A monkey at Lake Manyara.

Tanzania’s wild landscapes offer a wonderful window on to the magnificence of Africa’s animal kingdom. Luxury safari specialist &Beyond’s superb synergy of opulence and animal adventure is a winning combination, as Emma Knights and 
Oli Franzen discovered.

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As a new day dawned in the wilds of Tanzania two cheetah brothers began their hunt for prey. Silently they slunk through the grasses towards an unsuspecting herd of wildebeest – but as they prepared to make their kill two greedy hyenas foiled their plans.

Eager to steal the cheetahs’ meal, the hyenas jumped in to grab and run, but it was all too soon – the cheetahs had yet to kill but the startled wildebeest were already running to safety.

No one was to eat that morning.

It was a lucky day for the wildebeest, a hungry morning for the cheetahs and hyenas, and a fascinating start to our time in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater.

Born of a mountain that may have been even higher than Mount Kilimanjaro, the Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest complete volcanic caldera.

It is about 100 square miles (260 square kilometres), thought to be home to about 30,000 animals, and, from the moment we first saw this vast natural amphitheatre stretched out before us, it took our breath away.

From above, the crater’s sheer beauty was simply hypnotic, and as we descended on to the crater floor, everywhere we looked there was something to marvel at – from a pride of lions relaxing in the shade of a tree to a family of warthogs happily bathing in a muddy puddle to the vast groups of wildebeest and zebras.

The beauty of it all was that we simply never knew what was going to happen next – although, with our &Beyond ranger Vicky leading the way, we knew if there was something to be seen we would certainly find it.

From elephants to buffalos and zebras to flamingos, you name it, we saw it, and among our many highlights was seeing some small groups of the endangered black rhino.

Just specks in the distance at first, we were lucky enough to be in prime position when some of the rhinos decided they wanted to cross our path to reach the waterside.

It was wonderful watching these huge prehistoric-like creatures meandering along, stopping to munch some grass along the way, and moving closer and closer towards us before passing just metres from our truck and heading off into the distance once more.

Another sight we felt extremely privileged to see was the birth of some baby wildebeest. It was beautiful seeing scores of wildebeest gathered together, some heavily pregnant, some tending to their young that were just minutes old, and others giving birth.

The speed with which the babies left the safety of their mothers’ wombs, took their first tentative steps, wobbled and fell over a few times, and then were up confidently running around was amazing.

It was a very touching sight, but in the dangerous world of the animal kingdom there is no time for sentiment – newborns are easy prey as we found out when a pack of hyenas descended. While the wildebeest mothers put up a worthy fight one of the newborns became a tasty meal for the predators in what completed a fascinating circle of life scene that was both beautiful and brutal.

Grunting hippos, grazing zebras and a lone wandering elephant helped to create yet another treasured memory of the Ngorongoro Crater for us.

For as we dined like a king and queen eating an elaborate breakfast of exotic fruits, pastries, cereal and more, we watched these beautiful creatures in wonder as the hippos played in the water and the giant elephant moved through the huge numbers of zebras tucking into their own morning meal of grass.

It was by far the most spectacular breakfast we had ever had and one of countless examples of how &Beyond so perfectly combined both the wonders of the natural world with the ultimate in luxury.

After a hard day’s safari we would head back to enjoy revelling in opulence at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge on the rim of the crater.

Our home there was a large, stilted, hand-crafted mud and thatch suite, one of 30 split into three intimate camps.

It included an array of luxurious touches and was richly adorned with antiques and African treasures, carved teak, two chandeliers and fresh red roses.

Best of all, it had huge floor-to-ceiling windows and two balconies overlookinging what must surely be the most stunning of views of the Ngorongoro Crater, and perhaps the whole of Africa. It was a magnificent place to relax with a gin and tonic and watch day turn to dusk while talking about the adventures of the animals below.

As if we were not spoiled enough by our elegant surroundings, we were also treated to our own personal butler, Upendo, who looked after our every need and was forever presenting us with wonderful surprises.

