Category Archives: Travel

Today’s travel Tuesday post is perfect for those still honeymoon planning or just plain wanderlusting. A dear friend of mine just returned from Tanzania, and was so blown away by this once in a lifetime trip that I just had to share with all of you. Their trip included a safari of the famous Tanzanian Northern Circuit, where the Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara, the Ngorongoro Crate are all located, and the most spectacular northwestern portion of the Serengeti.

The highlight of the trip was the Singita Grumeti, voted the best hotel in the world three times since 2011, twice by Travel and Leisure and once by Conde Nast. This past July it was voted the 10th best hotel in the world and number one hotel in Africa. The stay started at the Faru Faru Lodge, which is tucked away on the edge of the Grumeti River, and has nine stone lodges with huge glass doors that open up to the river.

The Singita Grumeti is an exclusive 350,000 acre wildlife concession situated in the Western Corridor, adjacent to the Serengeti National Park.  Although it won best hotel in the world, it actually consists of a group of 5 intimate camps and/or lodges situated on various locations throughout the Reserve. Due to the exclusivity of the Singita Grumeti you are secluded from the large crowds of the mainly public national parks, which provides a 5 star personal wildlife experience in any of these lodges/camps. Also, of most importance to me was the food, which was exceptionally scrumptious.

The top three memories for my friend included- watching a giraffe come down a hill with those long legs, seeing a baby cheetah trying to climb a tree, and finding a leopard with its kill in a tree.

Their trip also included nights at the Sabora Tented Camp, which  is a tented luxury tent modeled after the 1920’s style explorer’s camp in the middle of wildlife plains of the Serengeti. The nine tented camps are lavishly furnished with antiques and Zanzibari treasures.  This camp also has a clay tennis court.

A visit to one of the islands nearby (Seychelles or Zanzibar) is a popular end to the trip for honeymooners.

The stay in Singita Grumeti was so amazing due to the fact that they were guided on safari by their nephew-in law, Ryan Schmitt.  Ryan is a South African citizen with over twenty years of experience as a safari guide and vast knowledge of the safari  industry.  Ryan provided an exceptional wildlife experience- from amazing encounters with herds of elephants, a cheetah chase and kill, and topping it off with a rifle led walk on the river where they were able to view lions mating and living on the river.  Ryan can be located through GuideM@grumeti.singita.com. Ryan is available to travel with folks from the US and be the private guide for the entire trip, or help with booking on other safari trips whether in eastern or southern Africa. He has that wonderful english accent and very enjoyable to listen to all day.  He is super knowledgable not only on the location but on the identification of all animals, birds, reptiles, and insects.