Tanzania with SkySafari by Elewana , February 2018

1- Africa - what's the "best" time and "best" place 2- Hemmingways in Nairobi 3- SkySafari by Elewana

4- Arusha Coffee Lodge 5- Tarangarie Treetops 6- Tarangire National Park

​7- The Manor 8- Ngorngoro Crater 9- Serengeti National Park 10- Serengeti Pioneer Camp

We chose SkySafari by Elewana once again since our last trip with them was so incredible. This time we were fortunate to be able to bring our two adult kids (Kelsey & Justin) with us. It was amazing to be able to watch them experience Africa for the first time. As the title of this page says, this trip took us to Tanzania instead of Kenya. Different camps and different parks, but the same beautiful plane. So much room, so comfortable and luxurious, and so much smoother and quieter than my bush flights in the past. It’s amazing that a plane of this caliber can land on the dirt runways that are used to access the luxury camps that we visited (more on the camps below). We did have one flight on a traditional bush plane to get from Nairobi to Arusha where our SkySafari began and it totally reinforced my feelings that this was the only way to go! The “other guys” put twice as many seats in the same size plane which makes the whole experience less comfortable. There are currently three preset Sky Safari itineraries, two in Kenya, and one in Tanzania, and extensions are available for all three.

One of the things I love about the Tanzania SkySafari itinerary is that you get a chance to experience three very different types of accommodations. You stay in an actual treehouse (yes, up in a tree), a beautiful country Manor, and a traditional (but very luxurious) safari tent. It’s really cool to get such a variety of experiences over the course of the trip. The other thing I really appreciate about the Elewana camps is their size. Most of them only accommodate between 24 and 36 people, so the service is amazing and they never feel crowded.

Our first stop in Tanzania was at Arusha Coffee Lodge. What a beautiful setting, right on the edge of town, and adjacent to a huge coffee plantation with friendly monkeys and baboons roaming the grounds. One of the other wonderful things about the location is that it’s just about 5 – 7 minutes from the airstrip where you begin the actual SkySafari. As with each of the places we stayed in Tanzania, Elewana provides a butler to see to your every need. Ours always took care of just the four of us which was really nice. Neema not only took us to our rooms and showed us around, but also arranged wake-up calls, laundry service, coffee in the morning, and also served us all of our meals while on property. The luxurious rooms are the perfect place to regroup after the long trip from the US to Africa.

We had great meals in the relaxing garden and a gourmet dinner in the Grill Room. And, as was the case for the entire trip, all of the food and drinks (with the exception premium bottles) are included. Our stay at Arusha Coffee Lodge also included a very interesting “Bean-to-Cup” tour of the coffee plantation covering everything from growing to roasting, grinding and brewing. After the tour we visited the Shanga workshops and store that employ people with disabilities to create unique, high-quality, handmade jewelry, glassware and homeware using recycled materials. Shanga is a project of Elewana as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility commitment to the people of Tanzania. Arusha Coffee Lodge is the home of Shanga, which comprises an open workshop for glass-blowing, weaving, sewing, tingtinga painting, bead-making and metal work, as well as a shop showcasing handmade Shanga products.

After our quick 22 minute flight we landed at the Kuro Airstrip in Tarangire National Park. I’ve covered it in the past, but just a reminder that these “airstrips” are nothing more than a stretch of dirt with a very small building at one end. Baraka and God Bless met us as we stepped off of our plane with cool towels and took us to a couple of picnic tables to give us a rundown of what to expect. While we were enjoying or drinks and snacks they explained that we would drive through the park on our way to the camp. Tarangire is known for its elephants and we were not disappointed. Shortly after we left in our Land Rovers, we started seeing groups of 10-40 elephants in every direction. Just a quick comment on the Safari vehicles, we always had the smaller vehicles that hold 5 people, including the front passenger seat. So, for the entire trip, it was just the four of us, and we each always had a “window” seat. There aren’t really windows, but many other companies use vehicles with three rows of three, so there is a chance you could be in a middle seat which is not ideal on Safari.

