African Safari

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.......Karibu..... Tanzania.....

Day 5 - Tuesday 15 November

5am wake up to start our journey to Arusha in Tanzania. Breakfast at the usual, Dove Café, Fried eggs 7 toast with tip. 7:30am the Riverside Shuttle arrives at the hotel to collect us and take us to the Bus station. Another 5 hours on the road with a mixture of other tourists… Dutch, Estonian. Arrive at Border crossing at Namanga. Easy exit from Kenya, but a long process to get into Tanzania while passing through “no-mans-land”. Got to immigration office to get stamps to enter Tanzania, Dutch woman (aka ‘Jari’) decided to pay $500 instead of the expected $50 fee!! Finally get our passports back. Quick check through the luggage rack by the customs officials and we are on our way to Arusha. The drive through the mountains is scenic. Arrive at Arusha at Mt Meru Hotel and Bobbyt tours driver is there to pick us up. We are dropped at the Meru House Inn, via a stop ff at one of Bobby’s many offices. Meet with Mustafa “Bobby” Abdullah who is a Shia from the Kutch in India. Quick shower and off to town. Get some lunch a local café (more omelette) and chat with couple who own a Islamic Book shop. They used to live in Zanzibar but had to leave after the revolution. They warn us about the dangers od walking around in Arusha - dodgy women with Syringes threatening to stab you with HIV if you don’t hand over your wallet.. Find an excellent Indian restaurant downstairs from the hotel and enjoy a late dinner (keeping the owners working beyond their normal closing time). A hot and sticky night, but get some reasonable sleep despite the mozzies.

Day 6 - Wednesday 16 November

Early 6am start once again. 7am breakfast at the downstairs café - change of menu - French Toast today ;-) Safari car arrives to pick us up - a Land Rover discovery with 200,000 km in the clock and an open roof. Head to the office, and meet our driver and chef for the forthcoming trip - Gespar and Rajjab (who turns out to be an excellent cook). Last minute change of plan as we decide we will go for the Balloon safari in Serengeti so diversion to the Ballooning Office. Head off, on our way to 1st port of call - Lake Manyara. Stop on the way to a local village attached to ‘Snake Park’ to pick up Rajjab’s “portable kitchen”. Continue on along an excellent tarmac roa that was built by the Japanese. Arrive at Mto-Wa-Mbo 2hours later, apparently the literal translation of the name is “River of Mosquitoes”. Rajjab sets up our tent at the Fig Camp directly in front of a large Swimming Pool that we are surprised to find. Tent is surrounded by wide variety of tropical fruit tree including Coconut, Papaya, Orange, Custard Apple, Avocado and Mango. Lunch is served, and then we head of to Manyara NP for the 1st Game drive. Lake was pretty dry - so a few flamingos in the distance - looking like a like a thin line of pink on the horizon, and a few fat hippos nearby - initially disappointed. We head off into the surrounding jungle to discover a veritable city of Elephants, very close and Sadiq enjoying himself with the Baboons and Vervet monkeys. Head back to the camp, and by some Red Banana’s at the market on the way back - apparently they are only available in this region. Get back to camp to discover that our lodging had been upgraded to a double room - yippee no tent tonight!
Decide to go for a walk in town- visited a garden centre. Come back for an excellent dinner and chat with the camp manager.


Day 7 - Thursday 17 November

Not such an early start today - wake up at 7am, shower, pack and head off to the Serengeti via the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Quick stop to have a look down into the crater and continue on to Olduvai (Oldupai) Gorge a long a dust track. Look into the museum, get a lecture from the local guide and learn all about the ‘Cradle of Civilisation’. Bump into the Dutch tourist from the Arusha bus while having a picnic lunch. Continue our journey on to Serengeti along a long, straight, bumpy and dusty road to arrive a couple of hours later at the gates. Finally enter the famous Serengeti plains, viewing Gazelles, Wildebeest and Zebras which have all recently migrated from the Masai Mara. Continue driving to the Seronera region of the park, suffering a flat tyre on the way - by the riverside, near the Hippos and Croc’s. Quick change of tyre by Rajjab and Gespar and we’re moving again. Finally arrive at the Dik-Dik ‘Basic campsite’ and set up camp to discover what ‘Basic’ actually means in Tanzania, i.e. sinks with no running water and low level pit toilets. Several other campers already their, some are familiar. Large covered Kitchen area for the cooks. See the sun set and then enjoy a candlelit dinner prepared fresh from Rajjab’s kitchen, with Red-Banana Fritters. Finally get to sleep (or try to with Lions roaring away all night.. or was that Sadiq snoring?).


