Treetops Lodge, Kenya
Posted by Jill Bowen on Fri 27th April 2007 at 01:07 PM, Filed in Africa
The word Treetops to anyone fortunate enough preparing to visit Kenya will evoke magical pictures in the mind. It conjures up the image of a strange wooden structure, where, if you’re privileged, you will be woken up in the middle of the night to see animals at the water hole. But, however good your imagination, nothing can prepare you for the reality of the experience.
My stay at Treetops came after a two-day safari at Samburu and before a three-day stay in the Masai Mara.
The itinerary stipulated our main suitcases should be left at the Outspan Hotel, and a small rucksack for the stay at Treetops was the entire luggage allowed for the overnight visit.
The Outspan Hotel is worth mentioning; the word colonial comes to mind, beautifully manicured grounds reminiscent of garden in England. The buffet lunch provided by the hotel is English in the extreme, with bread and butter pudding, trifle and rice pudding on the menu. One reason for it’s colonial ambiance is that Baden Powell lived here for part of his life. There is even a small museum dedicated to the scouting movement which is worth a look.
After lunch we were transported to Treetops by bus, entering the Aberdare National Park en route. A ‘Hunter’, carrying a rifle met us at the entrance to Treetops (to remind us that wild animals roamed the area!), and escorted us by foot up the slight incline. The views of the surroundings are wonderful. Then Treetops came into sight - an oddly shaped, almost ramshackle building, its wooden structure of four floors and the viewing platform rising out of stilts, now a silver grey colour, aged by years of the extremes in the climate. Incredibly atmospheric and awe inspiring.
On arrival you deposit your backpack in very small bedrooms (50 in total), go up to the roof area if it is dry, or one of the lounges it wet, where afternoon tea is waiting. A very well laid out selection of small sandwiches and cakes await you, find a seat and soak up the ambience. The peace and quiet is wonderful, totally relaxing as you sit and watch out for wildlife meandering the surrounding area. Feeders are set out for the birds in the tea area – these often attract ‘olive baboons’ – don’t be tempted to feed them as they are quite vicious! During the afternoon you may only see antelope and monkeys – night time is when the larger beasts come to the waterhole. However, sometimes you will be lucky to see buffalo and elephants walking in and out of the wooded area.
There are no en-suite facilities at Treetops, just communal, separate sex wash/showers rooms with queues waiting…. it seems to add to the experience and fosters a certain camaraderie!
Dinner is served in the large dining room, set out with a very long table and bench seats. There is a narrow ‘gully’ the length of the table and food is placed on one end and slid down the gully – you just help your self as food slides by. A colonial style sushi bar!
Tea and coffee is taken in one of the many lounges, all with panoramic windows providing magnificent views. As daylight fades the floodlights come on, allowing visitors to see the wildlife…. The bright light obscuring us from the animals. Do go up to the roof area…but there is a strict ‘no talking’ rule, as the slightest noise deters the animals. Be warned, the lights attract a myriad of flying insects; so do protect your self with repellent.
And so to bed, sleep in your clothes…or at least your underwear, you want to be up and out as quickly as possible if there is anything interesting to see. Buzzers sound in the bedrooms (you can turn them off, but why? This is what you came for), the sound of shuffling feet going along the corridor out side your room will spur you into action. Either go up to the roof area or (if you don’t like the insects) to one of the lounges with the panoramic windows. When I visited I saw a mother and baby rhino, the mother getting very aggressive when some buffalo arrived. You never know what you might see: lion, elephants, leopard – it’s luck of the draw!
On returning to my room, having had very little sleep, I actually set my alarm clock to wake me before dawn. It was worth the lack off ‘shut-eye’, to watch the magnificent sunrise over the hills, and to see a seemingly never-ending, single file of buffalo make their way down the hillside to the waterhole. It was a magical memory that will always be with me. With Mount Kenya in the background a fantastic experience.
In the morning you are served with coffee and tea before the ride back to the Outspan for breakfast and to collect you luggage.
Do, if you get the opportunity whilst in Kenya, visit this amazing place. It’s history is intriguing, the visitors to the original Treetops in 1932 had to climb a fig tree supporting the two-room construction. It was also here (then a four roomed building) in 1952 that the then Princess Elizabeth heard that her father had sadly died and she had become Queen of England.
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