Blogs from North, Tanzania, Africa - page 190

Africa » Tanzania » North » Arusha June 22nd 2003

This, along with all my other Africa blogs, were actually emails sent to friends and family. I didn't know much about blogs at the time, but now I do. Hello all! I have a few hours in a very small town while waiting for the tour company to take me on Safari to the Ngorongoro Crater. Today I go to the crater rim and stay in the Crater Wildlife Lodge. I hear it's absolutely breathtaking there. Tomorrow we go into the crater and I'm hoping to see "the big five" ... elephants, lions, rhinos, hippos, and cheetas plus a few other animals we can only see in zoos in the States. I'll be in the crater for the summer solstice... except that it's winter here. Originally, my brother and his family were supposed to come with ... read more

Stuck

Africa » Tanzania » North » Mwanza June 17th 2003

DMac

We arrived in Mwanza having been told by the Safari company that there was a Hydrofoil across Lake Victoria. I didn't believe this for a minute, but the lonely planet did say that there were boats across to Uganda. When we got there we walked to the Lake and luckily met a very nice guy from Rwanda. He spoke very good English which wasn't very common in Tanzania and also turned out to be finding out about boats to Port Bell, Uganda. He explained that there weren't any ferries since the ferry (MV Victoria) sank a few years ago (after my 2001 guide book) - I then remembered the news story. Since Lake Victoria was land locked there was no way to get another boat there easily and a new one would have to be built ... read more

Wow - what a bus ride!

Africa » Tanzania » North » Musoma June 13th 2003

DMac

Eventually the bus showed up - which was a relief and took us out of the Park. David had told us the gate we were going to was half a day off but it turned out we left the park after about an hour on the bus. At the gate the guards summoned us from the bus and told us our permit had run out and had been "tampered" with. We told them the situation with the tour company and they let us travel on without trouble. They planned to take it up with the tour company I think which was cool for us since we had no idea. I guess it turned out that the tour company had agreed to spend three days in the park, but intended just to pay for two. I wonder ... read more

Life in the park

Africa » Tanzania » North » Serengeti National Park June 12th 2003

Momma Lion

DMac

The next day we entered the Serengeti National Park at about 10 am. As soon as we got into the park we saw massive herds of Wildebeest covering the whole of the ground you could see. It was the annual migration. (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/africa/tanzania/attractions.htm#serengeti). We drove to a picnic site and on the way saw a couple of lions inside a bush very close. Lots of Zebras also. After our picnic lunch we saw Elephants, a couple of bull Giraffes fighting - banging their heads against each others necks! Wildebeest are a very strange shaped animal with short back legs and long front legs. We also saw some Hyenas with some old pieces of bone running around quite close to us. The lodge was amazing in the middle of the park. It had a lovely terrace where we ... read more

Ngorogoro Crater

Africa » Tanzania » North » Ngorongoro Conservation Area June 10th 2003

Elephant

DMac

We got up the next day early so we could drive to the Ngorogoro crater. The crater is quite famous as an amazing place to see all the big game of East Africa. (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/africa/tanzania/attractions.htm#ngorongoro) On the way the roads were quite bumpy and after about an hour the Land Rover lost all power going up a hill. We diagnosed the problem that rear wheels were sapping all the power from the differential and I thought there might be a problem with the drive shaft. We found that by locking the differential the front wheels were able to pull the jeep along but fairly slowly. We struggled along for half an hour while many jeeps overtook us and then stopped at a small village to hopefully get a fix. The guy in the garage seemed to be ... read more

Safari

Africa » Tanzania » North » Lake Manyara June 9th 2003

Safari!

DMac

We left the next morning on Safari! our guide didn't seem to speak as good English as we were promised (David), but he did seem to be a sweet guy who would be a good guide. This turned out to be true, but there were also some problems ahead. The first day of our Safari was at Lake Manyara. We got there late morning and as soon as we entered the park we saw 3 Elephants - two adults and a baby - crossing a small river just on a hill above the jeep. It was a beautiful sight with the lighting through the trees and the colors. We drove around the park for the day checking out the monkeys, tons of Giraffes and a massive amount of birds - flamingoes, storks etc. We didn't see ... read more

Booking Safari

Africa » Tanzania » North » Arusha June 8th 2003

Rasta Carlos

DMac

We left Dar on an early bus to Arusha where we planned to go on Safari. It was a full day on the bus with a short stop for lunch. When we got there I planned to walk around and check out a few places for accommodation. We had heard that things were a bit of a scramble in Arusha until after you purchased a safari since all the touts would be after you big time for the big dollars. We did have a little scuffle at the station, but Rasta Carlos was on hand to lead us to a nice guesthouse away from the touts. Kristen did cause quite a stir when she ripped up the price list of one of the touts in an effort to show him she really wasn't interested in reading ... read more

The top

Africa » Tanzania » North » Mount Kilimanjaro March 25th 2003

Melissa Andrea

photos from Western Breach of Kilimanjaro, and safari to come...... read more

A struggle of desire toward adventure

Africa » Tanzania » North » Arusha December 2nd 2000

Fish vendor in Stone Town, Zanzibar

Funksouldiva

Reluctantly leaving isolation, we ferried, bussed and matatu-ed our way to Bukoba. When we arrived, Mike threw his arms in the air and announced to the waiting crowd, "Yes! Mzungus are here!!" Everybody looked so confused, I fell out laughing. It's a nice small town where the cheapest accommodation rents dorm rooms to men and women separately. They roll up the sidewalks at dusk. We bought our ferry tickets and went to a little restaurant where they kept us captive for 3 hours by lying to us and saying they had food while they slyly snuck out to the market. A few beers later, waiting in line to board the boat, I was shocked to find someone trying to charge me to use the ladies room. "I don't have it. I'll go around back where half ... read more

Arusha wilderness...

Africa » Tanzania » North » Arusha November 27th 1998

Forest under Mt. Meru

MatevzH

We came late night back to Arusha... so, we have some for planning our future trip. Let's climb Kilimanjaro... :) Cool, lets do it... And it hit us... well, guys... basically, you cannot afford it... it costs 500US$+ for just a few days, and you already spent almost half of your budget in the first week... damn... what a disappointment, no Kilimanjaro... Mount Meru is cheaper and lower, but the weather isn't favorable, and we are a bit not interested to stay in Arusha for a few more days... What about trip to the west, towards central Tanzania and Lake Victoria... not a bad idea, but we were put of by reports of extremely bad roads and 24 hours trip on a bus... We were even thinking about going to Usumbara mountains, but at the end ... 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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