Day 8 - Friday 18 November

Very early, 4am Start, to leave for 5:30am Ballon Safari. Gespar drives us to the launch site. We get introduced to the Pilot, called Paul from Zimbabwe, nice chap, who gives us a pre-launch briefing. Staff are inflating the balloon. We then board…sideways up. Take-off is a lot easier than we imagined… we gently rise into the air, with the sun itself rising behind us. First ever time in a balloon and it’s glides smoothly, welcome change from the 4x4. Completely different perspective of the landscape as we float just over the trees. Immediately see a pride of lions heading to the river for their morning drink, a 3-legged Hyena (real rarity), Hippos and a 4WD drive Hippo running up the main road (according to the fat American woman in the next cabin). Come across a large migrationary group of Wildebeest and Zebra’s which scatters when they hear the noise of the Balloons’ burners. The sight of a thousand animals in panic as they scatter to escape the apparent danger is amazing. Also see a leopard, and get an hitherto unseen view of the vultures in their nests. We float for over an hour along the Seronera River. Landing is bumpy…no undercarriage, so we bounce three times until we come to a stop - sideways up. This is actually more comfortable and painless than it sounds.
Get served champagne in the Savanah to celebrate the successful landing, orange juice for those not partaking in the alcoholic drink. Mingle and chat with the other passengers and Paul for a while before beign driven to the middle of nowhere for breakfast. A long banquet table with glass and china laid out in the middle of the Serengeti plains. Full English is served by guys dressed in Lawrence of Arabia style suits, who also pour water for hand washing. Chat with some other Brits at breakfast.
At 10, we get taken to the lodge, where (though we are not resident) we make max use of the ‘real’ washrooms. Gespar is already waiting to take us on a game drive. Saw Lions and a Cheetah before heading back to the campsite for a ‘Light’ Lunch (Chicken Curry with Chips, Fruit Salad, Soup, Side Salad). Rested till 4pm, tried to sleep but only shade and cool was in the back of the Land-Rover as the inside of the tent was like an Oven. Set off for a late afternoon safari with a bowl of Rajjab’s special croutons.
Saw a family of Lions and a close-up of a Male Lion. Back to the camp for dinner of Rajjab Special Pullau and prepare for sleep. Sadiq has a small accident in the loo - torch go dropped down where there was no chance of retrieving it!- left with no torch and dark toilets we had to borrow one of the driver’s head torch.


Day 9 Saturday 19 November

Early morning game drive at 6am, so another early wake up call and wet-wipe shower (Quite enjoy them now?). Drive to the western corridor, and Grumeti river. Saw lot’s of Giraffe’s en-route, and reach sadiq’s favourite hippo pool, where the occupants sit in the stagnant water all day letting of steam (out the back end). This has probably something to do with the 40KG of grass they each eat every night. Only way of getting them to move a muscle was to throw stones in the water, this at least elicited some head raising and grunting. Back to camp for delicious breakfast and couple of hours rest. Lunch was served again in 1 hour ! and we head off to Ngorongoro crater. Arrive at the crater before sunset and stup our camp. Watch the sunset with our new neighbours - Marabou Storks. Pleased to sea running water, however disappointed to find it’s only cold ! Fatima decides not to brave the water after seeing an Italian woman come out shivering. Munni decides she can manage with another day of Wet Wipes. Sadiq however braves it when told by another camper that it is was tepid - only to discover the Kiwi, “Himmi” that told so had a different idea of the meaning of the word.
Dinner in the canteen with plenty of other back-packers, a couple from New-Zealand and some Aussies on their honeymoon. Dinner of Pasta, which Sadiq loved. We get warned by all the drivers about Bush pigs that apparently come up out of the crater at nights to feed, along with Zebra’s and Elephants ! Go to sleep in the tent, to be woken up at 1am by large amount of squealing noises outside. Sadiq decides to slowly zip open the door to see outside (despite Munni’s appeals to keep the door shut). Find a herd of Zebra’s are running straight through the campsite right outside the tent!



