Day 12, The Electrical Blackout Moves Us To The Mansion!
March 22, 2009, Sunday
It rained with so much lightning during the night. We were awakened at 5:15 am with electricity off and the smoke alarm screaming. It was enough to wake the dead! Steve called reception to turn the madness off. We sat in the mind wrenching loudness for an hour. At one time a young girl brought down three kerosene belching camp lanterns and set them down in the living room. Steve and I quickly set them outside. The three of us sat in the darkness until the sun finally came up. We dressed for the morning game drive. Men finally came and turned off that awful smoke alarm! By the time we were ready to leave the house Susan, the camp manager, called to say we were being moved to the four bedroom mansion! We quickly packed up everything for the move.
We eventually got on the road. We checked out the dead elephant carcass, but there was nothing left but bones. We saw one lone female cheetah, watching her for a short time. There was strange quietness on the Seregenti. Maybe the animals knew of the elephant’s death and decided to go away. We had our morning break and headed back to the lodge for breakfast. More eggs. I was really getting sick of eggs every day.
We went to our new home! It was huge! It was the owners’ home, so well appointed in antique furniture, silver, trunks, and cut glass. The master bedroom had a enormous fireplace, canopy king bed, and gorgeous dressing room/bath! I could never imagine a place like this could exist in the middle of the Serengeti, Tanzania! We explored the home and went to lunch. The home was far from the main lodge on the most prominent point of the ridge, so we had to call for the golf cart to come and get us. Since we had only a short time to experience this good fortune with a huge pool, I asked Steve if he minded skipping the evening drive for just sundowners at Faru Faru. Done Deal!!
We rested that afternoon on the back terrace overlooking the pool and Serengeti. This was such a luxury safari experience. All I needed was a cheetah licking my toes! We napped in the cool breezes dreaming of Africa.
After all the reverie, we showered and prepared for our trip to Faru Faru. We really like the manager, Steve. What a wonderful lodge this is. We got home before the hugest storm I have ever seen! The lodge had set up the BBQ outdoors in the lunch patio area. The wind ripped through the tarps set up to protect the areas, sending tables and chairs spinning. The cooks caught carts and food before they were flung over the edge of the ridge. The storm raged as guests cringed from the lightning strikes and horizontal rain. The lodge was almost full, as Soboro was closed due to the remodeling. Steve and I found colonial elegance in the formal dining. All in all, it was a great experience! On our return to the mansion, we were greeted with champagne and a tub of hot water with floating rose petals. Oh, dear God, please don’t let this end! We had a big day, and collapsed in bed.
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Tags: Africa, African storms, cameras, Faru Faru, luxury safari, safari, Sasakwa Lodge, Serengeti, Soboro, Tanzania