Safari, in Swahili means to have an adventure.
And that’s just what we did.
An adventure I’ll never forget.
People have been asking - How was it? What was it like?
And the funny thing about it is every time I think about it, I am overwhelmed by all different adjectives and thoughts about what I experienced that weekend, that I really can't describe it.
Maybe Incredible, majestic, beautiful, and also a bit tiring.
It still feels like a dream, honestly – I still can’t believe that something I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember, has happened.
Three and a half days, three nights, three parks and one very packed car.
12:10 p.m., our guide Willium is at the gate.
Lucy, Camilla and I were ready. We rushed out of our (finished) classrooms, grabbed our bags and got into the car – waving goodbye to the women as we went. In efforts to avoid getting sick in the car, I opted to sit in the front seat (the others were perfectly content with this). Next stop, Kili Kitchen, one of the graduate’s businesses, for some (delicious) lunch boxes, courtesy of our tour company, Above The Rim. Then we were on our way.
First stop, Arusha- estimated travel time from Moshi, 2 hours.
I was a little taken back by this at first, having already spent so much time getting there and still having a bit of time to drive to Tarangire, still. But when he dropped us at Arusha’s Cultural Heritage, just outside city center, I realized that I was only worrying myself. As it turns out, I was happy we stopped here to enjoy our lunch boxes, not only to see the beautiful place and take it all in but if we didn’t stop, I wouldn’t have walked away with what I had been looking for since I got here.
Tanzanite is a purple-ish blue stone that is only found in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. Since it has become so popular, it is becoming more and more rare and in this case, expensive. In the cultural heritage of Arusha, there is one man who has made his wealth off of Tanzanite and sells some of the most beautiful pieces for thousands and thousands of dollars. One piece in particular took up the size of my hand and looked like the diamond from the Titanic that sold to China for 2.1 million dollars – crazy.
He not only had beautifully perfect pieces, but also the imperfect ones and it was exactly what I had been looking for. The imperfect pieces were not as clear, not as shiny but they were used to create beautiful rings that sold for a whole lot less than the market price (and for many of you that know me well, you know I would walk out with a ring). I did, and it was exactly what I had been looking for this whole time – I was a very happy girl.
And once the car was packed, we were off to see some elephants, making the day that much better.
Second stop, Tarangire National Park – estimated travel time from Arusha, 2 hours.
As we drove across the African plains, through villages set up along side sources of water, I began to drift into thought. The people of rural Northern Tanzania work and live their lives with next to nothing and are completely happy with it. Houses stand with nothing but a cement base structure, no floor, door or windows, just a few pieces of wood for a bed and whatever else they find necessary. Others in the more urban parts live in crumbling clay homes where they cook their meals from one pot that sits on top of a fire outside. I often find myself talking about how inexpensive things are here, being able to buy a whole two weeks work of food for 40 USD or take a taxi out to dinner for less than 2 USD. But for some, that is nearly their monthly wage – and probably something they’d never spend their money on. I sat there in a safari car, with a man who makes most of his money on gratuity because the total cost of safari usually pretty high to include the increasing price of admission into the parks. At one point during our drive, Willium pulled over the car in front of a group of young school kids. What I didn’t realize at the time is that Willium had saved single-serving yogurt pods in his glove box, which he then gave out to the children as they swarmed the car, reaching their hands in to try to get it before the next kid. As we drove away, the kids all ate the yogurt, scoffing it down like they hadn’t eaten all day. It was then, that I became more aware of the children on the remaining part of the drive – we passed many children along our travels but what I never realized is that they would wave and then stick their hand out. When I asked Willium why, he said that they are often fed or given things by tourists in safari cars.
And it was true, every time I passed a young child, they waved and when I waved back, they stuck their hand out.
Karibu – Tarangire National Park
Welcome.
Time of arrival, somewhere around 4 o’clock
Right away, you are taken back by how beautiful (even the entrance to the park) is. The trees that come to mind when you think of Africa, lined the entryway – creating a tunnel of sorts, as the sun was starting to sink to the horizon.
After we checked in as visitors, we got back in our very packed car and drove down the dirt road to our destination; camp. It felt as though we were the only ones in the park and for a while, it looked like we had been. Until I saw them -
A young family of elephants, walking right in front of our car.
