The Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is still by far the most remarkable and beautiful lodge I have ever had to good fortune to stay at. We flew to Tanzania after a fantastic adventure of several gorilla treks in Rwanda and Uganda. (Blog post HERE). I knew we were in for a special treat when we pulled up to the Lodge and were greeted by at least a dozen staff members. Cold, wet towels were handed out and refreshing adult cocktails were served on silver trays. We were escorted to our rooms by our personal butlers who showed us every gorgeous detail of our huge luxurious rooms. This is the kind of luxury lodge where your coffee is served to you in bed on literally, a silver platter, and warm bath is drawn for you when you return from your game drive from the bottom of the crater floor and the fireplace in your room is roaring when you get back from dinner. There has been no other lodge that has topped The Crater Lodge for me. I dream of coming back here and staying much much longer.
Our second luxury experience was our tented camp in the Serengeti. We stayed with &Beyond Serengeti Under Canvas. This was even before the term glamping became popular. These mobile campsites are set right along the migration path and often times literally right in the middle of the route. There is nothing that you will be in need of here. They provide luxury comfortable accommodations, fantastic meals and alcohols, morning and evening game drives which include picnics and sundowners in the most gorgeous locations and memories that will last a lifetime.
You will often times need an escort from your tent to the dinning tent. The below picture explains why.
Getting a flat or stuck in the mud is an all too common occurrence. But the views you will have while waiting for assistance are usually worth a million dollars.
We spent 3 hours one afternoon waiting in the midday scorching heat for help to arrive after getting stuck in the mud. Our driver's radio didn't work and he was unable to call for help. No one from the camp knew where we were or that we were stuck. Our driver had to run several miles back to the camp to get us towed out. Apparently, this is not something you are supposed to do. He described how he needed to climb up trees several times to avoid approaching animals. We could still be out there if he ended up being the wrong predator's lunch.
After leaving the Serengeti we fly over to Zanzibar to stay at Emerson & Green Hotel for a night before taking a small boat to the island of Chumbe.
One of the seven Bandas on the island. Very Robinson Crusoe.
It's been almost 11 years since I had the great opportunity to visit these magnificent creatures and the war isn't over.
Virunga has been nominated for an Oscar for best documentary through Netflix. Please take some time to watch this amazing film.
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AuthorI started this blog so that I could document and share my adventures in travel, photography, food and the things that inspired me. It's a work in progress as are most things in life. ArchivesCategories
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