Tree Tops Tarangire Lodge

August 20-22

Each room is built on stilts around a Baobab tree, providing a tree-house feel and a great view.
Tree Tops was one of the most interesting of the lodges we stayed at. It has only been open for a few months, but everything was run very smoothly. I really liked the rooms, but some of the others in our group were a little nervous about the isolation of each room. Since each room is built on its own Baobab tree, which are at least 50 yards apart, the rooms are fairly spread out.
Each room had a wonderful king size bed (or two doubles) which was the most comfortable of any of the lodges we stayed at. The rooms were very airy since all the walls could be zipped up. Mosquito netting was provided for the bed, although I didn't notice any bugs.

Off the bedroom was a small balcony with cushions on the floor for sitting. The bathroom had an open shower, toilet, and small sink. There was plenty of hot water provided by a boiler under each unit.
The rooms had electricity to run a few small lights, but it was turned off around midnight. Flashlights were provided by the bed.

After dinner in the evening, one of the staff walked us to our rooms to make sure there were no wild animals (see my journal discussion about the elephants). In the morning, one of the staff brought us tea and coffee to our rooms at the designated time. 
Tree Tops has a lovely bar that is well stocked including some excellent South American wines. There were also several games and books to relax with after game viewing and before dinner was served.

The staff was very attentive, keeping our drinks full and providing us with snacks.
The dining room was right next to the bar area and was also very pleasant. Both are open and airy, and there were no bugs (other than the occasional house fly) to bother us.

We were offered a few choices for dinner which were well prepared. Breakfast choices included the typical fruit, cereals, bread, eggs, and bacon.
The biggest downside to Tree Tops was the long entrance road. Even though the lodge's location borders Tarangire park, it takes over 90 minutes to get there after leaving the park, most of this time on bumpy, dusty dirt roads. The lodge manager has been working with the local Masai community and the park service to shorten this drive by rerouting the road and eventually hopes to have a direct road into the park, which would make this quite a lovely place to stay.