Rolling into the carpark at the National Zoo and Aquarium for our overnight stay at Jamala Wildlife Lodge, I’m more than a wee bit excited. It’s not every day one gets to sleep with lions.
For one very special night, we’ll be experiencing one of Canberra’s most luxurious and expensive accommodations. We’ve been told we’ll be sharing it with Mlinzi and Nairibi, a pair of lions who came to the zoo in 2021 as part of a regional breeding program.
Along with other overnight guests, we gather in the zoo’s uShaka Lodge for afternoon tea. Decorated with arresting African artworks, this beautifully presented meeting place wouldn’t be out of place in an African game reserve. But here we are, just a few kilometres from Australia’s Parliament House – a zoo of a different kind.
Richard and Maureen Tindale have poured their heart and soul into the National Zoo and Aquarium since 1998, and what is now uShaka Lodge was for many years their family home. Leopard sharks and black tip reef sharks swim in colossal tanks that line the living room walls, while black and white Colobus monkeys scamper around the outdoor patio. Many of the artworks are from the Tindale family’s personal collection.
It’s the perfect spot for a meet and greet and a delightful afternoon tea of canapés, sandwiches and sweet treats, along with fresh juices and coffees. Guests can book accommodation in uShaka Lodge, having this unique living room all to themselves when the other guests go to their jungle bungalows and giraffe treehouses.
If, like us, you’ve booked one of the bungalows, you won’t know which animals will be your roommate until shortly before your stay, since it’s always a moving feast at the zoo (not literally!) The bungalows also come with some age restrictions. For example, guests need to be at least 14 years old and 1.5 metres tall to stay in the lion bungalows. While guests and animals are separated by walls of glass, the animals might get a tad excited by the prospect of young prey.
Before we get to meet our roommates, all overnight guests are taken on a tour of the zoo with one of the education guides. The former aquarium and wildlife park had twice gone into liquidation before the Tindales bought the property in 1998 and transformed it into what it is today, one of Australia’s best-loved locations for animal encounters and conservation.
Soon after they bought the property, it became a rescue home for animals that had been in circuses and private collections. The focus subsequently expanded to conservation, with the money raised from Jamala Wildlife Lodge and the zoo’s special themed tours re-invested in valuable projects.
There’s no denying that staying at Jamala is expensive – it can cost up to several thousand dollars a night, depending on the season and the choice of accommodation. But it is rewarding to know that staying here helps fund the zoo’s conservation efforts and breeding programs.
Our guide, Taylor, takes obvious delight in introducing us to the resident animals. She explains why Coco, the black capped capuchin monkey, is getting only scent enrichment rather than food: it would be too much if the animals were given food on every tour. Coco is clearly displeased, if the way she raises her eyebrows is anything to go by.
The Sumatran tigers and red panda are staying out of sight as much as possible but the zebras are happy to take the limelight. “Everyone expects them in a zoo,” says Taylor.
“Hey handsome, what ya doing?” she greets Ubuntu, the rhino, who is sharpening his horns, not just for defence, Taylor says, but because he is making a fashion statement. “Okay, he sat down. That’s rude.”
We laugh at the meerkats, feed the deer, and marvel at the cheetahs, one of which was born at the zoo. Meet-a-Cheetah is one of the special interactive experiences you can book in for at an additional cost. It’s something you could consider for the second day if you are staying overnight.
Sometime after 3pm, it’s time to meet our roommates! My excitement is immense but tough guy Mlinizi and spirited Nairibi are keeping their distance – I manage a quick snapshot with Nairibi on the deck but they don’t spend a lot of time at our window.
There’s plenty of time then to enjoy our spacious bungalow with its high-quality furnishings, super-comfy bed, deep bathtub and full-length windows overlooking the lion enclosure. At 6pm, after the day visitors have left and the zoo has assumed a surreal quietness, it’s time to make our way back to the Lodge for dinner in the Rainforest Cave.
First there are pre-dinner drinks: a glass of Moet Champagne on the terrace and a chance to view a pair of hyenas at close range and to get up close to two magnificent white lions, Jake and Mischka. Mischka roars as Jake tries to lie down near her while she is eating, encroaching on her personal space. She’s a feisty one!
Now that the lions are fed, it’s our turn. Dinner is a feast, enjoyed communally at a long table where we get to meet people from all over, excitedly swapping notes about their roommates and the events they are celebrating. The meal surpasses everything I expected, starting with elegant canapés and continuing through several exquisite courses.
There’s a choice of four mains, two of them vegetarian. I opt for the Roasted rack of lamb which is perfectly cooked and beautifully presented. There’s a choice of desserts too, or you could enjoy a fruit plate or cheese selection.
The dishes are paired with beautiful wines, included in the price. The wine list has a great selection of top labels including some premium Canberra wines, South African Amarula liqueur, and even De Bortoli’s flagship Noble One.
After dinner, we’re taken in a minibus back to our accommodation; guests are not allowed to walk around the zoo after dark. Mlinizi and Nairibi still aren’t hanging around, and much to my dismay, they’re still not there, even when we go to bed.
I fall asleep listening out for sounds from them but there are none. Lions are known to roar throughout the night, with the sound heard up to 8 kilometres away. I’m a light sleeper and for once I don’t mind being woken up, but there’s not a peep from them.
Sometime in the early hours of the morning, I wake and go to the window to see if they are there. To my great surprise, they’ve stealthily settled in at the foot of our bed and gone to sleep without letting us know! That view of them is something I’ll never forget – a ‘pinch me and tell me it’s real’ moment.
Our pair stayed with us for most of the morning, allowing us plenty of time to video, photograph, brag on social media, and simply sit there eyeballing these incredible animals with just a pane of glass between us and them. The experience was next-level thrilling.
It was hard to tear ourselves away to go to breakfast but what a joy it was to amble through the zoo, watching it come alive and seeing the animals at their most active before the day visitors descended. After a hearty a la carte breakfast and good strong coffee, there was just a little more time to kick back on the lounge in our bungalow, getting further acquainted with our roommates.
The 11am checkout means vacating the accommodation but you’re free to hang around in the zoo, for the whole day if you so wish. You could also organize one of the interactive tours or special encounters.
Jamala Wildlife Lodge packages
At times, there are special packages on offer. For Valentine’s Day in February, Jamala offered a Romance package and a ‘Woo at the Zoo’ tour, the latter exploring how animals court each other, go on dates, and consummate their relationships. The tour included a picnic box with chocolate-coated strawberries and glasses of bubbles.
Parking at the zoo is easy and there are dedicated spots for Jamala guests. You’d be unlikely to want to go out of an evening but if you do want to leave the zoo grounds, you need to pre-arrange it with reception and be back by 9:30pm. But truly, who would want to leave?
While an overnight stay at Jamala Wildlife Lodge is an experience you’ll never forget, it doesn’t come cheap. I’ll admit that before our stay, I wondered about the logic of paying a couple of thousand dollars a night to stay there when you could put it towards the cost of a wildlife safari in Africa.
But here’s the thing: just as nothing can compare with seeing a lion in the wild in Africa, nor can anything compare with eyeballing a lion from six inches away. To see these magnificent creatures at close range, to look into their eyes, to see their paws and the hairs on their skin, to see right into their mouths when they yawn and roar, well that’s something else again.
Jamala Wildlife Lodge
Lady Denman Drive, Canberra
Australia
Tel: +61 (0)2 6287 8444
www.jamalawildlifelodge.com.au
With thanks to Jamala Wildlife Lodge for hosting us for one very special night. We stayed in Bungalow 1. All photos are our own except for two supplied by Jamala Wildlife Lodge, as indicated.