Day 10 - Sunday 20 November

Wake up early at 5:30am (quite used to it now..!) have another wet wipe shower do not want to brave the freezing water and after breakfast of fried eggs n toast where we hear that we had visitors in the campsite some elephants had decided to walk up the crater. We then head off for our descent into the crater at 7:00am. The drive down the crater is very steep along the descent road. By the time we got to Ngorongoro we had seen the Big4 so we head straight into the Lerai forest to begin our hunt for the Black Rhino but bad luck we only find elephants. Then some other safari vehicle radioed the driver Gesper that he had spotted the elusive Rhino and we made a dash for it… but only managed to see part of it (only the backside was visible from a distance & hidden behind the trees..!). We continue driving in the crater and see lions / hyenas / leopard / zebras / wildebeest however still looking out for the Rhino. Finally we get to see 2 of them in the distance mother & baby, by this time all the other vehicles have heard about them too and soon everyone’s there. We then leave the mother n baby in peace and go off to see the remains of lake Magadi, to spot the few remaining flamingos who it seemed were left behind by those migrating to lake Natron (or more like they were too lazy to migrate..!). Sadiq entertained himself to a Hyena fighting with a Jackal. We then drive to a picturesque picnic spot (freshwater lake - whose water apparently comes down from Lake Victoria). This was close to the swamps. After watching several hippos and elephants we decide to make our way out of the crater - a hell raising drive out via the ascent road. We arrive back at the campsite just in time for lunch before our departure to Tarangire National Park. On the way back from the Ngorongoro area we drop off cook Rajjab at Mto-Wa-Mbo, he was going to get a Dalla-Dalla back home & we gave him his tip & a T-shirt. We continued our drive to Tarangire and finally arrive only to find about 60 yanks who’d just turned up. We finally arrive at the luxurious Sopa Lodge (a real treat after a week of camping..!!!), get handed wet towels & refreshing passion juice at reception & then get shown to our room. Wow what a delight it is to see a proper shower / real toilet & comfy beds. The next couple of hours we spend in the shower cleaning & scrubbing ourselves..!! should have seen the state of the shower after…. Wow we felt so clean first time in a week. We get ready and wandered down for a coffee before setting down for dinner in the restaurant and found that the yanks we saw earlier at the park entrance were staying in the same lodge. While having coffee we chatted to Osmeni (a local asai worker) who is one of 34 kids of a Masai warrior who escaped the masai for a more modern living - he happened to be a Eddie Murphy look alike. After dinner we headed straight off to bed……. Ohh the bed was so inviting …!!!


