Blogs from North, Tanzania, Africa - page 187

Africa » Tanzania » North » Ngorongoro Conservation Area January 14th 2006

We drove through the serengeti on the way to Ngorogoro crater and dropped off at the Oldupai Gorge. This is the spot where the earth has split opened revealing several levels, right down to the lava level. It was there that they discovered human footprints from 3.6 million years ago. The oldest known existance of man. They casted the footprints and created two casted replicas then preserved the orig. by covering them by rocks. The footprints were captured because the people were walking on lava which hardened and was covered over by ash and soil. They dug for the next couple of years in an effort to find human remains from this time period but had no luck. In Etheopia the bones of, Lucy, a 1 metre high woman were found in the great rift ... read more

Lake Manyara and Serengeti

Africa » Tanzania » North » Lake Manyara January 12th 2006

virginia

our new driver seemed quite sober and was able to drive between the lines. We had a speedy game drive around lake manyara. It was a brief but nice visit and we spent some time watching the elephants for a while. We headed off to the serengeti and stopped at a rest centre to use the washroom. Just behind the washroom I noticed a few people standing and looking into the bushes. I took a closer look and saw that a lioness had just killed a giraffe and was eating it only 30 feet from where I was standing. It is very unusual for cats to be so close to where people are (for some reason they don't like us) and as a result there was no fence between the cat and I. I got ... read more

African Safari

Africa » Tanzania » North » Serengeti National Park November 15th 2005

Tanzania safari crew

FatSad

.......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 ... read more

De Arusha à tembo

Africa » Tanzania » North » Arusha October 20th 2005

Julie the masai dancer

Julieji

Une autre journée de voyagement. Nous arrêtons quelques heures à Arusha pour faire quelques provisions. Ensuite, nous arrêtons dans un autre village masai. On nous montre l'école, les maisons et les gens. Cela ressemble un peu à notre première expérience, sauf qu'ici, les hommes font une démonstrantions de leurs danses, the jumping warrior, tout en chantant et un peu plus loin, les femmes font de même. Comme je suis la plus proche du groupe de femmes, elles me prennent par la main et m'entraînent dans leur danse sans oublier de me parer de leur traditionnel collier de "perles" qu'elles offrent rapidement de me vendre après la danse! C,est ce genre de rapprochement que j'aime. Dommage qu'un voyage de groupe ne nous permette pas de faire des rencontres si souvent. Voilà l'essence de voyager: avoir des contacts ... read more

Ngrorongoro crater to Arusha - tanzanie

Africa » Tanzania » North » Ngorongoro Conservation Area October 18th 2005

Julie devant le cratère

Julieji

Mercredi 19 octobre - Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha Un autre lever à 5h30, avant même le soleil! Pour un autre safari, dans le cratère cette fois-ci. Un autre World Heritage site. On dit que ce cratère a été formé il y a 2.5 millions d’années lorsque le cône d’un volcan s’est affaissé. Le cratère mesure 259 km2 et à son plus large il fait 22.5 km. Il y a une brume épaisse ce matin. On voit nos premiers éléphants du matin. Ils sont à près de 6 pieds de nous. On peut presque les toucher. Ensuite on peut observer une famille de 20 hippopotames dans l’eau, les uns appuyés sur les autres. Ils grognent fort. Encore une fois nous sommes comblés : gnous, hyènes, gazelles, 2 guépards. On s’attendait à voir plus d’animaux que dans le ... read more

Safari - Game driving TANZANIA

Africa » Tanzania » North » Serengeti National Park October 18th 2005

Notre chauffeur dans notre jeep

Julieji

Mardi 18 octobre - Safari en Jeep dans le Serengeti Nous nous levons avant les animaux : 5h30 pour notre safari dans les plaines de Serengeti. Serengeti est le plus grand parc national de la Tanzanie et on dit qu’on y trouve le plus grande concentration d’animaux sauvage de l’Afrique. Il a été déclaré « world heritage site » en 1978. Nous sommes super gâtés nous voyons pleins d’animaux aussi nombreux que variés : notre premier léopard n’est visible qu’à l’aide des jumelles mais nous voyons un groupe de 12 lionnes et lionceaux d’assez près. Des gnous par milliers, des giraffes, des phacochères, des hyènes, des zèbres, gazelles, hippos. C’est magique et merveilleux. C’est vraiment comme les documentaires qu’on voit à la télé là devant mes yeux. Après une journée bien remplie nous quittons le Serengeti ... read more

