You come over a tiny rise and the lodge emerges almost instantly below you after a long leisurely game drive through herds of wild animals and down miles of Africa’s apparently endless highways.

Tarangire Sopa Lodge is nestled among the kopjes, ancient baobabs, and grasslands of the Tarangire National Park, which is home to Africa’s largest concentration of elephants. Many can be seen about the lodge, allowing visitors to get up up and personal with them.