Tanzania Wildlife Safari and Chimpanzee Trekking Dispatch

January 1, 2017 – So Many Muddy Butts!

Dispatch by Nancy Souza

We have seen and done so much that we can't believe it is only day 2 of our safari adventure. We signed off on day one of this life changing journey by marking New Year's Eve in this remote and enchanting Treetops Lodge with a cocktail hour followed by a delicious dinner and traditional Maasai dancing around a bonfire with singing and chanting.

When the clock struck 12 midnight we were treated to a raucous celebration of dancing by the Treetop visitors and Massai staff where we stomped and howled and welcomed the New Year in tribal fashion! It was a fitting ending to 2016 and the most incredible start to the New Year!

Day 2 started with a wake up "call" at 7 am by the lowering of our stairway bridge to our Treetop homes. We all met up on the gravel paths leading to the main lodge and were welcomed by our "butler", Justin, and treated to an amazing breakfast of omelettes and crepes and New Year's champagne!!!

We embarked on our second day of safari in the Tarangire National Park and were greeted by a herd of zebra as we were pulling out of the driveway of Treetops. It was a positive indicator of the day that was about to unfold with a surreal abundance of incredible animals that included magnificent African birds: Orange Belly Parrots, Secretary Birds, Superb Starlings, Yellow Weavers, White Storks, Ground Hornbills, White Backed Vulture, Red Bearded Hornbill, White Crown Lapwing, the Tawny eagle and a family of Ostrich!!!

We were also awed by these beautiful creatures, a number of which we caught playing in the mud to stay cool and resulting in SO MANY muddy butts!!!! Vervets, Dik-diks, (a moving) Ant colony, Elands, Banded mongoose, Lions (and cubs), Elephants, Zebras, Leopard, tortoise, Warthogs (and lots of piglets), Verreaux owls and Maasai giraffes!

We had lunch around 1 pm in the gorgeous Esille area against the most picturesque backdrop ("out of a movie" gorgeous!!!!) that featured mountains and marshes and the Baobab, Acacia and Candelabra trees!

We arrived back to the serenity of our Treetops Camp at 5:30, napped and finished our amazing day with an outdoor, lantern-lit dinner around a blazing bonfire! Sleep will be especially welcomed tonight as we prepare to say goodbye to this dreamlike "up in the air" lodge that has given us such memories that we will return to over and over in our mind's eye for years to come!

Stay tuned for the drive to Ngorongoro Crater Conservation area and the next adventure at the Neptune Ngorongoro Lodge! Hakuna matata and lala salama!