[ by Stian ]
The country of Tanzania is located
in East Africa bordering Kenya and Uganda in the north; Rwanda,
Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; and
Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's
eastern border is formed by the Indian Ocean. Tanzania is famous for
being the country of Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, the
island of Zanzibar and the amazing national park of Serengeti. Since
1996, the official capital of Tanzania has been Dodoma, while Dar Es
Salaam served as the capital between the independence in 1964 and
1996. Dar Es Salaam still remains Tanzania's principal commercial
city and is the main location of most government institutions though
and it is also the principal port of the country. The name "Tanzania"
derives from the names of the two states, Tanganyika and Zanzibar,
that united in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and
Zanzibar. Later the same year the country was renamed the United
Republic of Tanzania. The two states Tanganyika and Zanzibar regained
independence from Great Britain in 1961 and 1963 respectively.
Finally On The Road
We departed Nairobi early in the
morning and headed straight for Tanzania. The first day we traveled
approximately 286 km, so it was not a very long ride, but still time
consuming as we had to cross the border from Kenya to Tanzania. I
and Kenneth was sitting almost right in the front of the truck, and
the first person we really got in touch with was the lovely Natasha
from Melbourne, Australia. Natasha was that type of girl which I
really like to talk to and as she was very easy to chat with as well,
and seemed like a girl who could handle a joke well, I of course made
many a «funny» comments and jokes along the way. It's my way of
bonding to say. We also got in touch with most of the others as well but as the Danish girls Ann Sofie and
Kathrine, and Gavin from Scotland and Lucas, the Polish, from London, were sitting right across from us – they automatically became the first ones we chatted with. Ah, as
well as Julian, our tour leader of course who had a reserved seat in
the very front of the truck... and also Johan and Angelika as they are Swedish of course;)
So it seemed like a very nice group
of people we had ended up with. Most of us were actually around
the same age as well - meaning around 30 years old +/- a couple of
years. Only the Danish, the Scottish and the Dutch were in their
early 20s, while granddaughter Sadie was only 15, while in the other
end we had grandpa Raymond who was of course of grandpa-age;) I think
it was Muneira who stated later during the trip that she was really
happy about this mix as she was afraid that she would be the only
«old» one, mixed with ONLY early 20-something or even younger. We
had to agree that we liked the «mature» mix, as even the youngest
seemed very mature for their age.
First Stop in Tanzania: Arusha
Arusha,
also known as Tanzania's “safari capital”, is undoubtedly the
most important center in northern Tanzania. With many protected
national parks, reserves, and mountains nearby (on a clear day, you
can see Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distance).
Arusha is a major
town with a population of 1,3 million, located far north in Tanzania,
though we did not stay in the city itself, as our campsite was located a short distance just
outside of the main city. The campsite, the Arusha Snake Park, turned out
to be a very nice campsite as well, as there was a lot to do in the
area. On the site there was a snake center located, where we got a
guided tour and explained the different snakes of Africa. There were
other animals and birds there as well, as the center kind of
functioned as a welfare center for wild animals as well. There was
also a Maasai Cultural Museum on the site, a really nice
souvenir market across the street, a Tanzanite shop, and also a
special clinic specialized in treating wounds after snake bites. We
had the option of visiting the Snake Wound Clinic, but I opted not to
do it (even though it would have been very interesting), as I probably
would have been the only one interested, and of the reason that they expect a donation
after the tour and I really do not have money for donations for every
where were we would be going on this trip. Of course there was a bar
at the site as well, so everybody seemed very happy about this of
course.
So after arriving to the camp we
were quickly instructed by our guides how to both put up and pack our
tents. We had also been allocated in different chores groups –
as this tour is a collaboration to make everything work effectively
throughout the entire time. So someone had kitchen duty, while others
had packing duty or truck duty, or coolbox duty. Every fifth day we
had a day off from chores (nice days) – haha. We had no reason to
complain though as it was Julian and TJ who did all the cooking for
us during the entire trip almost, as well as shopping of the
groceries, all which is time consuming. It turned out that both
Julian and TJ made really really nice food as well – so it was not
a problem to help out with the chopping and to to the dishes
afterwards. I had actually hoped that I would be able to loose some
weight while in Africa – but that turned out to be not the case at
all as our guides made so much food that we could help ourselves both
twice or three times... so I actually gained weight... damn it. Haha.
Serengeti National Park
On the second day we headed for the
famous Serengeti National Park, which would turn out to be a, maybe even THE, definite
highlight of my year. We would be doing a 2 night / 3 day
excursion in Serengeti, which would include 3 days of game drive, 2
of in Serengeti and one day in the Ngorongoro Crater. On our way to
Serengeti we got to experience one of the most beautiful rides I have
ever seen, through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. When we reached
the Serengeti National park we had to split up in groups and change
into 4WD safari vehicles, as our truck would be a very stupid option to drive around with on the plains. In my "cozy" safari jeep, I ended up with Kenneth, Ann Sofie, Kathrine, Silje,
Ingrid and Sadie, which turned out to be a very nice group for the days we spent in Serengeti. When we entered the park we could even pop up the roof of the 4WD and stand while driving. THIS moment was just amazing and
suddenly this day turned out to be the absolute best day of the year
for me. I was in a super ecstatic mood – especially as it was an
amazing beautiful hot day as well.
