with us so was sorted out quickly.

Value for money :

For us it was worth every cent. We absolutely loved the position, the solitude and the feel of the camp. We have always preferred the bush camps to the bigger busier camps and this had a very similar feel with the added advantage of knowing everyone in camp! Plus you have the beautiful Timbavati river drive to yourself for the first hour or so in the morning.

We were a group of 14, but if you were booking for fewer people than the base rate of 10, it would push the price per person up quite a bit.
The camp was beautifully clean when we arrived. Interestingly, the camp attendants don’t have a list of bookings and how many people are expected- they asked us when we arrived how many of us to expect and how long we were staying for.

[Lisbeth]

To read the whole thing without gabs and bold text is impossible, at least for me; I get Normally I fix it myself, but not anymore

[Richprins]

Fixed!

[Lisbeth]

Thank you

Doesn't it look much nicer? and it is certainly easier to read

[Richprins]