We flew into the area aboard a small passenger plane. It turned out to be a bit of a rush due to HORRENDOUS traffic from the Hotel to the small airport. We were quite late but since there were only 6 passengers (4 of which were us) they waited for us. We also had a small delay at the airport because when they weighed all our hand luggage and duffles, we were 20 kilos over. I had to go upstairs and pay for the extra weight. Not too bad, and we paid one time for all our other intra Africa flights.
As our plane landed on the dirt runway, we were greeted by the most wonderful guide for the next two days, Seki. He greeted us warmly and proceeded to give us coffee and tea. We then did a brief drive around and were treated to views of Wildebeests, zebras, giraffes and Thompson Giselle's..
Our rooms are magnificent, as you will see in the photos below. We have just finished lunch (delicious home made everything !) and we'll be going on an afternoon game drive. After dinner, we are going on a night game drive. This is the only park where we can do a night game drive. We will get back to the room around midnight and we have been warned it will be quite cold! We will sleep in tomorrow morning. Tomorrow afternoon, Bill, Grant and I are going on a horseback safari. The animals let the horses get quite close....
There are only two other delightful couples staying here at he moment. Our hosts are Eliza and Robert who have been here for 7 months. They are on a 2 year contract. He is a chef, but met his wife in Australia when she was at the University. She was born and raised in Minnesota.. They are the perfect host and hostess. They did tell us the biggest danger they face is fires set by the Masai to burn off the grass in order to get better grass fields. They send any available staff to try and help tamp down the fire...They are an absolutely charming couple....this Lodge has an amazingly intimate "family" feel. The staff are all super friendly and so trying to accommodate your every need! No blog tonight since we get back after midnight...
Grant and Seki..
That is Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance. This is the first day in 2 months that they have seen it so clearly .
This is a whistling Acacia Tree. Look closely and you will see lots of ants on the berries. They are the tree protectors. When a giraffe comes for the fruit, they can only get one or two berries before the biting ants begin swarming . They keep the tree from being completely devastated be giraffes or other animals .
Wildebeests .
Zebra.
Our first giraffe sighting.
Our lodge lounge.
Clouds already building on Kilimanjaro .
Our deck outside our rooms.
Our bathroom .
There is an inside and outside shower. All the water is recycled down to a watering hole that the animals come to drink from. There is no other water in the area.
Entrance to our double rooms.
Our plunge pool.. Not sure I'll try since the water is pretty chilly.
PS Our evening game drive has been canceled due to a grass fire. As mentioned at lunch, fire is the biggest danger they face. This afternoon , all available men were out fighting a grass fire that came quite close to the Lodge. The smoke was pretty thick..Since all the guides have been out all day making fire breaks, our evening game drives have been canceled.
The Landscape is so different than South Africa.
ReplyDeleteMore like the Kalahari plains. Looking forward to the horseback riding blogs. Can't wait to hear the viewing report. Sorry about the extra charge on the carry on.
We had a big grass fire close to lodge. Now under . But they canceled evening game drives because all available men were out fighting the fire..
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