Day 1 - Safari

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Part 1

I'm in a really cool tent. Like really really cool. It's a hotel room, but in a tent!

There's loads of mosquitoes here so I have to be careful. Also, I didn't realise that I would be on a safari trip myself. I thought that I would be meeting up with other people. No wonder it was so expensive.

My driver/guide is called Molel ( I don't actually know how to spell his name). He's quite nice. Anyway, the village that I'm staying in is called Mto wa Mbu - River of Mosquitoes. On my way to the Migunga Camp, I saw loads of cattles, goats and donkeys and little children were herding them. Those kids have to grow up so fast.

The scenery here is definitely very different from home. As I'm writing this, I can hear the constant buzz of mosquitoes and God knows what else. I've got to go soon, as the driver will be bringing me to Lake Manyara National Park. Hopefully I shall see loads of animals!

Oh by they way, I think there is only 1 family staying here. Also the portion of food is HUGE. I could not finish my beef burger and leek soup for lunch.



Part 2

I managed to get a sim card on the way to the National Park. The driver was kind enough to lend me money as I did not have any Tanzanian Shillings.

There were many other jeeps in the national park. I saw many of the same company as mine - Leopard Tours, although I was the only vehicle that had only 1 traveller. The roof of the jeep I was in could be extended upwards, thus I was able to poke my head out to admire the view/animals. I really enjoyed the cold wind blowing against my face although I hated the swarms of insects that kept flying into my face. One even nearly went into my ear! I could even hear that annoying buzzing sound. Needless to say, I gave up towards the end and sat back down. We were the last to leave the National Park as my guide wanted to show me some elephants but to no avail. But that aside, I managed to see zebras, wildebeests, buffalos, giraffes, gazelles and many different types of birds. I saw many different types of monkeys too! One of them is called the Blue monkey (aka Skye monkey).

So there were many other couples/families/friends staying at the hotel too. I was the only lone traveller. Whilst waiting for dinner, I managed to vibe my parents, which was nice. When I went to the restaurant to be seated for dinner, the waiter was surprised I was alone D: I had sweet potato cream soup, vegetarian pasta and some sort of dessert I didn't finish. It was kind of awkward eating alone. I could see some of the other guests glancing as me whilst I tried to play cool by reading stories on my phone whilst eating dinner. Oh well, I supposed that I should learn to get used to it.

I always thought that I would like travelling solo. Turns out it's not that much fun and I feel starved of familial love and friendly banter and just companionship in general. It's okay, I've only got 7 weeks to go! Well, to be honest, I'm assuming that I'll make friends with the people I'm climbing Kilimanjaro with and the people I'm teaching with in FAA, so it's not actually that long.As usual, I'm just being melodramatic.



PS: Photos are in the Day 4 entry.

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