Day 11 - Monday 21 November

Last night was the first night I had a proper full nights sleep since the start of the trip…!!! Oh the bed was so comfy didn’t want to get out in the morning. We’r ready at 7:00AM after another real shower (no more wet wipes now..!) and head down for breakfast. Breakfast was certainly different - choice of juices (passion/mango/pineapple) omelettes / pancakes made to personal request, fruit, cereal…….. checked out, chatted with a guy on reception who’s name was Mohamed, he mentioned that they had no facilities for namaaz, eid prayer eventhough 50%!o(MISSING)f staff are muslim (& of course the lodge is owned by a muslim… well Aga Khanis) We then leave to start our game drive with Gasper - was hard leaving the comforts of the lodge behind for another long safari day ahead… it would be our last game drive of the trip…!! There is not much to see initially, then we spotted a lioness overlooking a bend in the Tarangire river, she was walking to get some shade under a tree. Unusually Gesper decided to drive straight across the plain off track (eventhough off-roading is not allowed in Tanzanian parks) to get a closer look. We got to the opposite bank to the lioness and discovered there were a total of 12 lions in all..!! about ½ of them were cubs which were tentatively walking towards a set of trees. At this stage 3 buffalo’s decide to climb down the river to drink water. The lions stopped walking and turn backward, with one of the lioness making her intentions clear and two others right behind her. After a couple of mins, they leaped for it, the buffalo’s scattered, two of the lioness’s pounced onto the back of the slowest one and dragged it down, there followed a battle and clouds of dust as the buffalo fought back in vain. By now Gesper was haring across the savannah to get a better view as were several other cars and soon it was all over. The lions were gorging themselves, another group of around 6 lions joined the party, while a nearby curious herd of zebra & wildebeest were scared away from getting a better look by a guard lion. One by one the lions had their fill and walked off to rest under a tree. No sign of any hyenas or vultures yet, but Gesper reckoned a buffalo would last the lions at least 5 days. The last time he’d actually seen a kill was 3 years back, sooo we were really lucky..!! we move onwards, seeing lots of elephants, zebras, also have a picnic at a great spot at the top of a cliff looking down into the river where elephants, giraffe, zebra & wildebeest all drinking water. Only problem were cheeky vervet monkey’s that tried to steal out of our lunch boxes. Final stretch was a drive through what seemed to be Tsetse fly heaven before arriving at the exit around 2:00ish. Now we were on the long road back to Arusha, stopped at a couple of curio shops to buy some Masai basket, some hard bargaining at two shops led to 3 baskets & a giraffe for $16 (after initial pitch for $24). Unfortunately for Gesper who had to pay back 1000 TzS to the 1st shop we went to. Got back to Bobby’s office, meet Kassim (Bobby’s son), picking up Rajjab on the way back at Snake Park. Geoffry gave munni a masai bracelet on Bobby safari’s behalf. Rajjab gave Munni the popcorn basket he used to serve food in (sooo sweet of him). We go to hotel Annexe - change from original plan as it’s opposite the bus station for early morning departure. Only problem is the hotel is also accommodating the Dar-es-Salaam football team that has just won - the Tanzania National trophy the same evening, so a very noisy night ahead as the celebrations continue into the early hours. Said our fnal good-byes to Gesper & Rajjab, go for a walk around the hotel but most of the shops are shut by 6ish. Bought some rope for 500 TZS (1st price 2k) to tie Munni’s new Ali Baba basket shut…!! Had diner at the hotel, naff overcooked Tilapia fish for Sadiq but Munni’s was edible.


Day 12 - Tuesday 22 November

Woke up at 4:00am to go to bus station just after 5:00am (no breakfast today), to catch the Dar Express to Dar-Es-Salaam. There was one bus ready but we’re told it was not ours (eventhough it was same destination and same class..!!) we had to hang around for another ½ hour wit 2 large rucksacks, 2 small rucksacks & Alibaba basket, 2 bottles of water and food & munni’s purse..!!! Eventually they managed to get our bus ready - involved swapping the battery from another bus..!! Discovered that the Dar-Es-Salaam footy team were also on our bus… great no chance for any sleep on the us either L The bus sets us on time at 6:30am wasn’t too bad actually, quite comfortable, though munni had a bit of a “bargey” with woman behind her that obviously hadn’t paid for a seat for her child and asked munni not to recline her seat. The bus passes through Moshi (town on the foothills of mount Kilimanjaro…) but no view of mount Kilimanjaro today as its covered in cloud..!! 8:30am the grumpy hostess starts handing cold fizzy drinks..! a coffee might have been more appropriate at that time..! This wakes up the footie stars who had up till now been pretty quiet. Trip is 9 hrs long and pretty uneventful, one scheduled loo break and several unscheduled breaks to allow passengers to do their grocery shopping or dropping them off on request or what appears to be delivering the shopping to the passengers relatives en-route..!! might have got to Dar a couple of hours earlier if it wasn’t for the above. Arrive in Dar at 3:00pm, surprisingly not starving considering we’ve only eaten a few cashews and 1 fruitbar all day..! The footy team are doing their screaming and flag waving as if they’re just returning home from winning the Ashes J There’s only 2 other non-locals on the bus, 2 girls (travellers) who get on at Moshi. Taxi touts are already jostling for business through the bus windows before we’ve even stopped. Best fare to the hotel we could get for 1.5k Tsh, all drivers citing increasing petrol prices as the reason why its no longer possible to get 1k as written in the book. Arrive at the Luther House Hostel in 10mins. Joke with the receptionist if we can pay the resident rate of 20k instead of visitors 25k. without hardly any hesitation she says ok..!! Guess we are residents anyway - even if just 1 day. Its hot and humid in Dar (and even worse in the room) so decide to go out for a look around. First we head to the ferry port to buy our ferry tickets to Zanzibar for tomorrow. Fight our way past the touts & conmen to get to the real ticket office. Fat woman takes our money & issues the tickets - charm doesn’t appear to be in big supply in Dar. Then find the Indian area, pop into a small café run by two old women in burkhas, get some kachoris, samosas and real chai - not bad for $2. Pop into forex to get some more TzSh, woman behind the counter doesn’t appear to say a word - Sadiq jokes with a local, he says it costs more if you ant her to speak… and also advises how to check for forged notes (though more of an issue with Kenyan than Tanzanian notes). Back to the hotel to get some sleep, and then out to the “Creeks” fast food place. Have quite a good Indian meal, before heading back to the hotel for the night - walking through the streets of Dar at night doesn’t seem as bad as Arusha or Nairobi. Sign in hostel room says “Hope you have a good Christian stay”


