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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 5:20 pm

has anyone stayed at the fugitives drift lodge? if so, was it value for money etc. thanks.

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 9:43 pm

Yes, it is. There are various criticisms of David rattray, but I still think that his skill as a story teller is absolutely remarkable. The food is great too.

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 7:54 am

I was there in 2002 and it is a fabulous location. The staff and service are impeccable and you will be in very good company. The atmosphere is probably similar to an upmarket country club.

It is however, not cheap. If you just want a bed for the night, the Lodge is nor for you. What Rattray sells is a whole package - accommodation, staff, experience, location etc - but this comes at a price. Going off-season is slightly cheaper.

Peter

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:54 am

If you can make up a party of 4+ go for the annex, it is alot cheaper per person, or alternatively the guest house. Either way it is superb.

I have stayed three times at FDL and found it breathtaking, excellent food, and sitting with an enormous G & T, looking out to Isandlwana in the evening takes you back to another time.

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 11:54 pm

Go for it, at least for one night! David is worth every rand he can squeeze, but make it worth your stay! He's got an incomperable love for what he has, for what he is, and for what he does and he's selfless in sharing that with anyone that shows real sincerity! Don't be intimidated by his standing or knowledge, but rather greet him with the respect he's due and show him that you're a "real person" and be honest. He's the kind of guy who can hob-nob with royalty just fine, but can also make the likes of a middle class Yank like myself feel like he's "beshti "(a gift from God). And tell him that it's high time that he got a bayo on that teenie!

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 10:17 am

Hi everyone,
Please excuse my ignorance but what language is 'beshti'?
Cheers,
Margaret McF

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 1:55 pm

The Teenie has got a P1876 on it, I took it at christmas and fitted it on!, I also had it off the wall, stripped, cleaned, ready to fire, pity I didn't take any rounds with me!.
Maybe next time

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 9:49 pm

God bless you, Neil! I saw that teenie hanging on the wall in September and told him he should have a bayo on it ("a Martini without a bayonet is like Abott without Costello", sez I) and he hemmed and hawwed and talked about the "cost" (David, get real! We all know money is tight, but...). So I came back home, picked out my most correct one and there it sits on the table to this very day, waiting to be sent. Ya done good!
"Beshti" is Hindi and I know it from the movie "Gunga Dihn". For years I thought Cary Grant was calling him the "regimental beastie" and then discovered that it was, in fact, "regimental beshti" ("gift from God), thanks to an annotated copy of Kipling. Quite a promotion, don't you think? From beast of burden to gift from God?

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 6:51 am

Sawubona,
Sorry to correct you, but there is no such Hindi word as "beshtie."
Kiplings famous poem "Gunga Din" refers to the latter as the Regimental water carrier, who saved many a soldier from thirst, administering from his goat-skinned water bag. The correct word is "Bhisti" meaning "water carrier." and does not translate as "gift from God."
" An' 'e plugged me where I bled,
An' e' guv me 'arf-a-pint o' water green,
It was crawlin' and it stunk,
But of all the drinks I've drunk,
I'm gratefullest to the one from Gunga Din."