Upon arriving at our first camp, Tarangire Treetops, we were welcomed by Steven and Dee, and of course, cool towels and drinks. I won’t say that each time. Just know that whenever you get anywhere; off of a plane, into a camp, back from a game drive, at sundowners, etc. (you get the idea) you are met with cool towels and drinks!! Our butler here was Nicholas and he was wonderful. Each of the rooms is an actual treehouse, yes, up in a tree. But that doesn’t prevent them from having electricity, full bathrooms with dual vanities, great showers, etc. Yes, you live in a tree, but this is a very well equipped tree. The wraparound balcony was a great place to sip our morning coffee while enjoying the beautiful views. We loved spending time here and enjoyed a traditional Boma dinner, walking safari, games drives, and watching the bats fly out of the huge Baobab tree that is actually in the middle of the lobby.

Another very short flight, under 25 minutes, and we were landing at Manyara Airstrip. Peter was waiting for us with a huge smile and would be our guide for the next two days. The airport is on the edge of town and we drove on paved roads for all but the final 2-3 miles to The Manor. I’ve never driven on paved roads, nor stayed in anything but a tent while on Safari. Much of the drive took us through the “little village” of Karatu….with a population of “only” 200,000 people! Pulling up to The Manor, you feel like you are out in the English Countryside, it is a beautiful building surrounded by gorgeous gardens. Drinks, snacks…sorry, forgot I wasn’t going to mention that. Yani warmly greeted us and introduced us to Shariff who would be our amazing butler for this part of the trip. The rooms at The Manor, no surprise, were huge and beautiful.

The next morning our trip to Ngorongoro Crater from The Manor took a little over an hour, again all on paved roads. Actually, this is just to the entrance gate. Once inside the park, the roads are dirt and it’s another hour to the floor of the crater. After checking in at the gate, we made the drive up to the rim. What an awe-inspiring sight! The crater was formed 2-3 million years ago when the volcano erupted and then collapsed on itself. The rim is around 7,900 feet high and the floor is at about 5,900 feet making the crater 2,000 feet deep. Looking down at this vast expanse of land, and knowing that it is populated with everything from lions to elephants, impalas to rhinos, and everything in between is amazing. FYI, there are no giraffes on the floor of the crater. Driving around the floor is a unique experience in that the animals are so used to the safari vehicles, that they don’t react to them at all. To be clear, none of the animals in any of the other national parks, conservation areas, reserves, etc., seem to be bothered by the presence of the vehicles, but they do tend to get out of the way of them. In the crater, they just lay across the road and don’t move. Another unique feature of this area is that due to the natural barriers, the walls of the crater, the animals are much more concentrated than in other parks and you can pretty much see something the entire time. In most other places, you drive for a while, find something, watch for a while, then drive again until you find something else. Upon returning to our room at the end of the day, we were surprised to find a bubble bath in the tub and rose petals floating on the bubbles. A tray of cookies within arm’s reach and soaking in the warm water was the perfect way to end the day. Of course every night includes cocktails around the fire pit or in the lounge followed by a gourmet dinner.

We spent the next morning relaxing and enjoying the beautiful grounds of the Manor. SkySafari includes a choice of activities here, ranging from horseback riding to a massage so this is a great place for a little downtime. After our relaxing breakfast, wandering the grounds, a little croquet, etc. It was time to pack up and get ready to move on to the Serengeti. I haven’t mentioned the bags yet, but you pretty much never touch them. You leave them in your tent (or room), they end up on the plane, then they are in your tent at the next camp. Our last meal at The Manor was lunch, and Shariff went above and beyond with this one. He set a beautiful table outside under a tree for a wonderful alfresco meal. It’s hard to explain how friendly and welcoming everyone we met was, but maybe this will provide a little insight. As he was saying goodbye to Carolyn, tears were shed.