We would return from our game drives to find Upendo had run us a bubble bath strewn with rose petals that we could enjoy while gazing out at the crater, and at meal times Upendo would serve us the most delicious of dishes in the regal surrounds of the dining room that also offered spectacular views.

For our final night at Ngorongoro, Upendo organised an extra special surprise – a beautiful candlelit meal by the fireplace in our suite – followed by a wonderful morning treat of a private breakfast on one of our balconies.

From the splendour of the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge we headed to &Beyond’s Lake Manyara Tree Lodge that offered a completely different, yet equally special, experience.

The &Beyond lodge is the only one within Lake Manyara National Park and beyond the reach of most day visitors. This meant we were able to enjoy an even more exclusive safari experience, hardly bumping into another truck for our entire time there.

While relatively close to the Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara has a very different and an extremely diverse range of habitats to experience including a rift wall, rift valley soda lake, a thick groundwater forest, acacia woodland and open grassland.

The park was originally established to protect the African elephant and there are thought to be up to 500 elephants now living in the park. We were greeted by a good number of these impressive trunked creatures which would frequently appear from the depths of the forest to cross over the dirt tracks, perhaps stop to eat some greenery, and then once more disappear through the trees.

The thick forest certainly provided a good hiding ground for the park’s famous tree-climbing lions which remained elusive throughout our stay – but we were extremely lucky to spot a leopard in the bushes thanks to the eagle eyes of our ranger George.

There was a whole host of other wonderful wildlife experiences we enjoyed at Manyara too – including watching the cheeky antics of huge tribes of baboons and the vervet and blue monkeys, spotting giraffes munching leaves at the top of the trees, and looking at the noisy hippos lounging around in the water.

As well as the larger animals there was also an amazing amount of fascinating smaller animals to spot too like the rock hyrax, banded mongoose and the dik-dik, Tanzania’s smallest antelope.

It was also wonderful seeing thousands of pink flamingos adorning the shores of the lake and marvelling at the huge variety of beautiful birds that were a kaleidoscope of colours.

It was like an elaborate game of hide and seek, and even when we were back at camp the game did not stop – while having a bubble bath in our elaborate treehouse suite you could spy monkeys swinging from the trees!

Perched in an ancient mahogany tree and surrounded by forest, our secluded treehouse, one of only 10, felt like a cross between the homes of Tarzan and an Arabian prince.

It offered every possible indulgence yet at the same time put us right into the heart of forest life. Its clever design meant that even when we were enjoying our suite’s indoor luxury we were surrounded by vast views of our natural surroundings, and our large private balcony was the perfect place to savour the sights and sounds of the wilderness.

As with Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, the service, food and overall experience at Lake Manyara Tree Lodge was superb. Our butler, Liberati, and all the lodge team always made sure our stay was perfect, and on our last night they organised the most fabulous final meal.

As we walked to dinner we were beckoned to first go and see the nocturnal bushbabies swimming in the camp’s pool.

But when we got there, instead of bushbabies there was a beautifully laid-out table for two surrounded by twinkling lanterns and a roaring fire.

In this most wonderful of moonlit settings we were served an exquisite four-course meal as we toasted our trip with champagne and listened to the sounds of the real bushbabies in the trees.

It was a truly magical evening, and a perfect ending to our trip of a lifetime in Tanzania.

Emma Knights and Oli Franzen spent three nights at Ngorongoro Crater Lodge and two nights at Lake Manyara Tree Lodge.

&Beyond also has three camps in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park – Serengeti Under Canvas and Grumeti Serengeti Tented Camp – which were featured in the EDP Saturday magazine travel section last week, and Klein’s Camp. Trips can be arranged to combine stays at all or some of the camps as well as other &Beyond lodges in other parts of Africa.

Packages are all-inclusive and include all food, soft and alcoholic drinks, laundry, a butler service and game drives with an expert guide. Travel between camps costs extra.

For more information, booking and to see the latest prices visit www.andbeyond.com