The shacks pictured below are all part of a highly controversial resort that offers tourists the experience of sleeping inside a metal hut for a mere $82 a night.
Located near Bloemfontein in South Africa, the shanty town themed
luxury resort operated by Emoya Luxury Hotel and Spa looks like a slum.
All the shacks are however equipped with conveniences such as
running water, electricity, under-floor heating and wireless Internet
access.
That is more than most South Africans living in shanty towns see in an entire month.
To make the stay a bit more authentic, the operators have installed
paraffin lamps, candles and battery-operated radios, as well as a
communal long-drop toilet.
The operators state on their website that “The Shanty Town is ideal
for team building, braais (barbecues), fancy theme parties and an
experience of a lifetime.”
Each shack comes with a full kitchen and will sleep about 4. A real
shanty town hut will often have two full families living together in
one. The sleeping arrangements don’t exactly scream “luxury” but they
are a hundred times better than inside a real shanty town hut.
The operator says that the idea was born after “regular overseas
visitors suggested that they would like to sleep in a real shanty rather
than just seeing them from a tour bus, as you would in Soweto and Cape
Town”.
In their own words: “We believe we’ve taken something with a
negative connotation and turned it into something positive, which
reflects the ingenuity of our South African people”
What do you think? Comedian and political satirist, Stephen Colbert,
came up with a good name for this exotic hybrid of opulent luxury and
extreme deprivation. He called it “poverty porn”.
Source: Emoya Estate’s Web Site