The Serengeti National Park was
established in 1951 and is located within the Serengeti ecosystem,
which is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa, and one of the
ten natural travel wonders of the world. The national park is of
course an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Serengeti is famous for its
large population of lions and for hosting the largest terrestrial
mammal migration in the world. In the Serengeti National Park there's
an annual migration of more than 1.5 million white bearded (or
brindled) wildebeest and 250,000 zebra. The name «Serengeti» comes
from the Maasai language and translates as «endless plains».
Spotting the wildlife:)
Almost right after we entered the
park we could see an elephant crossing the road – which was an
amazing sight in itself. Later during the day we would be seeing lots
of zebras, giraffes, monkeys, storks, hyenas, gazelles, African
buffaloes, antelopes, lions, wildebeests, hippos and even a couple
of leopards. The game drives, as they call the actual safari, always has as an aim to get to spot
the so called Big5 of Africa, which are the elephants, the lions, the
African buffaloes, the leopards and the black rhinos. We were lucky
and got to see 4 of the 5 on the first day already – and the black
rhino we would not have been able to see anyways as there are none in
the specific area of the park that we visited. The
reason why these specific five animals are referred to as the big
five is because they are very strong, have very few natural
enemies and are unfortunately the trophy animals of any poacher and therefore the most sought after species.
The most dangerous of the big five are the African buffalo as it is
said that sometimes it takes five lions to bring down one buffalo If you by any chance are not able to kill a buffalo on the first
try, but only hurts it, it produces so much testosterone, which makes it furious, but also very clever, as it tend to be able to hide from the poacher, plan an ambush and attack from behind. It is said that a fierce meeting with an African buffalo is
the only certain death of the big 5. Well to be honest, I don't think
I would have liked to met any of the big five in the
wild...on my own, anyways.
Later we also got to spot a cheetah
protecting its prey, warthogs (or Pumbaas as well called them),
ostriches and crocodiles from a far distance. We also got to
witness the famous migration of thousands of zebras and wildebeests,
which was just amazing. I do have to say that I was about to become
extremely tired of lions during the second day of game drive, as we
had seen soooooo many of them – and lions are pretty much BORING
animals, as they mostly are just lazy and do relaxing, and our driver
seemed obsessed with spotting lions. Like if we would not be
interested in any other animals at all. The one time we actually did
see something interesting related to the lions, was when we saw a
group of lions preparing to hunt for a warthog, getting ready into
positions, but we were interrupted by the news that there had been a
leopard spotted close by, so we had to go see it before it would run
away. I have to say though that seeing the leopard was amazing. It
was a mother and two cubs and they really really are a beautiful
species.
Maasai Village
The first day in Serengeti we also
got to visit a traditional Maasai Village, which was very nice. Of
course we had to pay entrance to get into the village. We then got
introduced to the culture with a song and a dance, and then we had
the opportunity to interact with the native and take part in the famous
Maasai-jumping. We then got to see the village school where we got very
nice information in English by the local guide. We were asked to
give a donation, and I chose to give as I found it very charming.
Afterwards we were taken into a specific Maasai house so that we
could see how their houses looks like from the inside – and I have
to say it's not much at all what they own or live by. We have lots to
be grateful for back home for sure. When we got out of the house
again we were approached to purchase souvenirs, like bracelets and
necklaces, from the stand just outside the house we had just been
inside. I found the prices to be too expensive and they were not
willing to give me a good price at all, so I refused to buy anything
– as the only one of the whole group it turned out, haha. I really
liked the village, but I was very disappointed to realize that it was
such a commercial effort. We had to pay to get into the village, I
donated money to the school and the Maasai almost seemed angry with
me for not purchasing the souvenirs... so I ended up walking away, as
the some of the charm of this visit had suddenly disappeared as I
don't like being cornered and forced into buying stuff. As I already had paid a lot for the actual tour I was trying to save money this month, so spending half a days maximum budget in this place was absolutely no option for me. We later
realized that there are many traditional Maasai villages in the area,
but I guess each village has each their own tour company to relate to,
as other companies went to the other villages instead.
Serengeti Visitor Center
On the second day we had the option
of doing a hot air balloon safari, but as it was fairly expensive
only Natasha of the whole group took part in this tour. She told
us it was great though. The rest of us did a game drive in the
morning before dropping by the Serengeti Visitor Center, a center
were we could get a great deal of information concerning the area,
both geologically and coming to the animals and to the protecting of
the area. Here we would be meeting up with Natasha again as well,
before heading out of the Serengeti National Park. Around this area
we could spot a whole bunch of rock hyraxes, small guinea pig-like
animals, whose funnily enough one of the closest relatives are the
modern day elephants.