Day 13 - Wednesday 23 November

Get up early again 5:30am to catch the 7:30am ferry to Zanzibar, get the receptionist to agree to look after Munni’s Ali Baba basket while we’re in Zanzibar, that’s a relief..! lets hope they don’t sell it while we’re away. Get to the ferry port and realise we’re 1 hr too early. The over night ferry from Zanzibar has just arrived and what seems like and endless chain of passengers is disembarking. Seem to be a large number of TV’s being carried off-board, we speculate ideas why this might be. Eventually the departure gate is opened and we pass security - all bags are opened but only to get a cursory inspection. We join the queue to board and meet Anna (an Aussie who happened to be one of the girls that got onto our Dar bus at Moshi). Board boat - very comfortable and only ½ full. Ride on the catamaran was very smooth, just as well for drinking the coffee (very good & cheap at 200 TzSh) and an “inflight movie” something with Steve Segal in Korea - lots of blood & guts - maybe not ideal for 15 yr olds that are on board but much enjoyed by the older burka and topiwala passendgers..! Arrive bang on time at Zanzibar port, takes ½ hr to get off. Our hotel manager Sufian is waiting for us, short stock local with pristine white shirt, tie & smart trousers - don’t know how he can wear that in 37 degrees and 90% humidity. Get through immigration formalities without hassle, say goodbye to Anna who’ll be on same flight to Heathrow as. We get taken to hotel (5 mins) Coco-De-Mer an select a room on 1st floor - family room with 3 beds ! Also get $5 discount off original agreed room rate..! Get settled in, had a wash and went out for lunch, next door but one was an Indian veggie restaurant called Radha’s, had their special Thali for 5000 TzSh each, excellent value and included refills..!! Had a quick chat with the manager, and oldish man Mohamed (speaks gujarati), who walked very slowly. He recommends we get a taxi to Paje 2morrow, rather than the bus or Dalla Dalla, especially with luggage. Quick for a very quick walk around Shanghani & then back to the hotel for a nap - it was getting really hot now (& Sadiq’s not too well either..!) Handed some clothes to Sufian for laundry to be ready by 6:00pm. 4:00pm ish go for a longer around the narrow streets of Stonetown, past the fort etc. get approached by little kids that seemed to just want to say Hello & then goodbye ! very cute. A lot of ticks & sellers on the narrow streets, some of them clearly just had a “fix”, seems more like “stonedtown” than “stonetown”. Meet a bored looking woman at the counter of a large curio shop, she was a gujji from Bhuj and was complaining about lack of business. Seems Italians don’t spend any money. Her hubby is a photographer and there were numerous books in the shop of his safari photos - Javed Jafferyji. She also mentioned that muslim fanatics were strong here - apparently they beat people up I they are caught eating in Ramadaan or if a woman isn’t wearing her burka, not sure how much is fact an dhow much exaggeration. We head off as we hear Magrib Azan. Back to the hotel just before a rainstorm hits.. no chance of getting our laundry dried & ironed now. After the rain stops we go out to Forodhani Gardens on the Quayside where it seems the whole town assembles for a open-air dinner & socialising. Enjoy some good fresh fish steaks and Zanzibari pizza, meet bunch of different backpacker - couple from Guernsey that were thick enough to give $6 in advance to a tout for some beers never to be seen again. Some overlanders from Poole. We finish dinner with cup of chai & head back to the hotel. Sadiq has a one sided conversation with the night security guard and the bar man (only staff at that time) about the laundry, but give up and grab the clothes & off to bed.


