Naturally we visited the "Treetops Hotel" in the Abadare Mountains and were captivated by the romance of having to climb a ladder to reach our rooms in the upper level of this peculiar structure.
After having had dinner in the very narrow dining room
(that's another story) we gathered on the roof deck and observed the goings-on of Elephants, Warthogs and various Monkeys below.
I got to chat with the manager of this famous hotel. He asked me my room identification and after I told him, he informed me with a smile that this was the very room occupied on the 5th day of February 1952 (some 30 years earlier) by "Princess Elizabeth of the House of Windsor" and her husband Prince Phillip.
The Princess' father, King George VI, died in London during that night and therefore, it is said, that the Lady climbed the ladder of the Treetops as a Princess, had fun during that day and night and then, in accordance with the British Law of Succession, descended via that same ladder the next morning as the Queen.
What's more, I can therefore claim that I shared a bedroom with the Queen of England. (not at the same time )
Arriving at the parking area, one is accompanied by an armed guard from the vehicle to the foot of the ladder, where the warning is posted:
"Do not leave this building without the protection of an armed guard."
( a warning, I consider a bit of hype )
Bertstravels
has been back to East- and southern Africa
many times, but still remembers his first Safari
and the Treetops with special fondness.
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