On to the Serengeti. Another very short flight and we landed in the Serengeti. Some people actually do all of this via the dirt roads, and then fly back at the end. Evidently you can drive 6-8 hours a day, and for at least part of that time, those are game drives. People do this instead of taking the 25 minute flights, then just take one longer flight back to Arusha at the end. Personally, I like flying between camps, I think all of that time in the vehicle would get old pretty fast. The Serengeti airport, while still a dirt strip, is actually more of an airport that I have seen before. While all of the others have one small building (that’s generous) and no other people are ever there, this airport has a bigger building, and dozens of people waiting for flights. I think there were 5 or 6 other planes when we were there compared to the zero other planes I’ve ever seen at any of the other 10+ airstrips I’ve been to.

Our arrival in the Serengeti was probably the best couple of hours I have ever experienced on safari. Upon leaving the airstrip with Johnny, we first came upon a leopard dragging its recent kill up into a tree. This was quickly followed by her playful cub climbing up to join in the feast. We watched that for a while, then left to head to our camp for the night, but were “interrupted” by the most beautiful elephant family. Complete with babies of all ages, of course we had to stop and watch them for a while too. So, now it was getting late and we HAD to get to camp. But, wait, another 15 minutes down the road and we were in the middle of a pack of 7,000-8,000 migrating Wildebeests and Zebra. Johnny said he hadn’t seen any animals migrating yet, it was still early in the season, so we were very lucky. We spent another hour or so experiencing that incredible sight. Now it was getting dark and this time we did have to go straight to camp.

Arriving at Serengeti Pioneer Camp was breathtaking! This beautiful camp is set up on a small hill and has just 10 tents, a dining tent, and a lounge area. Justin (not ours, a different Justin) greeted us with the enthusiasm and genuine smile that told us we were in store for a great stay. At night the 24 employees (yes, 24 employees for 10 tents) put lanterns all around the common areas and…..wow….that’s all I can say….wow! This was our third camp, and third different type of accommodations. We had the treehouse, the manor, and now the traditional, but very luxurious, safari tent, complete with a full bathroom as expected. Amry was our butler here and could not have been nicer. I kind of like the idea of having one person responsible for us at each camp. They really get to know you, and you them, and that only adds to the warm feeling that the people of Africa are already known for. This is the one camp that does not have any outlets in the tents. They have a charging tent in the common area with plenty of plugs and adapters to provide for the 20 or so guests that the camp can accommodate. We knew in advance that there was not in-tent charging here, so I brought a backup battery that I charged during the day. This allowed us to look at pictures in the tent at night and then charge the cameras using the battery.

We extended the standard SkySafari itinerary by one day and spent that extra day at Pioneer Camp. If you have the time, I would strongly suggest you do the same. While no vacation is ever long enough, after our last Safari, we found ourselves wishing we had spent at least one more night at one of the camps. It may not be clear above, but the typical schedule is: land around noon, game drive to camp, spend one night, one full day of game drives, stay the second night, then game drive on the way to the airstrip and repeat at each place. Adding one more night is a wonderful way to have a second full day at one of the camps. While we had sundowners at the other camps, our extra day here meant we had the over-the-top surprise sundowners with Johnny and Amry that was set up just for us on the last night.

A few random thoughts to leave you with:

This is going to contradict my next point, but don’t spend all of your time taking pictures. Stop and smell the roses (or the animal poop) once in a while and just take in the beauty and grandeur that you are lucky enough to be experiencing.

You’re going to take a lot of photos, you never know which ones are going to be the "keepers". But...be sure to purge every night. Go through all of your pics, both on your phone and your camera, and delete all of the duplicates and less than perfect images. If you wait until you get home, it will be too big of a task to go through the thousands of pictures all at once.

Don't over pack. I know we always think we‘ve cut it down. But you REALLY only need three changes of clothes. They do laundry every day, you’re usually not back in time to change for dinner, and, if you have to wear something twice, it's no big deal.

If you're an early riser, request tents that view the sunrise. We're always up and there's nothing like a sunrise over the plains of Africa. You're usually / always out at sundowners or in the lounge for sunset, so you wouldn’t see that from your tent anyway.

​I am so fortunate that I am able to travel to so many amazing places, but I have to say that I could go back to Africa again and again. If going on Safari is even a fleeting thought of yours, you should definitely make it a reality, you won't be disappointed.

 Shoot an email to: doug@plazatravel.com if you have any questions or want more details about this, or any of my other trips!