The Safari Lodge

When you go on a Safari in the African bush, you need to live the full Safari experience and spend time in a Safari Lodge. The view from the roof terrace of this outpost like lodge, is breath taking. You can see the ostriches strolling around their grounds, monkeys climbing a baobab tree and a hippopotamus splashing in the waterhole nearby.

 

Hereby I present to you me latest Lego Ideas product idea: 

The Safari Lodge 

Main build 

The main build of my new Lego Ideas product idea is of course the Safari Lodge itself. Significant for the construction of the lodge and its design are the thatched pyramid shaped roof and the decorated walls. On three sides of the building, I have added reliefs depicting three different kinds of animals: two elephants, a rhinoceros with a baobab tree and a large crocodile. The building consists out of three levels: the ground floor, first floor which is the roof terrace and a thatched roof. There is also a staircase that can be attached to the roof terrace. 

 

Before the entrance of the lodge there’s a small terrace where the visitors can sit and have a nice view on the terrain outside the outpost. Inside the lodge, on the ground level, there are two beds (both having mosquito nets), a table for a laptop (or for something else), a rack to store the suitcases and other travelling gear, and there is a separate luxurious bathroom with two washbasins and a lavatory. 

 

On the roof terrace, there are two beds with mosquito nets too, a table, a chair and a swing seat. With binoculars attached to the railing of the terrace, one can get a good look at the Savannah plains in the distance and perhaps spot some ostriches.  

Furthermore, there are three, in fact four, smaller builds that form the different natural habitats of animals that can be seen from the Safari Lodge: 

 

A baobab tree with monkeys.

 

A waterhole with a hippopotamus, my favorite animal. 

 

A patch of sand and grass with some hippo dung.

 

An ostrich nesting ground.

 

These separate builds can each be placed in front of one of the four sides of the Safari Lodge or just where ever one would like to display them together with the lodge. 

I have included four minifigures: a guide, two tourists and one African animal expert. The guide brings the tourists safely to the lodge because when it is dark, it could be that a grass grazing hippopotamus is blocking the way to the Safari Lodge. The animal expert could tell the tourist about the animals of the savannah and the bush. 

About the animals included. The main animal is, of course, the buildable hippopotamus. And it’s in scale with the size of a minifigure! A first solid Lego hippo figure would definitely be nice, but hey, it is Lego and it is cool to have good looking buildable animals as well. We have seen many LEGO animal sets but the African hippo was not among them yet. The play feature on the hippo is not only that one can build it and that it lifts its head, one can also detach the legs and a part of the belly so that the animal can swim in the waterhole. 

Furthermore, there are two ostriches, two monkeys, a spider, a smaller spider on a 1x1 tile, one frog that blends in with the walls and stones/bricks of the Safari Lodge, a beetle and two birds. 

Element count

3927. 

Will we find 10 000 fans and supporters of this model? 

The Safari Lodge is cool for kids who love LEGO and it is nice for AFOLS too. Both target groups will have a lot of fun building it and playing with it or displaying it. But it is not only for them because everyone who has ever gone on a safari trip – and there are many – and sees this design, will remember their Safari experience and say: Oh yes! This brings back good memories. Let’s bring our unforgettable wildlife experience home and re-live it by building the LEGO IDEAS Safari Lodge!