The Allure of Tanzania Safari

We only stayed in the Arusha Serena Hotel one night before we moved on to begin our Tanzania safari with Serena Hotels. Happy Ngaile was my contact with the hotel to coordinate the Tanzania 7 day safari. She is based in Arusha and stopped by to say hi at Dinner. She was very easy to work with and we loved the whole trip! The Arusha Serena is on a beautiful property, worth spending some time exploring more than we did. Our guide and driver for our entire trip also is based in Arusha, Olais. He was a fantastic!. He has been doing safari drives for a long time, and was never stumped with a question. He also likes to take photos, so he had a great eye for perfect pictures along the way.

This is a beautiful old coffee plantation estate turned into a hotel. The main building is the bar, reception, restaurant. The rooms are beautiful 'hut' dispersed around the property. We got there at midnight after traveling from Amsterdam and were surprised by a delicious hot meal! Our waiter, Zainab, cheerfully welcomed us to Arusha and Tanzania (karibu - welcome). All the meals were excellent, good selections of wine, all staff friendly and helpful. Grounds were beautiful with monkeys running around. One of the gardeners took us around to see their kitchen garden and 5 different kinds of bananas! Rooms beautifully appointed with mosquito netting, lots of hot water, beautiful view of the grounds. Wonderful place to recuperate from many plane rides.

Small enclaves of hotel rooms with a lovely dining area on a manicured campus, and portions of the grounds tier down to a small valley. Green everywhere. Nice, comfortable front area for relaxation with a libation. Substantial rooms on cement floors and the beds were comfortable and roomy. Attentive staff, respectful and efficient. Food was first cabin. We were guided by a young man who introduced us to an Arusha market, a scene that demands a local with experience. His name is Bill Patrick, now our new pen-pal.