Arusha to Serengeti - Tanzanie

Africa » Tanzania » North » Serengeti National Park October 17th 2005

femme masai

Julieji

Lundi 17 octobre - Arusha to Serengeti Nous nous rendons à notre campement après une longue journée en camion. Notre bolide est si lourd et si lent. Nous arrivons à la tombée du jour… on aperçoit la silhouette de quelques girafes, des éléphants et des antilopes. Flashback et réflexions diverses : · Ce qui caractérise les guerriers masai : leur couverture à carreaux rouge ou violette. Les oreilles trouées les femmes masai aussi ont les oreille trouées, des boucles d’oreilles multiples et des colliers faits de petites perles multicolores. Ils sont très noirs! Très grands avec des jambes très minces. · Les femmes marchent le long de la route avec des paquets (qui semblent lourds) sur la tête avec une grâce incroyable. · La poussière est envahissante. Elle pénètre les narines, les oreilles et forme une ... read more

Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater

Africa » Tanzania » North » Serengeti National Park September 23rd 2005

Darren and Charmaine

We packed our bags for a 2 night safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. Our driver, Sunny, picked us up at 0700 in a 4x4. Safari-bound we endured a surprisingly smooth ride to our campsite in the Serengeti National Park, much inspection of the inside of our eyelids was had by all! Now, this was a campsite with a twist. It had no fences or boundaries. It was literally a clearing in the bush where we pitched our tents and where wild animals roamed freely. There was no running water and the toilets were holes in the ground. We could feel the adrenaline rush from our anticipation that we could very possibly have encountered an angry elephant or maybe even a lion. Instead we encountered a mildly frustrated stick insect and not much else in ... read more

Snakes and Massais

Africa » Tanzania » North » Arusha September 22nd 2005

Darren and Charmaine

Meserani Snake Park was a dusty campsite. Dust, dust, dust. Everywhere you go it’s there. In your hair, on your clothes in your food and just about everywhere else one can think of. We later discovered that it wasn’t just the campsite that was dusty but most of Tanzania. Red sand covers the surface of the land in which acacias and aloes thrive and animals survive. We paid a visit to the Snake Park itself where we witnessed the murder of many little chicks by various venomous snakes. During, well, just prior to a demonstration of how cute and cuddly a python can be, the skilled snake handler was bitten by a Tree snake (allegedly one of the most venomous snakes in Africa), he promptly went a bit peaky looking, leapt the enclosure wall and was ... read more

Arusha & Tembo Karibu Campsite

Africa » Tanzania » North » Arusha September 7th 2005

At Home In A Baobab Tree

chlaa

The morning was spent in Arusha being mobbed by Idi Amin Dada (as he said he was) & his friends trying to sell us paintings. We hid in a patisserie but they just waited outside until it was time to get back on the truck. Needless to say we didn't buy any paintings even at special cheap cheap friends price. Had a hotdog lunch under a Baobab tree on route to Tembo & when we arrived some of us went for a scenic hill walk to watch the sunset but spent more time watching the ground trying to find the path. Had a much deserved swim & played keepie uppies with an old lemon in the pool. This progressed to an old volleyball & the world keepie uppie record @ 72 is now held by Lizzie, ... read more

Brief history of Tanzania

Shortly after independence, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the nation of Tanzania in 1964. One-party rule came to an end in 1995 with the first democratic elections held in the country since the 1970s. Zanzibar's semi-autonomous status and po...more history

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