AncientWanderer

Azure blue waters, blinding white coral sand that is so soft it's like talcum powder, coconut palms swaying in a gentle breeze, a hot tropical sun, a room with a king-sized bed that stands 3 feet high and you literally have to climb into which has views of all of the above - travelling in Africa can be tough sometimes. This is the perfect place to end my travels. Have been snorkelling in the lagoon a couple of times, it's not The Red Sea or Sipadan but have spotted Lion Fish, Clown Fish, Puffer Fish, Sea Snake, Eel, Lobster and the usual array of fish usually associated with a tropical aquarium. Organised a car and a party of 4 of us to go to the Rock Restaurant about 20km up the coast on Tuesday night. Visually ... read more

A slow day today, went on a spice tour in the the morning which was actually a lot more interesting that I thought it would be - who knew that mace & nutmeg came from the same plant? Had the otion of going to the beach or returning to Stonetown after the tour and as I'll be spending the next 4 days on the beach opted to go back to Stonetown and continue wandering the narrow alleyways, it's a very cool place. Had a look at the House of Wonders, so called because it was the first house in East Africa to have electric lights, running water and an elevator - all wondrous things. Went down to Forodhani Gardens for dinner - a giant open air BBQ - probably the best thing on offer was the ... read more

One more early start, hopefully this is the last one. Joined the crush to get aboard the 7.00am ferry and 2 hours later I'm fighting my way through the touts on the Zanzibar wharf. The Princess Salme Inn is only 100 metres from the port, built in the old Moorish style with an open courtyard interior and loads of stairs. Zanzibar is a lot more laid back than mainland Tanzania, even the touts don't push as hard, I think I'm going to like this place. Spent a couple of hours wandering around the narrow winding streets of the old town and found myself going past the same shops time after time, the place is like some sort of crazy maze. Took a $10 2 hour walking tour of the town in the afternoon so I'm slowly ... read more

I'll start by saying that this is probably the only day of the trip I would do differently if I had the chance to do it over. I was up at 5.45 to get the Dar Express bus from Moshi to Dar Es Salaam. The trip should take 7 hours, which would allow me to connect with the ferry to Zanzibar. Unfortunately what should have been a 7 hour trip turned into a 9 hour ride from hell stuck in a tiny seat. The main delays were caused by the Police, that stopped us every 75km or so to do some sort of bogus inspection along with a couple of stops in the middle of nowhere when the entire bus would empty out to water the trees. We eventually got into Dar at 4.00pm, tantalisingly close ... read more

We are up at 5.30am the visit the Hadzabe bushmen and go hunting with them. We pick up Christopher our guide, and head into the widerness. We find the Hadzabe men gathered round a small fire under a rock overhang smoking what smells suspiciously like electric puha. On the other side of the rock the women and children are gathered. Once they have finished their smoke we set off with the men on a hunt. We are apparently looking for a Dik Dik shot the previous evening. After about an hour we find an arrow with blood & hair on it and 30 minutes later the Dik Dik is found. Yours truly is assigned the task of getting a fire going with a drill stick which, surprisingly, I manage to do. The dikdik is then thrown ... read more

Damn it was cold overnight - around 3c. Straight into the truck at 6.00am with our sleeping bags for warmth then head for the Crater entrance and the steep descent to the crater floor. this is like Africa in miniature, all the game is here, in a 26 km2 area, prides of Lions, Elephants, Giraffe, Bush Bucks, Zebra, Ostriches , Hippos and on and on. The highlight was seeing a couple of Rhinoceros, albeit at something of a distance, and huge flocks of Flamingos. We have 6 hours in the park then another long drive to Lake Eyasi. I thought the red dust of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro was bad but it's nothing compared to the fine talcum like dust of Lake Eyasi that gets everywhere. By the time we get to camp Charles has gone ... read more

We are up at 6.00am for an early morning game drive. We haven't gone far when we spot a Hippo wandering back to his waterhole after his night's exertions. Then almost immediately afterward we find a super-pride of around 27 lions stalking a lone Buffalo that has separated from the herd. The Buffalo wanders slowly out of range of the Lions who don't seem too keen on taking on the Buffalo. Further on a smaller pride of lions with a Wildebeest they have killed overnight. Later, we are watching a Leopard hanging in a tree when we notice a family of Cheetah, a mother with 4 grown cubs, circling slowly in the tall grass. As we watch a herd of Thompson's Gazelle take fright, but it's too late for one of them as there is a ... read more

Today we take another long drive, this time west to the Grumeti River in search of the great Wildebeest migration, which is something I really want to see. The herds of Wildebeest and Zebra slowly thicken as we move west and suddenly, it seems, the plain is completely filled with Wildebeest, what an awesome site. I had hoped we might see the herds crossing the Grumeti River, it was a long shot, but you hope for these things. I didn't quite get my wish but as we came to the river ford the bodies of those Widebeest that had attempted the crossing and failed were piled up in the river with a vast flock of Vultures and Maribu Storks feasting on the carcasses. You definitely didn't want to get downwind of that lot. As we follow ... read more

It's surprisingly cold during the night and doesn't really get warmed up until around 10.00am, the showers are cold so most of the Americans give it a miss. Breakfast is plentiful, I think I'm going to be one of the few people in Africa putting on weight. At 8.00am we are off on a game drive around the Central Serengeti area. There are a lot of ungulates (Gazelle, Wildebeest, Eland & Haartebeast etc) about as we are seeing the very tail end of the migration. The highlights of the morning's trip are a pair of lions a Leopard with its kill (a Thompson's Gazelle) stashed up in a tree, herds of Elephant and Giraffe. Back to camp for lunch and a couple of hours rest in the a tent that now closely resembles an Indian sweatlodge. ... read more

A lazy start to a looong day's driving with breakfast at 8.30 then pack up the LandCruiser and on the road by 10.00am. We are heading for the Serenera Camp Site in the middle of the Serengeti Park, going via the Ngorongoro Reserve. A couple of hours into the trip and the first site of the Ngorongoro Crater from the rim is worth the whole trip - it's a truly spectacular site. Another hours drive through the Maasai country around Ngorongoro, with herds of cattle and goats being driven by Maasai boys in what seems very inhospitable country, and we come to the entrance to the Serengeti Park. The southern end of the park is very dry with a distinct lack of either flora or fauna but as we move north and west it slowly becomes ... read more