Advertisement
Published: November 7th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Dinner at Shooters
Denia's first official night out in Dar. The middle of October, 2009 brought the end of my first term of this school year, 2 teacher-in-service days, and Denia! My sister came to visit me for a quick but wonderful 10 days, during my week off from school, and together we terrorized (read: photographed and sang to) the Northern circuit National Parks of Tanzania.
Denia arrived on a Thursday evening, and we had a quiet night in together, catching up and letting Kibo get to know another one of her Aunts. After work on Friday, we did a little tour of Dar and that evening we went out for a big group dinner at a steak joint aptly named "Shooters." I had told Denia about my friends the US Marines, that live and work at the US Embassy here in Dar, and how they are known to sometimes host rousing games of beer pong. Needless to say, Denia needed no arm twisting to want to go and play drinking games on US Embassy soil, following our dinner at Shooters. So we got picked up in a video camera-equipped Embassy SUV and headed into the gates of the Embassy compound. It was a close game, and we let the Marines
Stef and I at the Marine House
Waiting for our turn at the Beer Pong table sweat a little, though in the end they pulled off some near impossible shots and were able to maintain their proud and manly stature. We continued our night out at some other Dar hotspots including the Irish Bar and Garden Bistro- dancing the night away!
After a 4am return home, it was rather difficult to wake up in the morning and finish packing before our flight up to Arusha to begin our safari. Miraculously, we pulled it off, and between dozes on the airplane, we even admired the peak of Mr. Kilimanjaro as we flew past. We then enjoyed a quiet afternoon at our hotel in Arusha (Onsea House, my favorite hotel in Tanzania!), complete with massages (though, I am suspicious that we were rubbed down with olive oil- not necessarily a bad thing) and a 5 course meal! The next morning our driver guide, King, came to pick up his princesses, and off we went to Tarangire National Park!
Upon arrival in the park, Denia saw her first ever wild African animals- a pack of zebras very, very far away. I patiently waited as she photographed, blackberry-graphed, and exclaimed over these animals. Finally I promised her that we would
BEER PONG
The set up. see more zebras, and other animals, and they would be much closer than that. We checked into our hotel, had lunch, and then relaxed in our tented room. While there, we were lucky to have a mama and baby elephant come wandering through our camp! The were 2 tents away from us! It was all very exciting. We went on an evening game drive and saw all sorts of lions, including a pride of 14 that were walking towards a recent kill that their friend had made. We stayed out til the sun set, and then had a lovely dinner and evening back at camp. We woke up early the next morning to do a sunrise game drive, in hopes of catching a live-action kill. No such luck, but we still saw some great animals. We got back to our hotel for breakfast, a nap, and check out. Next stop: Lake Manyara.
Now, I have heard of many a people seeing those alleged tree climbing lions in Lake Manyara, but I remain firmly convinced that they are nothing but a legend. We saw very few animals in Manyara, and certainly no lions in trees. We did however have a lovely
Because
When you're at the Marine House, you should pose with Marine-y paraphernalia. lodge awaiting us, overlooking the park. After just one afternoon in Manyara, and one evening in the lodge, we moved on to the trip's main event: Serengetti National Park.
We spent 4 days and 3 nights in the Serengetti- in Seronera to be specific. Our lodge was fully inhabited by rock hyraxes and many colorful forms of lizards. Apparently there was also a resident python, but I'd prefer not to think of that. We averaged 2-3 game drives per day in the Serengetti, seeing leopards, cheetah, and lions (though oddly enough the lions were the most active/awake of all cats sighted). We even saw lions just before and after their meals had been stalked, saw some cubs ravaging dinner, and many playful cubs! We also saw hyena, jackals, buffalo, warthogs, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, most hoofed creatures (not a sable though, sorry Dad), and various forms of primate. Denia was loving every minute of it, and I was loving her enthusiasm and company! We had a ton of fun with our guide, King, through our group themed sunglasses that we picked up just before setting off on safari, the Lion King songs that we sang to him, and the fact that
Circa 1am
Still going strong! every morning when he picked us up, he would say "Good morning, Princesses."
On our third day in the Serengetti, we had a 5:30 pick up from the hotel in order to go hot-air ballooning! We almost didn't get to go as our tour group came 15 minutes early, and then left when we weren't there waiting! After a frantic phone call, they came back for us, and we joined our group of 12 in our balloon basket! We watched the balloon getting checked and prepped, then we had to crawl into our basket while it was still laying on its' side, and were right-sided when the hot air filled the balloon! We traveled high and low over the plains, seeing some lions running after their breakfast, other herds getting their morning exercise, hippos huddling up, etc. It was such a beautiful and unique way to view the Serengetti plains, and surprisingly very calming. When we landed, after an hour of exploration in the air, we were greeted with champagne flutes and a welcome to the "Survivors' Club!" After this 8:30am indulgence, we were brought to a breakfast site, which had been erected in the middle of the Serengetti- a
Mt. Kilimanjaro
From our plane seats. full English Breakfast spread! It was luxurious!
After one more day in the Serengetti, we had a long and dusty drive all the way back to Arusha- stopping en route to make some souvenir purchases, and experience local cuisine. We got back to our hotel at sundown and stayed once again in the Onsea House, where we were treated to another glorious five course meal. The next day brought us back to Dar, for one more night on the town, before Denia left me on Sunday, and I had to get back to work. It was such a wonderful trip, and I am so happy that Denia was able to come out here to experience my life here, as well as some of the treasures that Tanzania has to offer! I only wish she could have stayed longer!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.046s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 12; qc: 22; dbt: 0.0211s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Ine
non-member comment
Brought back great memories
Ales - again - a wonderful narrative of yet another amazing adventure with sister Denia - must say can't wait to get back to Africa once more to again experience its magic. Miss you and am sending you lots of love and hugs.