Blogs from Tanzania, Africa - page 386

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Africa » Tanzania » North » Ngorongoro Conservation Area September 5th 2005

If you want Safari we got safari! We got up before dawn to be picked up in Land Cruisers to go to Ngorongoro Crater. The first creature to be spotted was the Tanzanian Prime Minister, who had decided to hold a rally for the upcoming elections in the middle of the road, which held us up a bit as the armed police were not going to let us go anywhere. Just before the entrance a troop of Olive Baboons crossed the road & we were all very excited & trying to take photos of them. The entrance to the Ngorongoro Crater conservation area is just like the gates to Jurassic Park, opening up on lush green vegetation with the expectation of man eating creatures lurking within. We then had to get into the crater which involved ... read more
Ngorongoro Hippo
Ngorongoro Elephant

Africa » Tanzania » East » Dar es Salaam September 4th 2005

Today I had the chance to go to Bagamoyo, a little town about 70 km from Dar, with Thomas who had to give a speech. I would be able to wander around and explore the area and we would meet up later to return to Dar. This sounded particularly interesting to me because Bagamoyo has great historical significance to Tanzania and to Africa -- it was one of the three main exit points of the slaves who were captured here. Oh boy. Nothing like facing our horrendous history head on. Day three! Here we go. Away we went by daladala (of course) but on paved road, thank goodness, which does make a difference. Only Thomas very thoughtfully arranged for us to sit in the front seat so I could see where we were going. Two of ... read more

Africa » Tanzania » North » Arusha September 4th 2005

Got up reasonably early to go across the Kenya/Tanzania border on route through the Serengeti we saw Superb Starling, Maribou Storks, Purple Heron & Giraffe all just from the truck window. In Tanzania we were staying at the Mesarani Snake Park, Arusha where we had snakes, vultures & crocs just behind our tents (all fenced off but we did have a few escapees during our stay). Drink of the Day: Springbok (Amurula & Creme de Menthe). ... read more

Africa » Tanzania » East » Dar es Salaam September 3rd 2005

Hi Everybody! I have arrived safe and sound in Dar es Salaam, the "Haven of Peace", which may be overstating it a little but so far so good. The flight was absolute madness in the sense that no human being was ever meant to spend sixteen hours in the air, but I survived it. Although it will take three months before I'm ready to board another aircraft, I do think I'll be able to get back on without being drugged and dragged. Which is good news for those of you who were concerned about my never coming home, and bad news for those of you who picked "BA Baracus" in the pool. Sorry if you lost money. That's an A Team reference for those of you who missed it, and I promise the only one I ... read more

Africa » Tanzania » West » Mbeya August 30th 2005

While there are things that remind me of the past, those memories only loosely compare to the present. Things have changed a huge amount in 15 years, I know I know, not terribly surprising given how much things have changed in Canada in 15 years. It’s just striking to see the way things have stretched out between those at the top and those at the bottom. In Mbeya there are a lot of people with very little, but there are also at least two computer stores that I have seen. If a cheap desktop computer in Canada costs about $1000, that would make it at least a million shillings here. Now at Enterprise Works wages run from 100 000 tsh (part time) to 500 000 for the most senior (other than the country director), and they ... read more

Africa » Tanzania » West » Mbeya August 30th 2005

The smell of burning leaves (and garbage) here. It’s not like the smell of a campfire in your back yard, or out in the mountains. It’s kind of like you can smell and taste the dust that is being burned. Also with smells, maize being roasted on a charcoal fire. As a kid I remember hiding them in the back of the car, so when we would go for drives my brother, sister and I would pick the kernels off one by one. Since we would leave them there for so long, they would actually be like slightly soft popcorn kernels, but luckily we only had baby teeth to break. Home made plastic bags to hold spices, nuts, popcorn… I have a very vivid memory of seeing a man in the market in Arusha with a ... read more

Africa » Tanzania » Centre August 17th 2005

Africa » Tanzania » West » Mbeya August 15th 2005

Habari za siku nyingi? (what is the news of many days?) I did manage to get out of Toronto on the 2nd… Actually that’s a lie, I didn’t get out until 3:45 am on the 3rd, 5.5 hours late but who’s counting? Once I arrived in London, I was pleased to find out that my connecting flight to Johannesburg had been cancelled, so I ended up being put up in a hotel for a day and a half. Once I arrived in Dar es Salam (28 hours later than originally planned) things started going much smoother, other than finding out that one of the top straps on my bag had been partially torn off. Danny and Steph (two EWB volunteers in Mbeya until the end of August) came and picked me up at the airport and ... read more
Bringing the nerd to the world

Africa » Tanzania » North » Mount Kilimanjaro August 8th 2005

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro seems to be part of the whole Tanzania tourist experience, something that people take on rather lightly, with the foremost consideration surrounding the trek being “how much?” But after some deliberation, climbing a mountain of 5895 meters in a few days is not your typical relaxing activity while on vacation. Add on fatigue, cold and altitude sickness (headache, nausea, dizziness etc.) and the thought “why am I paying to make myself feel like crap?” may pass through your mind. Yet despite these factors, trekking to the roof of Africa was an incredible experience, well worth the monetary and physical expenditure. Day 1 - Machame Camp (3100m) The seven day trek up the Machame-Mweka route began on a sunny Monday morning with three rather nervous participants: *(1) A Swedish/African yodeler with a Maasai stick*(2) ... read more
The Ultimate Stairmaster
At the Dinner Table
Hiding in the Rocks

Africa » Tanzania » North » Serengeti National Park July 31st 2005

Ready to set off early for the Masai, the group, split into smaller trucks and headed across country to game reserve. After several hours of travelling we arrived at a nice secluded campsite on the edge of the park. We were delayed slightly as the remainder of the missing bags turned up at the hotel and people arranged their stuff for trip to the Masai Mara. On the journey we saw zebra, warthog, gazelle, giraffe, ostrich, flamingo, vultures, wildebeest and Dik-Dik. The roads in Africa are at best unmade potholed tracks that in the UK would not be considered accessible by car, but as we would discover they were to get much worse. The camp that we arrived at was fairly basic, but was clean and catered for our needs, the beds were camp beds and ... read more




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