Treetops Lodge: Where the queen’s reign started
What you need to know:
- It was when she was having dinner at the hotel, which was built on top of a Mugumo tree that King George VI died, ushering her reign.
- She climbed the rickety ladder to Treetops a princess on February 5, 1952 and descended the following day as a Queen, who has now reigned for 63 years and eight months.
- According to Treetops resident naturalist Stephen Kabatha, it was fenced to stop its destruction.
As the Queen Elizabeth II marks her record as the longest reigning monarch in the British empire, one hotel in Nyeri will be at the heart of the celebrations.
This is because the queen became heir to the throne while atop Treetop Hotel in Aberdares forest. The queen has visited the hotel three times — 1952, 1959 and 1983.
It was when she was having dinner at the hotel, which was built on top of a Mugumo tree that King George VI died, ushering her reign. She climbed the rickety ladder to Treetops a princess on February 5, 1952 and descended the following day as a Queen, who has now reigned for 63 years and eight months.
Back then, the Treetops was the only one of its kind and was favoured by aristocrats and Safari hunters. This is due to its exquisite view of animals that trooped to the lodge to drink water and lick soil laced with minerals. Treetops is set high in the forest, overlooking a quiet waterhole and natural saltlick.
The entrance to the lodge is through a central staircase ascending from the forest floor.
And on the day she arrived at the hotel, she was almost caught up in an elephant stampede. According to an account in the hotel record, the royal party was a little late, having left their cars at the forest’s edge. They made cautious progress on foot along the path, while all the time the commotion of the elephants became louder. Should they go on, or turn back?
The question had to be decided, so Eric Walker, the founder of the hotel, asked Prince Philip whether they should proceed. The blunt talking Duke whispered: “Go ahead!”
“When within 50 yards of the tree, they had a full view of the clearing and saw the whole herd of milling about. Quite apart from the elephants, restlessness, a herd with their mothers was always a risk. They also came across a big standing underneath Treetops, flapping her ears,” reads the account.
But according to the account by Walker, Princess Elizabeth did not falter. She walked straight towards the elephant and climbed the steep ladder to Treetops, then a three-bedroom establishment.
But the hotel where the queen ascended was burnt down by the Mau Mau in 1954. It was, however, rebuilt 100m from the old one.
The site where the queen’s treetop was located is now surrounded by an electric fence and a Mugumo tree. According to Treetops resident naturalist Stephen Kabatha, it was fenced to stop its destruction.
“During the second visit in 1983, the queen asked that we conserve the area and a few donors pledged money to protect it from elephants,” he says.
The new Treetops still overlooks the animal point at the heart of the Arbedares, located a few kilometres from Nyeri town. But it is now a three-storied establishment with 76 rooms after a Sh150 million refurbishment in 2012. It has a suite named after the queen that costs Sh16,000 a night.
