Tarangire Sopa Lodge

Built to blend in with the vastness of its surroundings, Tarangire Sopa Lodge in northern Tanzania lies among the rock kopjes, ancient baobab trees and grassy savannah of the Tarangire National Park — home to the greatest concentration of elephants in Africa. Many can be seen around the lodge, allowing visitors a close encounter.

Furnished with modern African décor, the 75 rooms and suites huddle beneath traditional conical roofs around a “big house” with a spacious dining room, lounge bar, coffee shop, gift shop, open-air terrace, and swimming pool area built around the site’s natural rock.

In addition to dusk and dawn game drives, Tarangire Sopa Lodge offers fascinating after-dark safari drives, nature walks, fully catered bush meals, and hot-air ballooning.

The best-kept secret of Tanzania’s northern safari circuit, Tarangire National Park is like a smaller version of the Serengeti with its own great migration. In addition to copious elephants, the park’s permanent water sources attract tens of thousands of wildebeest, zebra and antelope, especially during the June-to-November dry season. Inevitably, the migration is closely followed by lions, leopards, hyenas and other predators.