Campsite next to the Ngorongoro Crater
It was sad leaving the Serengeti
National Park, but we had to move on. Our next campsite would be
close to the Ngorongoro Crater, and we would be doing a game drive in
the crater the following day. The new campsite turned out to be a
really nice one, and even a bit exiting as well as we during the late
evening realized that we had two African buffaloes walking just
outside our tents, as well as an elephant hanging around the water
source of the camp site and we also spotted a bushpig running between
the tents.
From the campsite we had a beautiful
view of the crater, but the temperature was significantly lower here
and we had to prepare ourselves for an extremely cold night. The
people who run the campsite had gotten us extra blankets as it was
for sure it would be freezing temperature during the night. The
evening itself was very nice, especially since it turned out to be
Sadie's sweet 16th so the locals had made her a birthday
cake which was a very nice gesture indeed.
The Ngorongoro Crater
The Ngorongoro Crater is the world's
largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera, and is
located within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), a conservation
area and a World Heritage Site as well. The crater is even
recognized by one private organization as one of the seven natural
wonders of Africa. The crater, which formed when a large volcano
exploded and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago, is
610 metres deep and its floor covers 260 square kilometers. Estimates
of the height of the original volcano range from 4,500 to 5,800
meters. The elevation of the crater floor is 1,800 m above sea
level. The Ngorongoro was originally a part of the Serengeti, but it
was made separate conservation area in 1956 so that the Maasai could
graze their cattle there.
We did another game drive in the
Ngorongoro Crater, this time with the aim to spot the black rhino,
which is an extremely endangered species. We did eventually get
to see the black rhino, but from a very far distance, so we were
lucky. Other than that we also spotted flamingos from far distance as
well, and we also got close up to an elephant. Other than that the
Ngorongoro crater was pretty much boring compared to the Serengeti.
It was nice, but we were as well becoming annoyed with our driver who
was focusing so much on spotting lions and ignoring us totally when
we wanted him to stop so that we could take photos of the funny
looking, pretty birds.
Moshi
Our next campsite was located in a
small municipality called Moshi, so we eventually left the
Ngorongoro Conservation Area and headed back towards Arusha. The
quality of the roads on this particular route was probably the most
horrible I have ever experienced. It was literally a painful ride in
many ways – and it was impossible to air out our vehicle as well, as the
road was to dusty. Back in Arusha we met up with TJ and the truck,
did some shopping and then moved on towards our next campsite some
distance past the small city of Moshi. Moshi is located in the
Kilimanjaro region and serves as the spot from where most people
depart for tours to the Kilimanjaro mountain. As much as I would have
loved to climb Kilimanjaro, we did not have time to include
Kilimanjaro in our tour for this time.
Traditional South African Dinner
When we arrived campsite we got in
touch with another overland truck, which was traveling all the way
from Cape Town and ending up in Cairo – meaning their tour was
twice as long as hours, WOW! So we had a chat with some of the
members of this other company, before being served a very very
traditional South-African dinner by Julian (or at least he claimed it
was a traditional meal). The meal consisted of typical African
beef-sausages, which actually are really really tasty, and «mashed»
cornflour-thingy (actually cornflour mixed with water, I think it was,
and then it turned out like something that looked like mashed
potatoes). The sides were salad and then, wait for it: A mixture of
red beans in tomato sauce, mayonnaise and BANANAS. This particular
last side dish is very typical for South Africa obviously, and the
combination sounds horrible, but I actually found it very tasteful
and it worked well with the sausages. So I was pleasantly surprised.
After dinner most of us hang out in
the bar area of the campsite and had a few beers before we had to go
to sleep. Moshi was also
the first campsite where we had the option of «upgrading», meaning
that we could choose to pay money for a room at the site instead of
having to camp. Partha, the Singaporean guy, and later also Lucas,
the Polish Brit, would become the two big upgrade guys of our group –
haha.
First days impressions:
The first days of our African
adventure had turned out to be absolutely amazing in every way. The
impressions were plenty and of the impressive kind. The people
seemed to get along very well. The food made by Julian had also been
really nice so far, and the actual drive we had done with the truck
had been, though time consuming, very funny as well. As a whole group we had been really good at entertaining ourselves and getting to
know each other, so by the end of Serengeti trip I think most of us had no problem feeling included in the group. The only negative thing I can say about the first
days must be that the quality of the roads from Arusha to Serengeti
was incredible bad and painful as it was bumpy and dusty, but they are fixing this so in a couple of years the roads will be perfect. We were also a bit too annoyed with our game driver as he didn't listen to us
when we told him what we wanted to see and so on while in the
Serengeti. Also, the first nights of camping had been really really
cold, but that was my own fault as I did not have a proper sleeping
bag for these conditions unfortunately. Winter in Africa is FREEZING COLD!!!! So those are though only
minor objections considering the amount of amazing things we got to
see and experience. Serengeti is DEFINITELY one of my top
destinations which I would like to recommend to the whole world. It is just
AMAZING!!!
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