Despite having a home an hour from Estepona I thought it would be nice to spend a night here among the animals thinking we would be able to see them in the evening during their nocturnal meanderings. It seemed reasonably priced as the room per person included entrance to the park for two days, car parking and breakfast. I soon learned there was a reason for this. The Watu village is at the far end of the park. You must wait for a car to transport you to your 'hut'. Despite there being a fridge, air con, TV, hydro massage bath and shower the room feels far from luxurious or even comfortable. The one small window lets in little light and the views which are fabulous from outside the door are non-existent from the inside. It is dark and musty. Even with all the lights on during the day you would be hard pushed to read a book. The stone walls, paved floor and basic bedding make the room feel grubby though I have to say that it and the bedding were actually quite clean. The beds and furniture were of poor quality and well used and there was a strong smell of damp or mould.

I was told that the restaurants, or should I say basic cafeterias or fast food places ubiquitous in all tourist haunts, close at 6pm so that you have to actually leave the park in order to have dinner. I was told that there would be a car available to transport us back to the park entrance, where our car was parked, if we wanted to leave for something to eat or collect a takeaway after the last jeeps had stopped at this time. I assume we would be transported back when we returned to the park at night though judging by how quiet the park was I did wonder how successful this would have been once the Park closed and the majority of the staff had left. As there was no evidence of anyone else staying that night and we were told to use the 'walkie talkie' in the 'sitting room' ( a dingy hut with dirty rattan chairs and a microwave with a supermarket trolley stuck behind the door!!) to contact staff if there was a problem through the night I began to have grave misgivings about having to return during the hours of darkness to an isolated hut on a mountain with no staff in the near vicinity and possibly no other visitors. You are not allowed to walk the park in the evening but had to remain in the Lodge area. There was mention on a leaflet of an evening walk but it was not alluded to by the receptionist. and I suspected that this would not happen when there was so few visitors.

Because you must pay for the room before entering the park if you decide not to stay, as I did, for whatever reason, there is little hope of getting your money refunded. I suppose this could be a good experience for a group of students or youngsters who wanted an authentic African Safari adventure but with some home comforts but I think that the park should be more upfront in their literature about the drawbacks of choosing to stay in one of their 'lodges'. I am sure the 'lodges' in real safari places such as Kenya offer more comfort and care for the visitor than here. Treetops it ain't!!!