Day 1: Saturday 28th July
After a 22 hour journey we finally arrived at Julius Nyerere International Airport, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. The flight was tolerable: the first one was to Dubai and took 7 hours, but I didn't sleep a wink so watched 3 films (the first one was about Julian Assange but it wasn't really down my street so I gave up, and then I and then I discovered Finding Nemo and Toy Story! Dubai airport is impressive to say the least, with inside fake forests and waterfalls and the biggest selection of eating places I've seen in in an Airport including Paul and Giraffe. I felt so ill with tiredness though. After killing 3 hours, our second flight was 5 hours and I managed to sleep a bit. We flew over vast tracks of desert (I think Ethiopia) - the landscape was barren with no water source for miles. We flew over Zanzibar too (but have to wait a week until we go there!)
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| Waiting in Dubai airport |
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| My first sighting of Southern Africa |
If you ever come to Tanzania get a visa beforehand. If not, then just hand over your $50.... I had a run-in with the police man who asked for our $50 and passports. I asked what was he going to do with them and if we get some kind of receipt. He thought we just didn't want to pay the money and kept saying 'the money is nothing you are English' (which always annoys me). When we realised (after some heated exchanges) that everyone else was giving him money and passports and he was taking them to the counter to be processed, we tried to give him the money and he refused! He said we'd have to wait 'until gods will allowed' (?!) as he clearly wanted to get his own back and make us wait. In the end we thrust them at him them and the waited amongst the many (now also anxious) people who were very concerned about their passports! I was very relieved 45 mins later to get called from the milling crowd and redeem my passport with visa.
We got a taxi to the centre of Dar Es Salaam to our hotel 'Tanzanite Executive Suites' from the official taxi rank (it cost $30). We sweltered in the back as there was no air con and the traffic was crawling. Traffic is obviously a common problem, as people were wandering between the gridlocked vehicles selling paraphernalia such as cashew nuts, inflatables, and steering wheel covers. I guess if you spend a lot of time at a standstill you may as well do your shopping at the same time; people actually seemed to be buying this stuff!
The Tanzanite Executive Suites were very nice, with a huge room with air con and porters galore. Tom and I dumped our bags and then went out into Dar Es Salaam for an explore. We stood out like a sore thumb as there were no other foreigners wandering around and it was getting dark (we forgot it gets dark at 7). Soon we started to feel very uneasy. There was a market and a few street cooking stalls but no shops were open or any restaurants or bars. It really did not feel like a major city, and we were right in the heart! We have a mini supermarket near us which sells familiar foods such as chocolate and crisps which I was relieved to see (unlike in Cuba).
We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant as this was the only option and shared chicken satay and peanut sauce, grilled fish with chips and vegetables and a chicken burger. Not very Tanzanian, but tasty and surprisingly reasonable price for a hotel (12,000 Tsh for a main, which is about £6). Tomorrow we are going to explore Dar a bit more and then we fly to Kilamanjaro and go on to Moshi.
Day 2: Sunday 29th June
We woke up at 8:30am. I had slept like a log. Breakfast was buffet style, with watermelon and papaya and a cooked section with omelette, beans, hot-dogs and...samosas). We left the hotel just before 10am to wander around Dar in a circular route we'd planned. First stop - Kawakoo market. This was supposed to be really big and an 'assault on the senses' - but to us it was pretty small and unexciting compared to other markets I've been to. We left and headed to the sea front and walked along what was once Ocean Avenue - now renamed Barack Obama Avenue! This amused me. It was a bizarre walk to the seafront; it felt like we were in the suburbs or a small town as it was so quiet. There was no traffic, nothing was open (we assume because of a combination of it being Sunday and Ramadan) and it was a little surreal for such a major city. We saw an Indian procession on our way and it made me realise that a significant proportion of people in Dar are Indian (which explains the Indian food).
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| The procession |
When we got to the sea front, it really was peaceful and undeveloped. You could see the little islands we flew over yesterday, and there were fishing boats anchored in the water. There was a lovely breeze and a mysterious, frozen-in-time sort of air. The smell of fish started to waft towards us so we knew we were near the fish market. It started to get a lot busier with cars and people as we approached the market and then BAM, we were surrounded by the hustle and bustle (and stench) of the fish market in full swing.
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| Standing on the seafront in Dar |
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| The fish market |
After marveling at the size of some of the fish, and wondering if you bought your own fish to be cooked at the little cooking shacks (and concluding that your probably did), we headed on to the ferry port and then onto a cathedral which had a service (in English) in full swing. We managed to find an open air cafe complex called where we had a drink and lunch (fried fish which was very bony,and some inedible chicken grizzle with rice and beans and green vegetable mush). It cost us 9,000 shillings each (there are 2,600 to the pound) so not dirt cheap but it had to be tried, and locals seemed to be enjoying the food there. After having dinner in our hotel last night we felt we had to be a bit more authentic so it was a case of being glad we tried it.
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| Having a drink in the only place open! |
Then we wandered back to the hotel. Tom realised the flight to Kili was 2 hours later than we thought. So, we had some time to kill at the airport and arrived later than we had planned in Moshi. However, always look on the bright side etc...at least it wasn't the other way around.
