To all our faithful readers, my apologies for sitting on my hands for so long and not getting around to part 3 of our east Africa trip. Tanzania has been, so far, one of our most favorite countries for many reasons (including the abundance of wildlife and everything about the island of Zanzibar). But I'm getting ahead of myself. Where to begin?
Immediately upon arriving by air in Dar es Salaam from Kigali, Rwanda; I couldn't help but be struck by just how incredibly busy the place was for a weekend. I didn't want to see how crazy it would be on a weekday (luckily we had our chance at the end of the trip). Dar es Salaam (to the common tourist) is really not much more than an unfortunate speed bump on the way to either going on an epic safari elsewhere in Tanzania or going to Zanzibar. We would be doing both in that order. There isn't much to see in Dar except hoards of people and even more cars--so many in fact that people leave their house 2 hours early to travel 10 miles down the road.....it's that bad.
He isn't exaggerating, folks! One of the more ironic things I think I found was the hurried and generally passive-aggressive attitude of the city whose name in Arabic means "house of peace."
Anyway, it wasn't long before we found ourselves on a medium-size turbo prop plane heading out to Arusha to begin the first half of our Tanzanian adventure. The trip actually began before we hit the ground, catching a glimpse from inside the plane of Mount Kilimanjaro "rising like an empress" through the blanket of clouds (you're welcome for getting that song stuck in your head now). This was actually a pretty good picture of Kili as we were later told, "she's a shy mountain."
I am very proud of the fact that I have seen the top of Kili. Sure it was from an airplane, but beggars cant be choosers. Plus, I bought Ryan an epic shirt that reads "Kilimanjaro, if you cant climb it...drink it!"
The airport is as probably as "sparse" of an airport that I've seen in Africa thus far. They wheeled our luggage out on a cart and it was a free-for-all to grab our stuff and find our trusty guide to bring us out to our safari camp home for the next 3 nights.
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| The peak of Mount Kilimanjaro poking through the clouds |
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| Arusha airport. Our noble steed, greeted by Mount Meru off in the distance |
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| Right there is the entire airport. |
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| "Do it yourself" baggage claim. T.I.A. |
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| When in Maasai country, one must watch out for cows! |
Driving from Arusha to our camp/lodge, one begins to get the feel of being in what most westerners think of as "Africa." The great Rift Valley that stretches from northern Mozambique to the Red Sea. The openness of the grassy savannas that surround the famous Serengeti plains. These things paint the quintessential picture of what most people consider as Africa--never mind the desert to the north, the rain forest to the west, or the High Veld far to the south, to name only a few examples.
On the way, we were fortunate to be able to stop and meet some Maasai in their village. The Maasai are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people who's lifestyle focuses largely around raising cattle (seen as the ultimate source of wealth and status). Made famous by the colorful red and blue robes and their high-jumping dances, the Maasai are often found near (and sometimes within, because of their nomadic lifestyle living within a National park is no big deal!) some of the best national parks of northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. We were welcomed with open arms and treated to some singing and dancing as well as a tour of a traditional Maasai hut (made of animal dung, sticks, and grass). Even Knox got in to it as went off to play with the other kids of the village. Of course, at the end, we were warmly invited to browse and buy some handicrafts to "help support the village." Either way, it was a fun experience.
Our home base for the next three nights was situated some distance from Arusha in a village called Mto wa Mbo, roughly meaning "mosquito river." The name did not disappoint. Apart from swatting malaria-infested insects all night, we were treated to all the trappings of village life including the barking of wild dogs roaming the streets all night, smells of burning trash, and parties that would make any American fraternity proud. Our host was very nice. The accommodations....let's just say they were "rustic." I think the reason Ryan has been putting off this blog post is because he knew that I had a lot of things to say, and not of the nice sort. I dont know if it was because I was not feeling well while we were in Arusha...I had a TERRIBLE chest cold...or if it was the promise of a wonderful camp, but I just felt the accommodations felt way short. But, it happens. I know that we cannot stay in a five star hotel where ever we go, but this place was like putting lipstick on a pig. The food was awful, the sleep was terrible and I was sick. And then miserable. I am sure during peak season this place would be great, we were the only guests and I feel that we were an afterthought. It sucks, but it is what it is. And we all lived through it.
Safaris are therapeutic. There is something calming about escaping the rest of the world to go where the beasts call home. Unlike in a zoo, the animals are not named, but nevertheless it is their land and their home, and we are just visitors. Over the next three days, we visited Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, and Tarangire national parks. Each as different as the last with a wide array of animal and plant life. I will let the picture do the talking as they say more than I can in a thousand words.
