Travelogue Tanzania 2009
Accommodation

Arusha – Impala Hotel

http://www.impalahotel.com/

Nothing special but tidy and totally okay for the first night. Our lunch there on the last day was pretty basic.

Tarangire River Camp

What a great way to start a safari! Everything is made from wood, the guest sleep in comfortable tents standing on wooden platforms. Everybody is very friendly, the food is tasty and in the evening a fire is lit. “Without fire, it’s not a camp.” sais the boss. The view is magnificent and there are lots of birds around.

Tarangire River Camp - the lobby and restaurant — the lobby

Tarangire River Camp - view from breakfast on the savannah — view from the restaurant

When it’s dark the guest are asked not to walk alone on the paths between the main building and the tents because sometimes the camp is visited by elephants, hyena or even lions. To avoid any possible danger the guest are accompanied by Masai carrying spears. At the beds there are whistles that can be blown if there should be a problem. I assume: If a guest whistles the employees will stay away from his tent as there might be a lion 😉

If we should return to this area we would definitely spend more time there.

Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge

http://www.sopalodges.com/ngorongoro/home.html

A good hotel with excellent view of the crater. The food and the service were very good, the rooms spacious and the pool is decadent.

Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge - our room — our room

Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge - pool with view over the crater — pool with view over the crater

Serengeti Sopa Lodge

http://www.sopalodges.com/serengeti/home.html

Another good hotel. Another good hotel. The service was much less professional as at Ngorongoro but everybody was very friendly and their attempts to offer perfect service were funny and charming.

Serengeti Sopa Lodge - pool with view over Serengeti — pool with view over Serengeti

Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge

http://www.serenahotels.com/serenalakemanyara/default-en.html

We liked this place significantly less than the others. We had the feeling the employees considered us more as a nuisance than guest. The food is much worse than in the other hotels. The rooms were okay but it felt less homey than elsewhere.

One thing not under the responsibility of the hotel owners but still unpleasant is the sulfuric smell coming from Lake Manyary if the wind blows from there.

Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge - our room — room okay

Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge - view from our room over Lake Manyara — great view over Lake Manyara

Zanzibar – Stone Town – Tembo Hotel

We had a really tiny room that was full of wonderful old things. The whole hotel had a great colonial atmosphere and the view from the terrace over the sea and the ships was fantastic.

Zanzibar - Stone Town - an unusual, old-fashioned tiled shower in the Tembo Hotel — our shower

Zanzibar – Langi Langi Beach

http://www.langilangizanzibar.com/

A small hotel run by a local rastaman. Our room was none of the offered honey moon suites, more basic than what we had before but okay. The old man at reception was pretty grumpy, but the owner was very kind and helping. Calamari fishing was great, see travelogue.

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Travelogue Tanzania 2009Accommodation