I could not contain my excitement.
A mother, father and their baby – walking in a group, strolled gracefully from one side of the road to the other. And just when I thought they would just continue walking like we weren’t even there, the baby stopped just beside the car and looked at us. To tell you that I was excited would be a tremendous understatement. I had wanted to see an elephant (that wasn’t in a zoo) for as long as I could remember and when I realized that they were just in front of me, not in some dream, I began to get a little emotional. It is an incredible feeling being able to make a dream a reality, especially when the reality is something better than you could’ve possibly imagined.
When we rolled up to camp, we were one of very few cars parked in the parking lot. Willium had directed us to wander and see the camp while they unloaded the car. The best part of camping with a safari company is they set up your tent, in a matter of minutes. That night I was in the double tent, sharing with Lucy. We settled in and then reconvened. It was just around sunset as we wandered over to the pavilion, where as to our surprise, we were drinking tea with a couple of zebras. They were just hanging out, eating, completely unfazed by our presence.
It was all going really well until… HUGE flying beetles intervened.
I am getting itchy just thinking about it.
They sounded like helicopters, hovering until they crash land. Just in time so that you know when to duck. It started to make the dinner very unpleasant because they were soon, everywhere. Our only place of safety became our tents where we very quickly ended up after we were done scoffing food down. Though, to my surprise, I didn’t fall asleep until about 2 a.m. before waking up just shortly after at 4 a.m. Way too hot for sleeping. – Not a happy camper, no pun intended.
Rise and Shine – 7 a.m. breakfast.
Consisting of (really good) porridge, eggs, sweet chapatti and coffee.
7:30 a.m. – Game time.
To give you a break down of everything that happened, at every given moment would be difficult, overwhelming even. But here are some moments that to me, are worthy of remembering.
First mission, find elephants.
And thankful of our driver, Willium, that is exactly what he did. Only this time it was a small herd, with many little ones about a month old who had come to where our car had been parked to find water. They moved with such grace and beauty, that you are sort of mesmerized by their movements. One little one in particular caught my attention, couldn’t have been more than two weeks old. It looked like it was just learning to walk; by the way it slipped and stumbled in the mud. But once it got to the puddle of water at the foot of our car, it chugged through its trunk until it was satisfied. Looking up at us, ears flapping, I was delighted by the sight of seeing a baby elephant, up close.
To make that even better, how about seeing 73 elephants in one spot! When we stopped to use the bathroom, mid-game drive. I stopped and looked out over the valley, only to realize that all the dark spots I saw amongst the grass were elephants! Probably the quickest pit stop ever, honestly, because I was more concerned of getting down the road before they started to migrate across the river. To be surrounded by elephants of all shapes and sizes has become one of my favorite memories, a beautiful sight. As the stood there, eating, we got to see elephant families, babies included, all in harmony.
Lastly, I got to witness thousands of buffalo, migrating from one side of the park, to the other – passing right in front of our car. A sea of black, slowly walking, while grazing as it makes it’s way towards the horizon. Blown away.
Side note: Everyone jokes about safari and how you can tell tourists are coming back from safari when they look like they haven’t showered in days. I thought it was just a joke, but I know what they mean – I actually lost water mid soap-in-hair on day one and found it to be a lost cause the remainder of the time.
Third stop, Ngorogoro Crater Rim – estimated travel time, 1.5 hours.
As we started ascending into the depths of the rain forest, along the rift valley – we found ourselves in the midst of a dense cloud, a torrential storm. Only being able to see just a few feet in front of us, while driving up a steep zigzag, muddy road is an experience in its own but thankfully Willium handled the situation gracefully. Once we got to the top, it was though the cloud created a blanket over the rim, containing the storm within it. After grabbing our raincoats from our packed suitcase (that were thankfully in the car), we booked it over to the food pavilion, which was crowded to the brim with people. We snagged a spot next to a German couple that had just made their way back from the Serengeti. It was only just shortly after our first cup of tea, that four winged insects flooded our space. Grossed out by their lack of distance between themselves and other’s food, we decided to bunker in our tents until dinner was ready (I had the single tent that night). Thankfully, by the time 8:45 p.m. rolled around and it was time for dinner, only a couple insects remained.
