Lake Manyara Serena

You've heard me say it before but it bears repeating - the Serena line of hotels were just beautiful!  They had unique locations, amazing designs and decor, and we were always welcomed with big smiles and excellent service.

Individual 'houses' had 4 suites each -

2 upstairs and 2 downstairs.  We were in the top left corner.

The central reception area was beautiful with a pond, beautiful plantings and lanterns.  

Each lodge had a central reception area with its own decor.  Being close to the lake, this one featured water and waves.

We ate out on the verandah.

One thing we did regret on our safari was that we had so little time to enjoy the beautiful pools.

This was our bedroom

and the room key!  Each lodge had a unique keychain - usually it was so big that you couldn't even get it into your pocket!  

Tomorrow we'll drive down through the banyan trees and into the park.

Speke Bay, Lake Victoria

Speke Bay is located in the south-eastern part of Lake Victoria in Tanzania, East Africa. It is 15 kilometres from the Serengeti National Park, and 125 kilometres north of Mwanza. Speke Bay is part of Speke Gulf, named after the famous explorer John Hanning Speke, who, in 1858, discovered Lake Victoria to be the source of the Nile. 

The second largest fresh water lake in the world, Lake Victoria dominates the area with its 70,000 km² surface.

The area is ideal for birdwatching as the lake attracts a variety of large water birds. The area is very pretty and as the lake virtually borders the western Serengeti.

You might find that lodges in the Masai Mara or Serengeti National Park offer day trips or fishing expeditions to Lake Victoria but it has never really featured on the Tanzanian or Kenyan tourism circuit. The Rubondo IslandNational Park - located in the southern portion of the lake - is the only major highlight of a visit to this area.

Despite its huge size, the murky lake is quite shallow - only 100 metres at its deepest. The giant lake borders three African countries - Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Travelling between these countries via the lake is, sadly, a luxury of the past.

The basin is home to the Luo people, who moved into the area from Sudan in the 15th century and are now Kenya's third largest ethnic group. Although Western Kenya does not attract many tourists and is blissfully free of safari minibuses, it is the most densely populated area in the country and the most productive.

(taken from Go2Africa.com)

Our stay here was in the Speke Bay Lodge, a little village-type spot.   Each couple had a small round thatch roofed hut, looking out onto the beach.

The lake is a haven for birds!

and is renowned for beautiful sunsets.

The next morning a huge assortment of fishing vessels were out on the lake

pulling in tilapia, the predominant catch in the lake fishing industry.

The grounds were so well kept and beautiful.

Ready to depart and spend another day on safari!

Our group with the lake in the background.

Next stop - Serengeti!

Masai Mara

I apologize for stepping away from this blog for a few days!  I think I just needed to take a break but I definitely want to continue with sharing our pictures and adventure.  This has become a journal / online scrapbook for me and I want to save the stories.

In the Masai Mara National Reserve, we stayed at another lovely Serena Hotel.  Each unit was designed to look like a Masai manyatta (mud home) and their location at the top of the ridge is spectacular.   You could look out over the valley for hours and early in the morning, hot air balloons could be seen floating down below.

Each unit had a balcony that looked out over the valley below.

The swimming pool, reception area and dining room was in the center.

The style of the room and the decorative elements here were very artistic.

We were so lucky to have beautiful rooms on our whole trip.

As part of his mountain hiking training, Bob got up early in the morning and walked around the hotel complexes several times.  As the sun was just up most mornings he got some great photos.

Just down the hill from our room were all kinds of animals, coming and going.  These giraffes, some warthogs, lions and Cape buffalo all visited a waterhole nearby on this day.   You can tell how steep the hill was here.

The hotels all had beautiful grounds and meandering paths that connected the areas.  These paths also made little fences which defined the areas where we could walk.  There were very strict rules about walking outside the compound and in some places we actually had to have an escort if we walked when it was dark.

We had spectacular game drives here so tomorrow we'll head out to spot some wildlife again!

Samburu Serena Lodge

Here's a little look at the Samburu Serena Lodge where we stayed during this part of the safari.  I've realized that I didn't take enough pictures here - imagine that!!  The dining room area was a large open pavilion with a buffet area, seating, a lounge where coffee was always ready and where 2 computers were available, the reception area, a gift shop and a bar.

Rooms were located in little cottages like this one surrounded by multi-colored bougainvillea -

or bigger ones like ours.  We had the top middle room and Clarence and Sandra were the first balcony on the top right.  Across the little fence on the left -

dry riverbed.  It's been many months since there was water here.  It was a beautiful spot and running water would make it just perfect!

Behind our cottage was a well, like the ones you might see in villages.  This one was dry - just like the river.

Sitting on the edge of the wall, sunning himself was a very long-tailed lizard.

Nearly every place we stayed had a pool and we were able to enjoy this one.  Most days we arrived too late and left too early to get in any swimming time.

I really like this project with which the lodge is involved:

The Samburu Eco Programme

The Lodge provides water to four villages in the immediate area as well as the local school. The lodge has also undertaken a tree-planting programme to replace some of the riverine woodlands destroyed by local elephant herds. So far some 900 acacia seedlings have been planted and a second phase is already planned.  (from the hotel website)

The water tap where local people could get water was at the back of the hotel so we never noticed them coming or going.

The Serena line of lodges and hotels were beautiful structures, with lovely grounds, great food, excellent service and amazing locations.  We highly recommend them!

Not Just Animals

I thought you might like to hear about a few other things, not just the animals we are seeing!  So here's a quick look at a few of our hotels, just before we head down to supper tonight.

This was where we stayed last night at the Serengeti Serena Lodge.  Each hut had 3 rooms - we were in the one on top and Clarence and Sandra were in the bottom left hand one.  Zebras were grazing right out our front window this morning.

 On the shores of Lake Victoria at Speke Bay, we each had one of these little huts.   I was standing on the beach to take this and the sound of the water was like a lullaby.

My favourite hotel was so far was the Masa Serena Lodge in the Masai Mara Game Reserve.  Each room is one of those little pieces and the balconies look out onto the plains.  Inside they were cool!!

Each lodge has one of these signs so we always know where we are!!

More later!