Tarangire Sopa Loge

After enjoying a long leisurely game drive between herds of wild animals and along miles of Africa's seemingly endless roads, you come over a slight rise and the lodge appears almost immediately below you. Built to blend in with the vastness of its surroundings, Tarangire Sopa Lodge lies hidden among the kopjes, ancient baobab and grasses of the Tarangire National Park; home to the greatest concentration of elephants in Africa. Many can be seen around the lodge, allowing visitors a close encounter.

While our circular guest suites with their high, conical roofs fan out to either side of the public areas, it is worth mentioning a word of caution here. Because the lodge is not fenced in any way, wild animals are at liberty to come and go as they please and transits to your room and back might be, but rarely, delayed by an elephant or two. This is the only reason our guards will insist on taking you to and fro at night.

Once inside the coolness of your room, you will be delighted at its space and airiness, and also the views from its sheltered veranda. With its mini-bar, two double beds and an extremely spacious, well-appointed bathroom, you can only wish that you were staying an extra night.

On the other side of the reception lobby is our coffee shop where you can enjoy one of a wide range of Tanzanian highland brews together with one of our freshly baked pastries, while adjacent to this area a flight of steps takes you down into the dining room for a leisurely meal beneath an intricately painted mural painted onto a high gable at one end of the room. However, if you relish the great outdoors, the restaurant has a terrace running along one side of its entire length so you can enjoy your breakfast with a view over the park's tree-studded, grassy plains. Weather permitting, lunch is always served at the lodge's lowest level and beside the swimming pool with its central island and bar beside a dry river bed which fills up during the rainy seasons. As for dinner, the dining room has an enormous outdoor patio where we serve dinner every other night, and this experience beneath Africa's star filled sky is quite simply one you will never forget.

Built on different levels, the main public area building offers an extremely cool respite from the outdoor heat as soon as you step into the reception. With a perfumed towel and a chilled welcome drink in hand, you suddenly become aware of the sheer size of the lobby with its glistening marble floors, colourful hand-woven carpets, and an incredibly high roof. From here a short flight of steps takes you up a level and into the lounge and bar with floor to ceiling windows, an outdoor terrace where you can enjoy an evening sundowner and, later perhaps, a game of pool in the area behind the bar.