Dates: June 24th - July 8th
Having a lifelong love for animals, our trip to Tanzania promised to truly be the trip of a lifetime - and boy, it certainly didn't disappoint.
We arrived in Dar es Salaam late on Saturday evening. It was great to see Nadya's parents again, and it was such a relief to see Sasha happy and living well in Tanzania. After two great days with Nadya's parents, wandering around Dar, eating fabulous food (both in restaurants and at home) and, of course, drinking lots of coconut water, we headed off to our Safari on Tuesday morning.
The Safari started off on a bit of a bad note. Our flight to Kilimanjaro from Dar was delayed for four hours. But you know what they say, good things come to those who wait... and the wait was worth it.
Our guide picked us up from Kilimanjaro airport and, after a small pitstop in Arusha to do some paperwork, we were on the road headed to Lake Manyara. After the long delay at the airport, Nadya and I were quite hungry and so we stopped at a souvenir shop off the side of the road for a picnic lunch; it sounds a little dry, but the shop had a nice thatch covered picnic table out front which was a nice place to stop for a quick picnic. We stayed there for about 30 minutes and then headed out for Lake Manyara.
Lake Manyara was very different than I expected. My impression of Africa was one of dry deserts and hot, arid plains. The Lake Manyara reserve is none of these things; in fact, it is a beautiful, lushly forested area surrounding a vast lake nestled in the mountains. I felt more like I was off-roading in the wilderness of British Columbia than in what I misguidedly had envisioned as Africa. Our first evening safari was by any measure, a success. The most beautiful giraffe picture I took on the whole trip was taken this first evening - just a simple closeup of a giraffe feeding. Following our first drive of the trip, we headed on to the Lake Manyara lodge for the night. Dinner and breakfast is included at all of the lodges and the food is considerably better than you'd think. Oddly, many of the people running the restaurants at the lodges throughout the safari are Indians, so each meal included some good, flavorful Indian food.
The second day on safari started with an early-morning drive in Lake Manyara. I must say, the fresh mountain air and the lush greenary this early morning was refreshing, as were the many animals out starting their day. The one animal that stands out in my mind from this drive was a poor, skinny male lion that had clearly seen better days - but there he was, wandering through the forest, probably searching for his next meal.
After the early morning drive and a quick shower and breakfast at Lake Manyara Lodge, we headed off for the long drive to the Serengeti. If I thought that Lake Manyara was lush, this drive would provide an even bigger surprise. Ngorongoro crater is the largest complete crater in the world. In addition to its unique topography that provides shelter for the animals, a cooling mist every morning, and altitude that allows thick forests to grow even during the usually dry, hot Tanzanian summers, Ngorongoro crater has extremely fertile volcanic soil. This soil, when combined with the other unique features of this region, result in amazingly green, thick, moist and full forest cover. The lucky animals of Ngorongoro have truly found the mytical garden of eden. I'll write a lot more about Ngorongoro a little later, but for now, we couldn't stay and had to continue on our journey to Serengeti.
[Still need to write about Serengeti]
[Still need to write about Ngorongoro]
[Still need to write about Zanzibar]
Day 1: Flight from Paris to Dar es Salaam
Day 2: Dar es Salaam
Day 3: Dar es Salaam
Day 4: Flight from Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro and Lake Manyara
Day 5: Lake Manyara, Serengeti
Day 6: Serengeti
Day 7: Serengeti and drive to Ngorongoro
Day 8: Ngorongoro and flight to Zanzibar
Day 9: Zanzibar
Day 10: Zanzibar and flight to Dar es Salaam
Day 11 - 14: Dar es Salaam
To summarize our trip: we had a fantastic time. There is nothing more beautiful than seeing these beautiful animals in their natural habitat. We saw so many animals, all unique in their own way. The most striking thing about seeing them in the wild is that they are so healthy and full of character and personality. We should really shut down all zoos and preserve their habitat so they can live free and naturally.
Some of my thoughts from abroad. You can also have a look at my photos from abroad.
