Marking out the Safari Tents

Butterfly at Ikoro
Leaving the best till last, well almost anyway. We started marking out the sites for the safari tents today which was quite a pleasure considering the massive area we've set out for them. In the initial concept drawings, the tents are all arranged in a neat arc north of the campfire but the architects had mentioned that we would probably want to and could move the sites according to the best locations for each tent.

We did the eastern five tents today with one of them in a location that warrants having special status i.e. the "honeymoon" or "premier" tent. Situated on a rise but with rocky ridges along the sides isolating it from the rest, it has a lovely view of the volcanoes. The one thing I must say though is that every tents location has a special location in its own way with certain features around it that the others don't have. The fact that they're some of the first, if not The first, safari tents in Rwanda will enhance their allure even more.

These tents are set in an area where we will retain as much of the present wild vegetation as possible and meandering footpaths for the guests afternoon or early morning. The eucalyptus trees will gradually give way to indigenous trees and other indigenous plants which occur naturally in this particular environment and with the rate plants grow here, it could all be a little indigenous forest before long.

I had to shoot off quickly for a 10am meeting but was back in an hour and we continued working. The lads do sometimes think I'm a bit mad with me putting in pegs as markers and the moving them umpteen times before I'm happy with the location but it keeps them entertained every now and then.

Getting home I started putting all the measurements, bearings etc to paper, plotting it all out on graph paper. The idea is that eventually I can draw a basic master plan reflecting how everything is set out now. This is just as rewarding to actually see how everything is set out in relation to each other - unfortunately the drawings don't reflect what the actual location looks like i.e. vegetation and contours.