A fabulous way to start a Safari in Tanzania ....
I have just returned from Africa from a two week stay, including a 6-day Safari in Northern Tanzania. Although I enjoyed many incredible sights on Safari, the highlight of our stay was the night we spent at Gibbs Farm, a lovely lodge and cultural community located amidst the rich coffee plantations and farmlands of Northern Tanzania.
We arrived in mid-afternoon, just in time to drop our bags and head off with our guides on an "Elephant Walk" at a small, secluded state park that abutts Gibbs Farm. This is a very walkable trail that elephants use at night, and we used to stretch our truck-weary legs and see some local countryside, including a dramatic waterfall and elephant caves that were occupied by a frisky family of baboons that day.
Upon returning to our lodgings, which were very attractively decorated (and came with an excellent bathroom!), we met a dozen or so other visitors at the main lodge for a treck into the lower woods to the Masai Village, where we had been invited to dine as guests of the Masai tribespeople who live and work the land at Gibbs Farm.
As we entered the gathering, I was handed a plate filled with tasty finger-sized bones of a stringy, yet delectible meat which was being sliced from a carcass grilled on a spit over an open fire. My wife, who feigns vegetarianism at moments like these, enjoyed corn on the cob also cooked in the open flames. We accompanied the appetizers with some great-tasting South African wines, while speaking with Gibb's educated staff with whom we mingled during the social hour including their head chef who had recently arrived from India, operations manager, and artist-in-residence -- all under the watchful eyes of the Masai warriors and water buffalo who were gazing at us from under the trees.
As dusk came we settled into a candlelit sit down dinner including a delicious rice curry, an amazing eggplant stew, fresh vegies, and chicken and sliced beef. And I had been worried when I booked the Safari about what I would find to eat in the wild!
After a sound nights sleep, aided by a roaring fire in our room's fireplace, we enjoyed a full course breakfast of fresh eggs, coconut pancakes (made to order at my request), and delightful pastries. Did I mention the coffee yet? Grown and roasted on premise, (besides growing their own coffee and vegetables, they also build their own furniture), it was utterly fantastic and well worth the weight of adding a kilo or two to your bags.
Before leaving Gibbs for our much anticipated visit to Ngorogoro Crater a half hour away, we took a tour of the artist -in-resident's studio and walked the lovely grounds which overlook one of the most picturesque views in all of Africa. During our brief stay, we were made to feel very welcome by the entire staff who went out of their way to accomodate our every request. My only regret was that we didn't stay another night at Gibbs Farm, as it was far and away the best accomodations we experienced on our entire Safari.
