For many months, a snow-white Barn Owl lived in the rafters of Rhulani's dining Room. She brought our staff a lot of joy and headaches. A short story from the bush.

John and Lynne fully enjoy their safari experience at Rhulani and are on the way to dinner. It is evening, the walk-ways are illuminated by the warm light of lanterns.

John loves wildlife and adventures and so, Rhulani, the superb bush lodge, is the perfect place. The tranquillity of the African bush, the starry sky and a crackling fire set the scene in the middle of nowhere. This is the wild safari feeling that John has so long been looking for. And high up, there in the rafters, in a warm nest, a snow-white Barn Owl, just above the dining room. John thinks: it is just fantastic how nature coexists here with humans in a natural way. The cozy dinner with open fire is accompanied by the rustling of the mother owl and the chirping of hungry owlet. He raises his glass, smiling: "Cheers, Lynne".

Lynne loves luxury and cleanliness and so, Rhulani, the superb five-star lodge, is the perfect place. A romantic turn-down was prepared in the luxury private chalet with a bottle of champagne, a warm bubble bath and a heart shaped towel folded on the bed. The dining room is prepared for an exquisite 5-course menu with premium wine and candlelight. This is the first class treatment in the middle of the bush that Lynne has so long been looking for. But high up, there in the rafters, in a warm nest, a snow-white Barn Owl, just above the dining room. Lynne thinks: it is just unacceptable that the screeching noise from the nest and the chirping of owlets disturb the elegance of the ambience. She raises her glass, irritated: “Cheers, John”.

This amazing animal, yet, respectively, troublemaker, the Barn Owl, was perceived differently by John and Lynne during a romantic dinner, and caused an ongoing headache for Rhulani’s management. With each comment from guests about the lovely chicks, we felt inveterate that the owls nest was an integral part of a safari experience. Sadly, every time the screeching noise from the ridge interrupted the perfect silence, we felt: this has to be dealt with! So we climbed up the ladder and looked into the eyes of the owlets and it just broke our heart. Bush lodge or Luxury lodge – is this what it takes, an innocent Barn Owl, to open our eyes to the great contradiction?

At the end, the Barn Owl was for John and Lynne just a funny episode, and both left Rhulani completely satisfied, while the endless debate at Rhulani took its course without conclusion. In the meantime, the white owl flew around merrily in the lodge area, brought food for her cubs, and from time to time, showed her curious face between the wooden beams of the roof. Actually quite funny to see! One morning at a beautifully prepared breakfast, the mother owl heaved the semi-digested food onto the floor and another day, the skeleton of one of the four children was thrown out of the nest. Although natural for these animals in the bush, not so funny in a luxury breakfast area!

Now the little owlets have grown up and left the nest. The mother owl is rarely at home, but still flies around in Rhulani's main lodge area. Thus, still enough adventure for John and an undisturbed dinner for Lynne. The small hole where the nest was is now closed and we placed a real owl house made of wood, right behind the boma. But the question still remains: how should we deal with it next time?