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Published: August 11th 2010
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Jambo from Tanzania, famous for the wildlife of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater and beautiful beaches on the exotic island Zanzibar.
The Serengeti plains were dry and went for as long as the eye could see. Giraffes lumbered slowly across the savannah while the male ostriches danced around the females as part of their mating ritual fanning their white plumage, buffaloes caked in dried mud chewed grasses along the side of the road and secretary birds hid amongst the tussock.
After the luck we had with our game viewing in the Masai Mara we expected something great from the Serengeti, there were plenty of animals around but we did not get as close - its all luck of the draw. We saw plenty of prides of lions, resting under the trees out of the sun, another pride drinking from a small pond and others crossed the road in front of us. We spotted a beautiful cheetah sitting in the grass, she very kindly graced us with her presence by walking alongside our car.
On the second day we headed into the Ngorongoro Crater, a massive crater lake with dry savannah grasses for hungry lions to stalk their prey,
hyenas laughing and playing in the long grasses, oasis's of emerald green pools filled with fat hippos, huge palm trees where a family of elephants was feeding and hundreds of wildebeest walking in a long line to drink. We watched three lions sitting happily watching this migration in the grasses. The wildebeest with their poor eyesight did not seem to notice but the zebras were very skittish and would only cross in front of the lions in small groups. A young female lion and her two cubs entertained us for a while. They then crossed the road in front of us where she nursed and cleaned them until the big male made an appearance walking alongside all the cars that stopped for a photo. We watched black backed jackals stumble in front of a pride of lions and then quickly back track quietly when they realised their error.
Bush camping was a great experience, lying in our tents listening to the sounds of Africa and looking at the sky which was glistening with stars.
After the safaris it was then time to spend time at the beach in Zanzibar. Our first stop was the historical Stone Town, the
home of the East African slave trade in the 1880s. The visit to the slave market dungeons was a humbling experience. We went on a spice tour, trying cinnamon, cloves, pepper, cardamon and ginger and eating aromatic rice and curries made with the local spices - absolutely delicious. In the evening we headed to Forodhani Gardens which is completely transformed into a food lover's market selling and cooking seafood, salads, Zanzibari pancakes and for something sweet, banana mango and chocolate pancakes for a fraction of the price that it would cost in the restaurants. It was nice to chat to the friendly locals and eat dinner on the sea side.
The next few days were spent beach side at Nungwi Beach with golden sands, crystal blue waters and dhows beached on the shores during low tide. Women walked in the shallow water collecting shellfish and octopus while the children collected shells. Dinners over the water, walks on the beach and a day of diving was a nice break from travelling. The diving was fantastic, the coral was colourful and there were so many tropical fish of all shapes, sizes and colours, sea turtles and even a pod of dolphins
played around the dhow and surfed the waves.
We are now heading to the friendly nation of Malawi.
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