Blogs from Tanzania, Africa - page 369

It was midnight when we crossed the border from Kenya to Tanzania on the overnight bus. And since buses aren’t allowed to drive at night in Tanzania, the driver pulled over in the first town and everyone slept for six hours; we curled up on the bus seats while others made beds of cardboard and sprawled out on the sidewalk til the sun came up and we could continue. Late in the morning we arrived in Dar es Salaam—tired, sweaty, and relieved to be off the mostly unpaved road after a full 24 hours of travel from Kenya. Though Dodoma holds the official title, Dar is Tanzania’s economic and political capital, and the country’s biggest city. Among travelers it’s known for being uninteresting in relation to other East African cities—most people use it as a stop-over ... read more

After a superb Ethiopian Meal at Addis in Dar in Dar es Salaam, we took the ferry the next day to Stone Town, Zanzibar. Stone Town has a interesting culture with a mix of Persian, Arabic, Indian and Bantu influences. To this day, one can see the influences in the exquisitely carved doors of most Zanzibari homes. Zanzibar was a city state until the 16th century with key trade links between Africa and Asia. After being a Portuguese colony briefly, it was ruled by the Omani Sultans until 1963. It then was joined with Tanganyika to form Tanzania. To this day, many locals consider themselves Zanzibaris and not Tanzanians. Stone Town is a beautiful town on the south west coast of Zanzibar main island. The narrow, labyrinthe alleways reminded us of Morocco. Alison had her fill ... read more

After my not so safe experience with the 1st tour company for a 2 day Safari, I decided I definitely didn't want to go up the mountain with them for 5 days. So I went to the company I originally planned to go up with and we sat down the morning I was supposed to climb and to plan my trip up. I was hoping that I could be added to a group that was already going up to save money, but they didn't have any others. I explained to the owner, who I call 'Big brother' that he had to send me up with safety as a priority. That was no problem for him so called up a guide with 6 years of experience as a guide and 2 porters and a cook. The basics ... read more

We drove back to a clearing of plains where the toilets were and ran into a group of Masai herdsmen on the way back to the truck. I am not sure how they feel about us, but I get the strangest feelings around them. It's weird how they aggressively come up to you asking you to take pictures of them or with them. Over time, with so many tourists taken unwanted pictures of them, they've adapted and now spend a good bit of time accommodating and even invited tourists. who can blame them though. Being pushed steadily from the land they called home for centuries further and further over time by the govenrment in an effort to preserve and use their land as 'national parks' for tourists to gather. It seems natural that they'd have ... read more

We were finally allowed into the Ngorongoro Park around 6:30pm, with some other people who had also arrived after the 6pm curfew. ... read more