Tanzania:
The Camp Elephant
M
Richard B. Earls
y teenage son and I arrived at the Tarangire Treetops Safari Camp in the late afternoon. A day of safari through the Tarangire National Park had put us face-to-face with lions, elephants, baboons and a number of gazellelike creatures of varying types. It had been a terrific first day of exploring Tanzania’s Northern Circuit, and we were eager to see firsthand the camp we had heard so much about. As the Range 6 || TERRA TRAVELERS
Rover stopped, several Maasai tribesmen approached our vehicle. Without a word, they removed our bags and walked toward the camp. Hoping they were employees, I followed. In the reception area, a large open platform with a thatch roof, I signed the registration and one of the more interesting waivers I have ever seen at a lodge property: “Guest acknowledges that the possibility exists of encounters with poisonous snakes, scorpions, elephants, lions and other wild animals and hereby releases and holds harmless…” Tarangire Treetops is a tented camp, but with a difference. The tents are sturdy, permanent structures built alongside the many baobab trees on the property. Wooden steps lead from the ground to the entrance of each tent. On the interior, a large bed, an open shower and panoramic views of the countryside make the tent about
as welcome an accommodation as I have ever experienced. We had gone to the Tarangire to see lions and elephants up close, without the crowds of the Ngorongoro Crater. The Tarangire is one of Tanzania’s best-kept secrets, often overlooked as safari-seeking tourists rush to the Serengeti from Arusha. We had been told for up-close encounters with elephants, Tarangire could not be matched. The sun had set by the time we finished a dinner of beef and rice at the camp kitchen. One of the staff indicated a Maasai would escort us along the dark quarter-mile trek from the kitchen to our tent. From the edge of the shadows, a young Maasai dressed in a red blanket and sporting a rather large knife beckoned for us to follow. He directed us to our tree tent and as he left us, he used sign language and the words “no leave” in English to indicate that we should remain in the tent until