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| The baboons were ruthless. You had to keep you windows up or they would reach right in and snatch any food/babies left unsecured |
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| Ngorongoro crater as seen from the top. This thing is huge with its own separate ecosystem |
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| Hyena just moseying up to the car |
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| The crested crane, the national bird of Uganda |
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| Couple of lioness on a fresh kill (with jackals and vultures patiently waiting for scraps) |
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| Some huge ostriches |
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| Even bigger Cape Buffalo |
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| Hippos, not rocks |
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| I love this rock.... |
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| The fog creeping over the edge of the crater |
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| Making memories with the kiddo |
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| Plaque dedicated to park rangers who lost their lives while in the line of protecting wildlife. The demonstrates the ruthlessness and hostility of illegal poaching to this day |
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| I love baobab trees! |
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| Lazy leopard just lounging in the tree |
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| Giraffes at the watering hole. They are most vulnerable while drinking so their buddies keep a sharp eye out |
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| The iconic acacia tree |
Next, we flew to the island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of mainland Tanzania. Wait wait wait, slow your roll there, kid. Lets just take a few steps back to the Arusha Airport and flight to Zanzibar. So yall read above that the airport is tiny, and surprisingly very busy. The flight we came in on to Arusha was the biggest airplane that can land there. I think there were about 30 of us on the flight. All I could think about was the teeny tiny plane that I was going to have to get on to go to paradise. And practically cried standing on the runway. Yup, bc there is no where else to go. The poor guy at the refreshments stand gave me a discount on my beer bc I was shaking so bad. Tiny Cesnas were whizzing by every three mins. The laid back relaxed pilots were all just hanging out together waiting for their numbers to be called. Tourists of all ethnicity were climbing into these itty bitty planes with out a care in the world. How do they do it?? Thankfully, I didnt have to find out!! All of a sudden, straight out of the heavens, came a giant plane. Ok, well not giant. But it did carry more than ten passengers. My tropical paradise awaits! I cannot say enough great things about this place. It may even be my favorite place in Africa for many reasons. For one, they unlike anywhere else (including the rest of Tanzania). The island actually claims a semi-autonomous government from Tanzania. Zanzibari society and culture is so diverse due largely to the smattering of history going back to ancient Persians and Arab traders, Portuguese colonists, an Omani Sultanate, Germans, and British. The attitude is a laid-back island mentality based on the mantra of "hakuna matata" ("no worries" in Swahili). It is an island paradise remplis with spice plantations, cocoa plantations, picturesque beaches and quaint fishing villages.
We stayed in Stone Town, famously known as the birthplace of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the band Queen. Our hotel, the Tembo House (Tembo means elephant in Swahili), was amazing and fashioned on old Indian-Arab style right on the beach with a nice little restaurant/bar right next door on the beach. Stone Town is an amazing, highly "walkable" town with a complex, but very clean, market/residential medina with winding alleyways and beautiful doors that were fashioned on the old Indian tradition with spikes to keep away the elephants (not really a problem on Zanzibar, but cool enough).
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| The medina on a quiet morning |
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| Arab style door frame (look at the intricate woodwork) |
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| The old catholic church in Stone Town. There are only a handful of Christian churches here against the largely Muslim backdrop but they are all old beautiful |
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| Indian style door |
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| Freddie Mercury's childhood home in Stone Town |
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| Forodhani Park (where Mercury is rumored to have taken his first steps) the morning after the bustling night market |
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| Old colonial HQ building |
Apart from Stone Town, we enjoyed seeing the pristine beaches on the different sides of the island and touring the spice plantations that made the island an important trading location back in the day. Of course we left with bags of spices and other must have souvenirs like hats made of out palms.
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| One of our guides at the spice plantation showing us a local fruit that women (and I guess some men) use as makeup |
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| King and Prince of the Palms! |
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| Tortoise shelter on the north side of the island |
We also found some time to spend celebrating the kid's birthday
Sadly, the time came when we had to leave our island paradise. Normally the ferry from Stone Town back to Dar es Salaam takes about 1 hour. We had the pleasure of experiencing some of the highest waves the channel had seen for a while, and even in the upper deck in the "VIP" section of the ferry, the voyage was anything but smooth. Waves tossed and turn the boat so badly that the captain had to slow to about half speed, making our journey last over twice as long. Meanwhile, it was all that we could do to not toss our own cookies as seemingly every other passenger on the boat was going though motion sickness bags like it was their job.
Needless to say, we eventually made it back to Dar and eventually made the long flight to Qatar then on to Casablanca to round out our eastern Africa experience.
Stayed tuned for our last IRT trip: Gabon and Sao Tome.
