TRAVEL
Manor main house
DAY THREE
Waking up with the sunrise, only to zip open the ‘windows’ to expose your private enormous deck from which to gaze into the mystical landscape, is something words fail to convey. My eyes nearly popped out with the awe-inspiring beauty of orange hues lifting above the authentic African landscape. Nicholas, our attentive butler led us to breakfast, where I opted for traditional Tanzanian; arrow root, cassava and yam and readied myself for more safari. Today was a bush lunch, almost ludicrously luxurious but very welcoming, we were tended to as though transported to a Michelin starred restaurant with table cloths, napkins, chilled wine and exceptional food, all secondary to the views of endless landscape dotted with silhouettes of elephants shading themselves under Acacia trees. To my amusement, even the portable loo had a porcelain seat and wooden toilet roll holder. Back to Tarangire Treetops for a dip in the infinity pool overlooking the animal watering hole, we were joined by an inquisitive monkey watching our every move. Post-swim, snack of colossal cashew nuts and a glass of homemade baobab juice, before Stanford whisked us off to visit a Masai village. The raw realness of learning their way of life, from elephant dung as fire fuel, sandpaper tree leaves to file their nails and wild basil, as ointment to stave off mosquitos, was both refreshing and fascinating. Game walk followed by a G&T at sunrise, elephants digging for water behind us, our last ‘job’ of the day
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Manor bathroom
was a night game drive. I spotted bewildering bush babies whose eyes glistened green with the camera flash, as bijou bats danced in the sky to the calls of nightjar birds. DAY FOUR
Leaving Tarangire Treetops a game drive passing journeys of giraffes (walking), haughty hyenas hiding in the bushes, lazy lions under the trees, I tried to capture it all on camera. A pit stop for a delectable picnic in style added
to the excitement. Cleverly placed halfway through the fast paced safari was the sanctuary of The Manor in Ngorrongoro. We were welcomed by our butler John with homemade lemonade and a charcuterie platter with cheese. The star cheese being Shargrila Camembert a Manor specialty created after training from a Belgium cheese maker. All bread and cakes are made on site too, using wheat grown on the vast property. The day was ours to relax, and what better way than with an indulgent
Fifth Chukker Magazine | Vol 2 Issue 12