Blogs from Tanzania, Africa - page 356

hey ihr lieben pole pole heisst langsam langsam und so laeufts hier auch. somit hat auch unser versprochener eintrag verspaetung... wir geniessen hier jede einzelne minute und obwohl die zeit wie im flug vergeht, fuehlt es sich an, als waeren wir schon eine ewigkeit in dieser voellig fremden welt. gerade sind wir auf zanzibar angekommen und freuen uns auf strandtage. wir hoffen, euch gehts allen gut und senden euch ganz liebe gruesse aus dem heissen tanzania, Annina und Miri... read more

After a week of volunteer training in Dar es Salaam, we were headed to Zanzibar. The ferry was crowded and we sat huddled together, listening to the sound of the rain pelting against the windows and the hum of people speaking Swahili around us. It had been raining all week, but it wasn’t like the steady, gentle Canadian rain we were used to. This rain started and stopped in an instant, and it fell so hard it sometimes hurt my skin. It was just another reminder of how far we were from home. It was dark when the ferry docked in Stonetown. We piled into a small truck with our backpacks and headed towards what would be our home for the next ten weeks. We were five new acquaintances, Canadians thrown together in a strange country ... read more

Hello all! We arrived safely in Dar es Salaam after a 7 hour bus ride. It was great, like a plane on wheels. The guy served us cookies and coke (in the old-school glass bottles, with straw!), and we were able to stop for lunch in this great place that had beef kabobs for only 200 ts a piece. That's about 20 cents. We had a decent night in a BUDGET hotel, and we've just moved our bags to the next hotel which will store them while we visit Zanzibar for 4 days. It's a relief not to have to carry all my climbing gear and extra stuff all over the place. We have burned some photo cds, and I'm hoping to upload some of those when we get to Zanzibar. Internet places are plentiful, but ... read more

Hello Friends and Family! Well, I am pleased to report that no one became the meal for a hungry something. =) Our adventure started with visiting Lake Manyara where we were introduced to the art of watching wildlife.....see where the other trucks are parked, and go join them. I kind of felt like we were part of a giant herd of metallic wildebeasts! We saw some baboons (even baby ones, giraffes, elephants and flamincos, but the real animal watching started when we continued on to the Serengeti National Park. We all became adept at scanning the grassland and shouting out if we saw something moving in the brush. Ironically, it was only the prey animals we could find....thompson and grant gazells, DikDicks(gazells the size of small dogs--so cute!), guinea fowl, and an assortment of birds. We ... read more

12th August Saturday DAY 22 NGORONGORO CRATER to ARUSHA Another chilly 6am wake up, but driving to the crater with the thick fog and moss hanging off the trees gave it a very eerie feeling, and worth it. As we turned and headed to the rim of the crater I was so excited to be finally about to descent into this amazing ecosystem and there was a beam of sunlight piercing the crater ground. We opened the rooftops and headed in. We drove around for a while before seeing anything but Laurence gave us some great Crater info (some animals are actually able to leave the crater). The Ngorongoro Crater is the largest unbroken caldera (a large crater in a volcano) in the world. It’s surrounded by very steep walls rising 610 meters from the crater ... read more