Arusha and Lake Manyara Safari Days 1-2

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After Arriving at Nairobi airport I caught a shuttle bus to Arusha and finally arrived at my hostel after 24 hours of travelling at 18:00. The roads to Arusha were all being dug up so half the time the bus was off road which was like driving on cobblestones and the rest was tarmac.

Arusha was a bit crazy but I managed to book a safari for the next day within an hour of arriving which was a result. I had heard numerous horror stories about booking safaris but went with Lasi tours I didn't know a thing about them but they turned out to be fantastic, the reason being the most important part of a safari was the guide - (it was a budget camping one so the food and accommodation were never going to be great). Our guide Andrew turned out to be amazing as you will see.

Had a few beers at the hostel and then the next day was off to Lake Manyara for the start of the safari. I was joined at the start of the safari by John and Renee from Sydney, Australia and the made the safari one of the most memorable holiday I have had. They were absolutely hilarious, John had been training to be a stand up comic and he was so funny.

Lake Manyara was an alkaline lake and its surroundings were home to numerous animals, the most amusing of which was the velvet monkey, as you can see from the pictures below it had bright blue balls which gave us much enjoyment. I also saw many hippos and elephants, giraffes and at one point a buzzard flying over us carrying a snake that it had just caught. For the squeamish among you, it was also home to the black mamba snake which lent to a daunting trip to the toilet from the tent.

That night we stayed in Lake Manyara camp site which also had some unusual residents - 4 maribu storks - they were absolutely huge - wingspan around 2 metres across and kept clacking their beaks throughout the night!!


The boring bits

I booked the Riverside shuttle to Arusha in advance which picked me up at Nairobi airport at 08:15 (it also picks up at 14:15).

I stayed at Arusha backpackers for $10 a night

The safari was for 5 days and cost $720 with Lasi Tours

Riverside shuttle booked on-line $30

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