Ngorogoro was much different from our last stop – The bathrooms were beyond disgusting (I will not go into detail) but I think it’s safe to say I hardly drank any water. Though, on the bright side, I slept cozy in sleeping bag because it was such a chilly night, perfect for sleeping. Actually, I slept like a baby in comparison to all my other nights here (in Tanzania).
No sunrise, still rain.
Shortly after breakfast, we packed up the contents of our tent into the car and made our way down the mountain into the crater. Another slippery zigzag road handled with care.
That day we saw pretty much any animal you could think of (besides a leopard): Wildebeest, Buffalo, Elephants, Hippos, Pumbas, Zebras, Gazelles, Lions, Lionesses and The endangered black rhino.
Babies included!
Exciting part, get ready.
When we noticed two cars parked on either side of the dirt road, with a wide space in between the two, Willium decided it would be a worthy idea to drive over and see what they were looking at. Much to our surprise, there was a lioness leaning up against one of them. As we drove over, we decided to park farthest from the grass leading out to the rest of the crater – and it’s a good thing because she would later decide it would be a good place for a nap. She lightly strolled over to the spot just feet away from our car, standing for a few moments before settling in to the grass. I noticed that she attempted to bury her face in the grass as much as possible to avoid flies that had been settling on her eyes.
After a full day’s game, after we packed up the car with our camp – it was time to head out.
And funny enough, probably one of the more traumatizing parts of my safari experience happened right as we were checking out of the National Park…
We were idling in the car, windows down just catching up on our phones or listening to music. I was eating a biscuit left over from lunch while looking at messages I had missed from the day when I heard Lucy scream. A baboon was hanging head first through the window on the driver- side door. He was on a mission – A mission to steal the biscuits that were both in my hand and on the dashboard of the car. As the first one hesitated, the second one came up behind and climbed over him. No fear. He crawled over to me, took the biscuits from the dashboard of the car and the remaining from my hand before turning around to the window. Only then did Isaac, the cook who was sitting in the back of the car, came forward and swatted the baboons away. Once the biscuits made it to the floor, it was free for all – an angry, aggressive free for all between many baboons.
That’s one for the books.
Fourth stop, Panorama Safari Lodge, estimated travel time, 1 hour.
At first, I was taken back – I thought we were camping, like we had been the whole time. That was what we signed up for, what we paid for. As we off the main road, down a road off the beaten path, we came up to a beautiful place with African huts set up sporadically throughout the property. These huts were made of clay, shaped similar to teepees. Willium, our guide, had upgraded our accommodation for the last night of our stay because of the leaks we experienced the previous night (I woke up in a puddle the morning of Ngorogoro). And though we felt bad for being an inconvenience or additional cost, we were very thankful for what we had. That afternoon, after settling into our spaces, we walked over to the dining room where the sun peeked through the trees, perfectly. As the sun set, we sat there, the three of us, and enjoyed a beer as we talked of our lives back home and what we aspire to do next. When dinner came around, we were entertained by traditional African drum and song.
Feel good music.
Then acrobats! Holy smokes, was it impressive.
When they were wrapping up, they started pulling the guests who had been sitting at their tables, myself included, to join in on learning how to play the instruments. I learned how to play the xylophone that had been constructed out of wood. I had no idea what I was doing, but we had a lot of fun doing whatever it was that we were doing.
And the morning brought even more sweetness as I watched the sun rise over the Rift Valley Mountains and reflect over the town below. In attempt to explain it but it was the perfect way to start our last day.
Fifth stop, Lake Manyara Conservation, estimated travel time 15 minutes.
As soon as we pulled up, we were welcomed out of the car by a tour guide in training. He showed us around the parts of the welcome center and told us a little bit about the different tribes that settled here and what they did for their king. It was only when he stood in front of (potentially) a ceiling to floor diagram of the continental rift, or Great Rift Valley. The rift runs from Ethiopia to Tanzania before fading out into Mozambique. Lake Manyara is the only conservation in Tanzania where the rift is visible and we were just about to see it for the first time (or maybe my first time because I had a nap in the car on the way there). But any who, back to the good stuff, today was an interesting day in comparison to the rest – because not only was it much quieter in the way of safari cars, but it was desolate in the way of animals too. Other than the many baboons we saw, parked in the middle of the dirt road, and many wildebeests spread out over the vast land – we only saw a family of hippos, with their babies, and a couple giraffes. One giraffe in particular stood tall, in the middle of the road on our way back to the exit. Willium parked farther away than most of the other animals as not to scare (him) – and it’s a good thing he did, because it was the longest giraffe encounter we had for the books.
