After a long but exciting drive we arrive at the gates of our accomodation at sunset. The guard seems surprised to see us, looks at our reservation extensively but then lets us in, first obstacle faced and passed. We then arrive at the check in tent and after some searching they find our reservation and we are processed, phew. We try to understand what level of inclusiveness we have and it seems we have the most expensive one with alcoholic drinks included, interesting. Finally it is time to get to our room via golf car which comes in quite handy during the next days as the tents are quite dispersed and ours is up on the hill.
The elevated tent is quite luxurious inside, it looks more like a luxury hotel than a tent. We even have a clawfoot bathtub with views over the savanna, a writing desk and other pieces of furniture that are not that common in the middle of the savanna.
The bed sits in the middle of the tent and it is a huge one, king sized and quite inviting after a tiring day. But still we have dinner immediately so it is better to unpack and enjoy the room and views and rest only afterwards.
The elevated tent we received is actually one of the better ones if not the best. It is more remote and isolated so we have privacy and some great views over the savanna during these days.
But first we have to eat dinner. This time as we exit we get an escort only and not a cart, we are not supposed to walk alone at night so they are always waiting close by when they know we have to leave. Even so we have time to do some birding on the way with our first view of Speckled Pigeons in Tanzania and our first view ever of the beautiful and colorful D’Arnaud Barbet.
We are left in front of the dinner tent so we explore the area at the entrance a bit including talking a bit with the check in guy. And then it is time to sit down and see what we have for dinner.
We take full advantage of our premium inclusive package by taste tasting the local beer, Serengeti Lager, and some cocktails while enjoying the home made bread rolls.
And then we get the menu and it is a 5 course menu, can we even eat this much? We order from it and as we receive the salad we calm down, there are five courses but they are smaller than usual so we have a chance, maybe.
The food is actually quite good and we enjoy all of the courses including the great dessert. However now we are quite full and decide to retreat to the tent to rest.
But there is no rest for the wicked as we hear an owl close by and after looking for it we finally find it, it is a beautiful African Scops-Owl just hooting away. And then finally we can go to sleep, we have a great, relaxing sleep here.
We wake up early to the sounds of birds and decide to go outside and watch the sunrise. It is a beautiful sunrise as our patio looks directly east, and we have an uninterrupted view over the savanna to see it
The birds are singing, the sun is raising over the horizon and all seems well with the world in this hour that we sit outside and just enjoy it all.
Birdwise there are quite a few birds but nothing that we haven’t seen yet. However there are more of them, more Ashy Starlings, more doves, more of everything really.
It is now time to leave for breakfast and given that it is full daylight we do not expect to have an escort. But an escort we do have as it materializes out of thin air and then takes us to the restaurant tent stopping on the way to look at dassies, squirrels and doves along the way.
Breakfast is fewer courses, but still quite impressive when laid out. There is coffee and tea of course and then all the various items we ordered.
The bread basket, made fresh, is quite impressive with the eggs benedict and the crepes we ordered being great and tasty also.
Now it is back to our room to prepare for our morning outing. This time we do not have an escort and pass next to the more permanent construction that will be the check in and restaurant when done. We do that while being carefully followed by the resident nesting Northern Red-billed Hornbill, a beautiful bird.
Soon we are packed and it is time to return to the car so we can leave for the day. We have decided to return for lunch, so we can use our all-inclusive ticket to its full potential. This is possible as we do not want to go far, just to explore the area towards Silale Swamp.
With no escort we enjoy the walk and can finally take a photo of the local squirrels. They are plentiful but can be quite squittish.
The Agamas, local lizards, are quite colorful and fun to watch also and we enjoy photographing them and the sparrow like speckle-fronted weavers. And then we are back at the car, we prepare it including raising the top for the first time and are on our way to a fun exploration of the Silale area.
Returning for lunch we are the only people except one more couple that sits outside. So we can explore the restaurant tent more extensively looking at the interesting decorations, some that seem to be made of real feathers, brrrr.
Lunch is similar to dinner but with fewer courses. It is also quite good, the food quality is excellent here.
Before our afternoon drive we enjoy some birding from our room including some special to us birds like our first Pearl-spotted Owlet. Which does a few flybys of our tent, neat!
We also see our first Black-headed Oriole and a pair of Red-headed Weavers that are mobbing the owlet, great to see these interactions in the wild. And then it is getting late in the day so out we go for one more exploration of the area around the lodge.
Returning we eat dinner trying to order something different than the previous day and being certain that no matter what we order it will be delicious.
Waking up we are sad that this will be our last morning at Kuro Treetops Lodge, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay here and it will be the standard to which we will compare all future accomodations in Tanzania. As the morning prior we enjoy the beautiful sunrise from the terrace before finishing packing.
Similarly as the day before a guard materializes from the trees when we exit our room and escorts us to the dining tent while we do our best to go slower to examine the wildlife on the way.
Here we have the opportunity to see, for the second time now, the beautiful and rare endemic Yellow-collared Lovebird. Quite a great sendoff really.
At breakfast we order similarly to the previous day and then we with the help of a golf cart carry all our luggage to the car and it is time to return back to reality passing again through the length of Tarangire.
