The first of two tantalizing lodges in Tanzania
KITELA LODGE, Karatu, Tanzania
For some ungodly reason, the morning after we finished climbing Kilimanjaro we agreed to a 6AM departure from Arusha and a long drive to the Ngorongoro crater to start our three day Safari. After a long and exciting day of seeing animals in their natural environment, we made one more stop at a roadside shop to investigate purchasing some of the colorful Masai art we had seen displayed.
We couldn’t have been more delighted to finally arrive at Kitela Lodge greeted with glasses of chilled champagne and fresh mango juice! We enjoyed our beverages overlooking the Ngorongoro Crater's Eastern wall and the property’s pictorial coffee plantation, organic garden, tantalizing pool, well manicured soccer "pitch", and immaculate grounds dripping with brightly colored flowers. After days in a tent and another one being jostled around on dusty roads, the Kitela Lodge with it's modern, clean amenities was a WELCOME oasis.
The rooms are luxurious with mosquito-netted beds, a sitting porch, a roomy dressing closet, a fireplace, and expansive bathroom complete with a free standing tub. We devoured a fresh four-course meal made mostly form the organic vegetables in Kitela's garden and then relaxed in front of one of the fire places in the hotel's cool and spacious bar area sipping free house wine. Love it when a property offers free wine, beer and sodas! Kitela's organic coffee, grown steps from where we would appreciate it the next morning, was one more perfect touch.
Rustic chic on the plains of the Serengeti coming up later this week!