Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge (written Oct. 22)

How much can one expect of lodging? Should one just expect high prices, indifferent service, uneven food service and sloppy maintenance (or none at all)? Our experience so far in Africa has been all of the above . . . with 2 notable exceptions: Sabana Beach Lodge on Lake Langano in Ethiopia and now Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge near Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. (http://www.rhotiavalley.nl/html/tented_lodge.html)

This was our safari tour’s second choice and after hearing that the first choice had a pool and this one didn’t, we were worried (for our girls’ sakes). So what about this ‘tented lodge’ that was off the beaten track through poor villages, up a mountainside? But I told myself wait, hold your judgment. It certainly looked nice enough but what was it like up close?


When the owner met us shortly after we stepped out of the vehicle I felt good. A Dutch woman who has decided not only to build the lodge but tie it in with a children’s home which will assist underprivileged children in the area. It’s brand new, opened this summer of 2008, and is a series of tented lodges overlooking the valleys and hills.


The owner has made the lodge and quarters just right. The attention to detail is amazing. Little things like a garden that you walk past on the way to your lodge, with the fresh produce on your table that night for dinner. Or the price of drinks being reasonable. Or the bottled water at the dinner table, gratis. Or having the system set up well to let people know when the hot water is on, when the electricity from the generator comes on and goes off. Or the layout of the tented rooms. Or choosing to bill one by exactly how much time one used instead of an exorbitant flat fee. Or coming back from dinner to find the tent flaps zipped up (keeping the room warmer, nights are cool at 1,700 meters) and hot water bottles in our beds.

But it was the hospitality of the owner who really set this place apart in my mind. She was interested in who we are and we wanted to know more about her project. I’m sure if we weren’t in a talking mood she would have stayed away but it was such a refreshing change of pace for us. So tonight we sleep in rustic luxury . . .