Sixth stop, Masai Village, estimated time, 1 hour.
The perfect opportunity to break up the excessive time spent in the car… however, it was nothing like I was anticipating it to be and I don’t think it is something I would do again. While I am a firm believer in traditions within a family or culture, I do not particularly agree with the traditions within the Masai tribes. When we first arrived, we were asked to pay 40,000 TSH or about 17 USD each for a donation – they said they would use this money for their education, books for the kindergarten classroom and/or school fees, and how can you say no to the opportunity for an education?
After we paid, we were welcomed by a young man in his early thirties who spoke pretty good English, however I was taken back by the fact that he had two thumbs on one hand. Later in the tour, we learned that many of the men marry more than one bride – often times they can be their sisters or someone related, so a lot of the tribes are inbred. The men and women within a Masai tribe wear Masai blanket or shuka as a way of identification through their dress.
Women dress in a blue or purple shuka.
Men wear all shades of red.
Young boys and girls who are pre-circumcision wear a shade of black.
And those who are about to be circumcised, wear a black shuka with white tribal face paint.
On our drive from Lake Manyara to the Masai village, we passed a group of young boys, who couldn’t be older than 12, standing on the side of the road,
in black shukas and white tribal face paint.
The process of being circumcised starts at a very young age within Masai villages and is a very painful procedure, according to one of our current students who was circumcised when she was 10 years old. However, circumcision is not the only thing that is done to young children. In some Masai tribes across Tanzania, young girls are married off to other members of the tribe before they’ve reached puberty – believing that when a young girl reaches that point in her life, she is ready to have children.
But on a brighter note -
The music and dance is still very much alive and beautiful to experience.
When we got out of the car, we were dressed up in red and blue colored shukas and bejeweled with beautiful beaded necklaces before being shown over to the side. In front of us was a large group of the village, dressed in their traditional wear – lined up and starting to sing.
“This is their welcome song, for you” – and it was a beautiful harmony of bass and melody in Swahili. Before we knew it, we were being ushered over to the group of women where we participated in a jumping dance (as one). I actually found it pretty difficult to keep jumping, haven’t done it since I was a child, however, the men of the village jumped three to five times as high with minimal effort.
We were then shown around the village itself, squeezing ourselves into their homes, which the women had built. The homes consisted of sticks, mud and hay – to cover one tiny room, where a bed made out of slabs and a small cooktop stood. That small hut was the home to a mother and her however many kids. It was unclear if the men of the home slept there or not.
Oh my goodness, it was hot.
We were only in there for a few minutes and I was covered in a layer of sweat, to put it nicely.
Lastly, we were guided over to the pond, where a bare-boned wood structure filled with kindergarten students sang the alphabet in Swahili. One little girl in particular was a bit older than the rest; her job was ‘caretaker’ while the other learned the education foundations.
Just as we were leaving, one Masai turned to me and told me if I married him, he would give me a cow – I know he was only kidding but only a cow?
Time to go home.
Seventh stop, back to Moshi, estimated, 2 hours and 30 minutes
After we left the Masai village, it was back to Moshi via Arusha. I still can’t seem to wrap my head around the view from Lake Manyara to Moshi; it was like a scene from Tuscany, Italy. Rolling hills, filled with crops ranging from dark brown, purple and rich forest green, lined the roads, remaining untouched.
On the way, we stopped at a gas station to pick up a Coca-Cola for Willium and so the others can use the toilet (they don’t use the term restroom here, because it is often just a toilet). I sat in the car and waited. While I sat there, two young children approached me. Their words to me were:
Kids: “You give me a pencil.”
Me: “Pole (sorry), I don’t have a pencil.”
Kids: “You give me a pen?”
Me: “Pole, I don’t have a pen to give you.”
Though I felt bad not being able to give them a pencil, I couldn’t help but think of how white tourists have created this sort of stereotype that now all children in rural Tanzania think they will be given something by the tourists that pass through. As my music played in my ear, I drifted back into thought…
It was an incredible experience.
One for keeps.