Day 14 - Thursday 24 November

Today we wake up not too early after what seems to be an endless night. Have breakfast in the restaurant downstairs & head to the post office to post some postcards.. interesting place more like a museum of stamps than a post office..!! then to the forex to change some ££ (seem to be running out of money very quickly now..!!) there is a grumpy bloke at the counter who’s more interested in watching TV than his customers. Get back to hotel just in time to avoid another tropical rainstorm. Eventually it slows down in time as we check-out to leave for our taxi to Paje (the rainstorm continues on & off on the road to Paje). We drive through some very shabby parts of Zanzibar, Jozani forest (didn’t see any Red Colubus monkeys) & endless orchards of coconut palms / mango & banana trees. Arrive at hotel Kinanzi Upepo in Paje (a very small boring sleepy fishing village). We’r early so have to wait outside while the room was being cleaned for half hour or so. Sit on the hammock looking out at the turquoise Indian Ocean under palm trees which is going to be more or less our home for the next few days it seems. Not much here to do except lie on the beach, read & look out at the sea. Go out for a walk later in the afternoon around the village but not much there at all except a few shacks. Then head back to the hotel via the beach & in the hammock again..!! have some coffee & chips (very late lunch) before more relaxation..! Not a very busy place, few other people, seem to have more touts than holiday makers. Dinner was at 7:00pm ish - King fish curry (quite nice) & veggie pancake. Then off to bed after coffee & reading a magazine for a while in candle light..!! Wasn’t a very good first day as we had a broken light (which Sadiq broke n pretended it fell on the floor), broken toilet & finally a broken fan too..!!


Day 15 - Friday 25 November

Get up around 8:00am after a good nights sleep, missed the sunrise - will have to make an effort to catch it tomorrow. Cold shower for Munni but Sadiq managed to get the hot tap to work. Joined the few other residents for breakfast which was pretty filling (usual exotic fruit platter & eggs) the pineapple being particularly sweet & juicy. So fully laden, we head off to the beach charpoys for a morning session of reading & lounging… 100 pages & 5 hrs later decide to go for a dip in the Indian ocean…. Munni starts panicking once the water is thigh high, Sadiq walks out further, meets and Italian with a snorkel who’s only answer to the question “is there any interesting coral out there” is “Italiano”. Teach Munni to play “drafts” after walking and swimming for what seems like ages and the water still not getting to waist level and no longer being able to make out any features on the shore, Sadiq turns around and swim back. Back on the charpoy to dry off, hard life… 6:30pm head to the restaurant. Sit with the waiter for a bit to learn how to play “Bao” a traditional Tanzanian board game that involves counting and distributing pellets around a set of containers. The pellets in this case are made of large seeds that shape of peas. Don’t get to finish the game as dinner is served. Barracuda was good but Munni’s prawn curry was a bit gritty. There’s English couple at the next table that are deeply engrossed in a conversation on why “wrongly” isn’t a real word - this is about as serious or heated that matters seem to get in Paje - off to bed.


