My primary target for Lidwala is to give guests a really good experience at the lodge. You can have all the advertising, branding and flyers everywhere but you cannot beat having happy guests travelling around and recommending the place. I like the chilled out vibe the place has which makes guests feel safe and relaxed. It is rewarding when you have guests book in for one or two nights and keep extending their stay a day at a time until they have to drag themselves away. The best was when twice in July we had guests visit from a nearby luxury hotel and ended up staying at the lodge. The new rooms have definitely started attracting a new clientele which is more up market but like the individual chalets and laid back environment.

The experience with the volunteers is the best because you get to know them and make friends or know them enough so you get to know their characters so you can juggle what you can do to keep them happy while they are here. Meals for the special dietary needs is still a challenge for me because I just go blank sometimes when someone tells me they are vegetarian and they want to join the braai tonight (meat barbeque), but we try to come up with delicious and nutritious meals for all dietary requirements.

So far so good and hope we as a team at Lidwala can keep it growing from strength to strength