The Manor & Ngorongoro Crater

We arrived safely at The Manor from the Lake Manyara Airstrip, and what a place! It is actually many different buildings including a reception building, the main house with a dining room, various sitting rooms, a bar, grand piano, etc. There is a stables for horseback riding, and the lodging is in buildings with two suites per unit. We had a late lunch on the terrace overlooking the coffee plantation. This is truly a special place.

This is the main house where the dining room is as well as several other sitting rooms, a bar, a grand piano, a media room, and a terrace looking out over the coffee plantation.

This is the back of the main house.

A shot of the main hall in the main building.

This is one of the cottages that houses two suites.

A shot of our suite. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Tarangire to Manyara

Today, July 10th, Linda and I moved on to another spot in our safari journey. We left Treetops at 8:00 am and did a game drive on the way to Kuro Airstrip for one last chance to see the Tarangire animals.

We said our last goodbyes to Nicholas, our butler at Treetops.

On our way to the Kuro Airstrip we spotted another dik dik.

And we also saw a candelabra tree, so named because of the cactus-like branches that grow upwards.

And we learned about ostrich mating rituals. When the male is ready to mate his neck turns reddish pink.

And the female stomps the ground and spreads her wings in an effort to attract the male.

We finally arrived at the airstrip and boarded our Cessna Grand Caravan. The pilot is another Spaniard, and he offered for someone to ride co-pilot. Of course, I volunteered.

After a short 20-minute flight we landed on an airstrip that ended at the escarpment down to Lake Manyara. What an exciting landing! Our driver, Lorri, met us, and we loaded up the Land Cruiser.

On the way to The Manor, our country estate hotel, we spotted lots of baboons.

More Tarangire

We had dinner at the Tarangire Treetops Lodge both nights we were there. The first night a group of the Masai tribe of Tanzanians entertained us. Below is a video photo taken during their performance.

 

 

 

Dinner was served out on a patio of sorts with camp-style lanterns to light the table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, July 9th, we went to a local Masai village. The Masai are one of many tribes of "bush people" living in Africa. While their appearance does not show it, they have a highly organized society beginning with an elderman and an elderwoman. He can only have one wife, but he is permitted to have as many women as he wants and father children with whomever among them.

When we arrived, there was a welcoming group that came out to sing for us. Their language is Maa, and the official language of Tanzania is Swahili.

This is a shot showing part of their village.

 

 

Their structures are quite intricately built with mud and cow dung roofs. New coats are applied for the rainy season that lasts from December to May.

 

 

The children are adorable, wanting to hold your hand and dance with you when the adults start singing.

 

 

If someone takes a picture of them they immediately want to see the photo, and they even know to scroll through your photos on the camera.

 

 

 

This photo shows a baobab tree which is so typical of this area of Tanzania.

 

This shows a baobab that has a huge hole in it demonstrating what I said earlier about poachers hiding out in them sometimes.

 

 

This is Nicholas, our butler while at Tarangire Treetops Lodge. He learned his outstanding English while studying with European missionaries.

 

 

We went out for a late afternoon game WALK, and yes, our driver, Elly, came fully equipped with a rifle for protection. Here he's instructing us on the do's and don'ts of walking with someone carrying a rifle.

 

 

We didn't see a lot of wildlife, but we did see their tracks and their poop. This is an elephant footprint, back foot. The front footprint is much deeper.

 

 

This thorny bush is sometimes used as a Tanzanian Christmas tree, with lights down at the bottom shining up to highlite the thorns.

 

 

 

 

 

A typical view of the Tarangire plains with the umbrella acacia trees.

 

 

We drove to the top of a nearby mountain in the middle of the plains, presumably to get a better view of the upcoming sunset. When we got to the top, we saw our butler, who we thought was spending some free time on the mountain. He had come ahead with tables, chairs, hors d'oeuvres, drinks and a hand washing station complete with a thermos of hot water and towels.

 

 

 

Here's the hand washing station!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's the sunset. None of us could believe what had just happened. The service at Treetops was out of sight upscale that we have never experienced anywhere.

 

 

On to Tarangire National Park

On Wednesday, July 8th, we left the beautiful Arusha Coffee Lodge to travel to the Tarangire National Park. We were driven to the Arusha Airport first.

This airport is for local flights only, nothing international. It's pretty spartan, as you can see.

 

 

We were escorted out to our very own 6-seater Cessna Grand Caravan, piloted by Jose, from northern Spain of all places!

 

 

We landed 20 minutes later at Kuro Airstrip, a dirt runway at the edge of Tarangire National Park.

 

 

 

We were greeted with cold towels and juice drinks first.

 

The six of us loaded up in this safari land cruiser along with all our luggage.

 

 

 

One of the first things we saw was this tree dotting the park everywhere we looked. It's an umbrella acacia tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And shortly after we were underway, we got a flat tire!!! But, as our driver Elly was prepared with two spares, we got fixed up in no time!

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a shot of an African dik dik, the smallest of all antelopes.

 

 

I love this photo because it is so typical of the views we have seen here in Tarangire National Park. There are more than 3,500 elephants in the park.

 

 

We saw starlings down in South Africa, but this one here in Tarangire has more dramatic coloring.

 

 

After driving around looking at animals for awhile, we stopped for lunch, complete with hot soup, fried chicken, various salads, and a variety of beverages.

 

 

I know I've already posted many photos of elephants, but I couldn't resist this one of the baby and its mother.

 

 

I have been waiting patiently to see a herd of wildebeasts, and today I was rewarded!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a video clip of the above herd of wildebeasts that somehow got spooked and took off running! To watch it, go to goldentrailsofafrica.blogspot.com

Here's a video of two young bull elephants fighting! Eventually the one on the left retreats.

We saw this herd of zebra grazing under a baobab tree. These trees can be 1000-2000 years old growing very slowly. Sometimes called the tree of life, they hold a lot of water, and elephants love the bark. Older baobabs sometimes are hollow inside, and poachers have hidden in them from the national park police.

 

 

 

When we arrived at the Tarangire Treetops Lodge, we were greeted by Nicholas, our personal butler offering cold towels for a quick cleanup.

 

 

This photo shows the inside of the reception/dining area.

 

 

All rooms are built around a baobab tree with a circular staircase rising to the room consisting of a large bedroom, a separate bathroom with shower and dual sinks, and a balcony overlooking the bush.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This view shows the balcony and the door to the room.

 

 

 

Here's a shot of the bathroom.

 

 

Here is a view from our balcony looking at another room attached to another baobab tree.

 

 

And this is the central lodge area for dining and the reception area. There is also a small zero edge pool!

 

 

After dinner, when guests retire to their rooms, they must be escorted if it's after dark for safety reasons. Once you are safely "tucked away" up in your room, the escort closes this door on the circular stairway so that animals cannot get up to your room!