Day 16 - Saturday 26 November

Get up early at 5:00am to see the sunrise over the Paje beach, only to find it was still pitch black outside - back to bed for half hour, wake up at 5:30am again and go out to see a picture postcard sunrise over the beach. A few people walking up and down the bach and one or tow boats being readied for fishing trips. ½ hour later we’re back to bad. Wake up again at 9:00am, breakfast time we were the only ones there. No pineapple today, instead some dodgy passion fruit. No croissant & cake either - instead slices of the smallest loaf imaginable and toasted on one side only (though you couldn’t tell by looking at it) The Spanish omelette was very good however. Back t the charpoys..!! a bunch of local village kids come over and start playing on the hammock besides us, this is mildly entertaining for a while. They are actually quite cute but start asking for photo. Zoe (hotel owner) turns up and chases them away. Then as an after thought she introduces herself to us, she seems ok, comes from Redditch (UK) via Kuwait. Back to sleep and the book. Finally finish the book on “Why People Hate America” when a bunch of German’s station themselves on the charpoys next to us and I realise I could write the sequel “Why Everyone Hates Germans” loud, crude, think they own the place and cannot speak with any delicacy. Dinner was Samaki Soup (special request - without Octopus & Squid) so just prawns & kingfish - very good and filling and kingfish curry for Mains..!!


Day 17 - Sunday 27 November

Late morning, Munni washes some shirts, usual breakfast rhythm - coffee, fruit, omelettes. During brekkie a coachload of Italians turn up and take over the beach strutting around almost naked (some of them reminding Sadiq of the views at Lake Manyara - not talking about the flamingos..!!) Manage to hijack a hammock for ourselves for the rest of the day (the peace n calm of Paje is ruined today) - learn to play Bao wth one of the waiters - actually doing quite well but dinner interferes.


Day 18 - Monday 28 November

Wake up a little early, pack all the bags in readiness to leave. Get to breakfast table by 8:30am. Usual breakfast - still no butter available in Paje for the toast..!! Taxi driver arrives ½ hour early but wants to sleep on the beach for a while. We settle the bills with the hotel guys, say good byes and head off. Arrive in Stonetown at 11:00am, go straight to the ferry port to buy tickets for Seabus @ $35 each economy class - but we’re given the 1st class ticket and only shows us having paid $30 (local rate maybe - and the ticket officer probably pocketing the difference !). We have over an hour to kill, so chat with an oldish Dar woman who’s going back home after attending a wedding in Zazibar. She has other kids in Florida & also Denver, probably the most travelled native Tanzanian (not including business travellers) we’ve met. Ferry leaves on time, the DVD player is not working so no ‘in-flight’ movie this time (not complaining - but instead have to listen to loud Afro/Eygyption pop instead, not sure if Steven Seagal is better or worse - close call?). Have some samosas ad pettice, the somosas are really very good. Arrive 2hrs later (3pm) flight and fight past the Taxi Ticks and coolies to walk to the Luther Hotel - It’s really hot, hot, hot and humid, and there is no electric at the mo due to rationing so no Fans or Air con either . Same dear old lady is at the reception and gives us the $20 resident rate agia. Negotiate a $10 taxi fare to airport at 6:15 for tomorrow morning, she introduces us to the driver ; Frank. We get the feeling he may be her husband!
Go for a walk to the fast food joint - Ice Cream & Coffee and a look around the adjoining bookshop. Head for the desi part of town, find a “purnima” restaurant and buy some excellent & very spicy samosas and chai. Chatting with the manager it seems the place was previously owned y the guy that runs and owns the “Purnima of Mombasa” in the UK. The mgr here also tells us his fater was from Jamnagar and his son works works at he Radisson Edwardian in Mayfair London. We head back towards the hotel to get some sterling for buying a Tanzania map at the bookshop. On the way we enjoy a hard negotiation session for a ‘bao’ game board with a street seller - eventually get one for $10, originally asking for $20. Get to the hotel, collect the Ali-Baba basket. Back at the bookshop, the girls behind the counter have never seen a £2 coin before and give us some quizzed looks before cheerfully accepting it. Head to the restaurant next door, get a fairly average quality Indian meal *ikka cicken, masalla, paneer and 2 naans). Sit outside and listen to country & western music blaring from the street DJ ! Go to th supermarket for a last bottle of water, seems to have gone up from 500 to 600 shillings in 4days !
Back to the hotel, Electric is back online, and the A/C is actually functional - wow it’s the first time we’ve felt ‘cool’ in Dar !


