Famous for Mount Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti plains, Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Victoria among others, Tanzania, in east Africa, is the 13th largest country on the continent, and the 31st largest in the world. It is considered one of the top places to visit in Africa, as not only does it boast the possibility of being able to spot the “big five” (elephant, lion, rhino, buffalo, leopard) on safari, but it also allows visitors the possibility of familiarizing themselves with the life of local ethnic groups, mountain hiking to peaks as high as 5895 metres and dipping into the crystal clear waters of Zanzibar’s Indian Ocean.
During our 25 day trip there, we got to do most of the above, while also driving through rural villages, spending time with locals and visiting a variety of schools. And then there were the other less anticipated parts of the trip, such as repeatedly having to bribe traffic police and even unexpectedly ending up in a Zanzibarean hospital with typhoid fever.
Certainly not a month for the faint-hearted, but one that is unlikely to be forgotten any time soon..
Part 1:
Our trip started in the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha, from where we began our five park safari. Though Arusha National Park, Lake Manyara and Tarangire NP all offer a good taster of what’s to come, sleeping in tents in the open, next to free roaming buffalo and elephants in Ngorongoro and the Serengeti is difficult to both describe and top. Rarely have I been as grateful to see a ranger with a semi automatic patrolling the grounds…
Part 2:
On the way to Ngorongoro Crater we also crossed an area occupied by the Maasai tribe and got to visit the local school, which sadly, can at best be described as a small shack. The Maasai are the best known ethnic group in the area. They live off the land and their livestock and have been in Ngorongoro for over 100 years. Famous for their dress code of (usually bright red) blankets that they wrap around the body, they greet visitors with a shrieking welcome and by waving spears and performing their traditional jumping dance called the “Adamu”.
Part 3:
The one thing you quickly realize in the wild, is that death is very much a recurring theme. One animal must die for another to survive. And nothing ever goes to waste. Once a lion has finished with its prey, hyenas and wild dogs will feast on the remains. And after that, it’s the Maribou Storks’ turn. Or that of the vultures, as the never ending food chain continues…
Part 4:
Post safari, we took a car and decided to do a self-drive from Moshi in northern Tanzania to Lushoto in the northeast. The drive is certainly a spectacular one; less so for the landscape itself – with the obvious exception of driving past Mount Kilimanjaro national park – but more for the people watching.
During our five hour drive each way, we crossed a number of little villages, where we got to catch a glimpse of rural Tanzanian life. Men would sit around chatting, laughing and guarding their livestock, while women could be seen washing or hanging clothes out to dry, with little kids running excitedly around them screaming and playing.
Meanwhile, school kids in full uniform would wave at us with big smiles as we drove past and hawkers would rush out into the road to try sell us their wares – from fruit to fish and necklaces to wooden hand carved statues. One thing that really stood out, is just how important bicycles and carts can prove to be, in a place where motor vehicles are often simply too expensive or too difficult to come by.