“In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight”, or so the popular song goes, only at Jamala Wildlife Lodge the lions often don’t sleep when you do, and when they do, you all but share a bed with them. I’ve just arrived at at one of Australia’s most unique luxury lodges in the nation’s capital, one that’s part of the National Zoo & Aquarium and where I’ll be spending the night. This incredible experience provides guests with a touch of Africa in one of the most unlikely places – on the banks of the Molonglo River in Canberra, about as far away as you can get from the jungles of Africa.

Awarded a number of tourism accolades since it opened five years ago, the concept was the brainchild of Canberran Richard Tindale and his animal-obsessed family. Tindale and his wife Maureen purchased the zoo in 1998 when it was nothing more than a wildlife reserve and turned it from a rundown aquarium and petting zoo into what it is today – a thriving conservation park with an accommodation arm that offers interaction and awareness in equal measure. The lodges location is a three hour drive from Sydney.

“We tried to pick up a little bit of Africa and drop it into Canberra,” Tindale so often says, and with a company ethos that reads: “Jamala and its programs have been designed to maximise the opportunity to subtly impress on its guests that everything possible should be done to ensure that these magnificent animals survive in the wild” it seems they’ve got the approach just right.

I’m lucky enough to be booked into a Giraffe Treehouse tonight. There are six of these on the property, each with its own balcony feeding area from where we’ll be able to hand-feed ‘Hummer’ this afternoon if he’s in a good enough mood – it’s worth noting there are no guarantees – and then watch him saunter across the enclosure at his leisure. Our treehouse villa has a four-poster king bed, a lounge area with daybed and an optional pull-out sofa, as well as a luxurious bathroom with dual sink set-up, a soaking tub and sizeable shower recess complete with a mosaic tiled giraffe artwork for extra appeal.

With a small terrace at the front and a petting zoo with an alpaca and some other furry friends in the communal space behind the treehouse gate, it’s a bit like being in The Jungle Book with the entire zoo at our disposal before and after the public gets access, talk about a treat.

There are 12 other bungalow and lodge rooms here too, all of them offering varying experiences.  “We’re staying in the cheetah bungalow,” says one of our fellow lodgers. “It’s a birthday gift from my sister,” she continues excitedly, adding that she and her husband have driven the eight or so hours up from Melbourne and are booked in to meet the resident cheetah in a special encounter later in their stay, and “they can’t wait”.

The couple’s bungalow is one of the most sought here alongside that of the Bengal tiger sisters Melati and Mya, the ‘roar’-some brown lions and Malayan sun bears. The enclosures are fully-equipped with heated concrete pads to attract the animals to the den-like decks by the window and it’s safe to say there is nothing like waking up with one of these beautiful creatures metres of you, the only thing separating them and you a piece of solid smash-proof glass.

“Oh, it’s just incredible,” says another woman and her daughter who are staying for two nights. “I didn’t sleep at all last night the lions roared outside our room all night.” We encounter the roars in the distance ourselves as we wander the confines of the zoo at dusk, and it’s enough to bring goosebumps to the surface of my skin. I have to remind myself that we are in my homeland’s political centre, not somewhere half-way around the globe where this is the norm.

Not surprisingly aren’t too many places like this in Australia, with this level of luxury and interaction, and although the trend to add value to zoo experiences by offering overnight stays has grown in recent years with Sydney’s famous Taronga Zoo introducing glamping options and Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo self-catered accommodation, Jamala offers lodgers a full programme for their stay. It includes an afternoon guided tour of the zoo – where we get up close with the monkeys, penguins, Meerkats and so many other critters including Emus and Koalas – followed by a five-course African-themed dinner in the uShaka Lodge’s ‘cave’ restaurant complete with traditional Malva Pudding – here you’ll not only enjoy fabulous food but the chances are you’ll be joined by the resident white lions Jake and Mishka who cosy up in the warm den for all to see throughout the course of the evening – and an optional morning tour that takes place before the zoo opens to the general public, again a special experience.

Additional one-on-one animal encounters are available at an additional cost although the giraffe feeding we do is included in the treehouse stay and I’m lucky enough to get close enough to Hummer to get that much anticipated ‘feeding-time’ selfie while providing this majestic long-necked beauty a carrot or two and plenty of attention.  Fortunately, I’ve been on safari in Africa and while nothing beats that experience for authenticity and I made a pledge back then that no zoo would ever live up to the real safari experience, Jamala Wildlife Lodge is the best Australia has to offer in this regard.

And before you worry about how the animals fare in this environment with people so close, peering at them all hours of the day and night, I can assure you it’s foremost in the minds of the National Zoo & Aquarium’s owners and keepers. “I can promise you, as one of their keepers, we only do what is positive for our animals,” Katie Ness, one of the senior keepers assures me. “We have worked the Jamala guest schedule into the animals’ routines and what makes them comfortable.”

According to Ness everything is done on the animals terms and if they choose not to co-operate then that is OK.  “We work with it [if they’re uncooperative]. Our animals receive the best care here.”

If you’re planning a trip Down Under and fancy a little safari-style luxury this could be the perfect laid-back Aussie experience.

Jamala Wildlife Lodge is in Canberra, a three-hour drive south of Sydney. For more details go to www.jamalawildlifelodge.com.au