Day 19 - Tuesday 29 November

Early start, up at 5:30am, Good night sleep thanx to the A/C and Fan combo. Had packed the bags last night so ready to go in short time. Frank, the driver, arrices just as we are settling the hotel bill. We head off on a different road to the one we arrived, this route taking us past shanty towns and industrial estates. Very quickly we hit a cleaner/tidier area as we join a dual carriageway - usually a good sign that we are near an airport. Lo and behold, after a total of 20 minutes we arrive at T2 of the Nyrere Airport. Same style as Bombay - i.e. only passengers allowed into the building.BA desk not open yet but some security guy starts talking about an $8 “Safety Fee”. Seem’s odd that this is not described as a Security Fee, makes you wander what they will do to you if you don’t pay. After some quick discussion and some flashing of the small print in our e-ticket email soon resolves this. Meet Naomi, an English girl who is travelling home alone, after working in South Tanzania for CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education), she seems very friendly and invites us to visit her home in Cambridge whenever we want - “we always have food in the house”.
Check-in progresses smoothly. As a BA Silver card member, we get an entry passes to the Tanzanite Lounge - It’s funny to note that the words “The Worlds Most Popular Airline” under the BA logo on the voucher has been crossed out by hand - Tanzanian airline staff obviously do not agree with BA’s assertion.
Meet Anna (who we met on the Ferry to Zanzibar). The flight is 1hr late. Munni get’s ‘randomly selected’ for a handbag search which includes every pocket of every bag - at least the local staff on this of security seem happy and manage to even make a joke about women and their luggage !

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Photos

Tanzania safari crew
with guide Gasper & cook Rajab..

Lake Manyara
lesson in African cooking..!!

Masai
local masai men on one of their long treks.....!

Lake Manyara
never seen red bananas before...???

Lake Manyara
the mighty beasts having some fun..!

Serengeti
the long road to Serengeti(endless plain..!!)

Safari jeep
flat tyre in the middle of the jungle.. its a bit scary

Serengeti
it must be a family sunday...!!!

Serengeti
sunset at "dik dik" campsite..!!

Serengeti
flight of a lifetime..!!!

Serengeti
luxury in the savannah..!!!

Serengeti
the great migration of serengeti..!!

Serengeti
if looks could kill..!!

Arusha
Masai market on the outskirts of Arusha..

Zanzibar
stonetown.... a in need of some tlc...!

Zanzibar
interesting architecture in the old town..!!

Zanzibar
one of the many narrow streets in stone town..!

Zanzibar
Fordhani gardens comes alive at night with the bustling food market

Zanzibar
not to be missed a trip on a the local public transport...the DalaDala

Zanzibar
local art for sale..!

Zanzibar
destress by just looking at the view..!

Zanzibar
picture postcard.......!!

Zanzibar
u need to be up very early to catch this sunrise...!!

in the jungle
enjoying an afternoon nap...!!

Lake Manyara
taking in the view

Lake Manyara
mighty pair...!!

Ngorongoro Crater
housing the worlds largest ecosystem.!!

Ngorongoro Crater
housing the worlds largest ecosystem.!!

Ngorongoro
these birds have flown miles to get here..!!

Serengeti
Loo with a view......!!

Seregeti
The famous migration.....!!

Dik dik campsite
our home in the Serengeti...!!

Paje
locals at work..... while we laze away..!

Zanzibar
cud soon get used to the lifestyle..!

Paje
stranded for the day...!

Serengeti
so where's all this money going...???

Early mornings..
had to drag myself out of bed but was worth it...!!

Zanzibar
stone town architecture...!

Paje Beach
i'd love to make this my home forever..!!

Comments

[pino casalone]

fantastico
Brava veramente un luogo eccezionale rappresentato dalle tue magnifiche foto ,spero un giorno di poteci arrivare Ciao grazie

[pino casalone]

fantastico
Brava veramente un luogo eccezionale rappresentato dalle tue magnifiche foto ,spero un giorno di poteci arrivare Ciao grazie