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| Waiting in the airport in Dar |
We arrived at Kilimanjaro airport at about 8:30pm and although we had tried organising a pick up by our hostel, no-one was there. So we had to negotiate a taxi. Tom was really really twitchy as it was unlicensed and he declared in the taxi that he has a phobia that we will get kidnapped or something! The journey to Moshi was around an hour in the pitch black . It's much cooler here at night as its high in altitude. We are staying at Heartbeest lodge which is kind of ranch-like. The room was basic with mosquito nets and a very wild shower which squirted water backwards so we had to use the tap to wash! Dinner took an hour and a half to come...so we were eating at 11:30pm! I was STARVING and annoyed that we kept being told it was coming, when it wasn't even blatantly nearly ready. But when it came, it was a feast of fried fish, this African wheat, flour stuff called Ugali (a pretty tasteless huge white block with a jelly like texture, but edible), chips, rice, salad and a veg stew. Tom got a Serengeti beer (we've also had Kilimanjaro beer). When we ordered water, we were told the saying that 'if you aren't going to climb Kili you can drink it' - the water is called Kilimanjaro water.
Mon 30th June
This morning breakfast was disappointing but free, and there was watermelon (ad instant coffee which was irritating as this area produce coffee!!) We walked into Moshi town. Bizarrely it felt bigger and certainly more bustling and stressful than Dar.
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| Moshi is is near Kilimanjaro National Park |
Moshi is nestled in the mountains surrounded by greenery and the backdrop is beautiful (the same can't be said about the town). We couldn't see Kili as the clouds covered it but it was cool to be so near. We got befriended by a man who took us around the stalls of his family and mates. Tom bought a ceramic plate with a painting of the Savannah on, and I got some trousers and a bag made for me. The fabric is blue mottled with giraffes on. It was a saga finding a tailoress who would do it in 2 hours, and the original woman who sold me the material was 'too lazy' according to our 'friend.' In the meantime we went to a cafe and spied out a bus to Arusha - $5 together rather than a $50 taxi! And we got some food - Tom was impressed with his beef stew but again it took so long to arrive!
We saw Kilimanjaro from the bus when leaving Moshi! The Dar Express bus was inevitably late, and we just sat in the cafe opposite (the Aaroma Coffee house, where we had lunch) waiting. It finally turned up and we got a seat, which was a relief as from the other buses that went past it looked as though we'd be standing. We paid 3000 shillings each (£1!). I was reading my book and happened to look up and out of the window and there was Kili - it's snow topped cap peeking out of the clouds. It was beautiful. Then it disappeared about 10 minutes later in cloud and resumed hiding from the eager eyes of curious and voyeuristic tourists who settled for the glimpse rather than the climb! That isn't usually my way of doing things - I usually prefer to do the 'real thing' but time and money constraints meant climbing Kili wasn't on our itinerary this time.
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| The peak of Kilimanjaro peeks through |
We drove for about 1hr 20 and for most of the rest of the journey I stared out of the window at Mount Meru, which had also shrugged off its cloud cover. It stood up, pointed and majestic, surrounded by fields of sweet corn and sunflowers and settlements.
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| Mount Meru |
Arusha lies below mount Meru. As a town it seems sprawling, chaotic and bustling. There were moments of beauty though, such as the trees with bright red flowers and blue flowers, and the view of the mountain. We were met off the bus by Innocent, our safari guide, and he drove us to Tumaini Cottages. I was pretty nervous on the approach as we drove out of Arusha town and through some extremely bumpy dirt tracks, down narrow lanes and past shacks. Then we came to a huge gate and it opened to reveal beautiful cottages in gardens. We were welcomed and shown our room. Dinner was served to us in the dining room which was circular and raised with glass windows. The owner seemed slightly disillusioned with travelers and a bit aloof, but when we got him talking a bit he was very friendly. He was very proud of his food, which was quite good; the soup was just tinned vegetable broth with thin slices of white bread with the crusts cut off, but the battered fish was very tasty with homemade tartare sauce and the vegetables were good. We got a mountain of rice, and for desert a fruit salad (papaya, watermelon and..avocado?!) with ice cream. I think we ate a sufficient amount not to offend - the only thing we left was rice which didn't look like it had been dented even though we'd both had a decent amount.
This morning we had breakfast at 7am. We got mango, watermelon and orange and toast, and Tom had an omelette too. It was chilly and I wore my fleece and it was also drizzling outside. Innocent didn't arrive until 8am, and we drove to the East Africa Safari Company office to meet Bernard (one of the managers).
The 'office' was like an abandoned old ranch/mansion with large overgrown grounds, and the inside had courtyard gardens and was dark, musty and didn't look lived in (although there was a bathroom with working toilet and bath). We sat at a large wooden table on the veranda outside and waited. Finally, Bernard appeared. Our itinerary alterations hadn't been communicated to Bernard, but after a discussion we decided that because of the strict time limits in the National Parks it would be easier and more sensible to stick to the original suggested itinerary.
Innocent drove us to pick up our packed lunches from a local restaurant, and took us to the supermarket to buy drink. It was massively overpriced. Then we began our drive to Ngorongoro crater.
On the drive, we saw Masai herding their cows to find fresh grass, and Innocent told us they can walk for up to 30km a day. We saw their huts and were told that Masai elder men had no limit on their number of wives. I asked if the Masai were migrating to towns and Innocent said those with education were: the government is building schools in their villages and encouraging them to go to school and giving them medicine. Governments don't like wandering people they can't control.
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| Masai herding their cows |
We drove past a large Masai community and were told that it belonged to a very famous Masai elder who has over 30 wives and 75 children!! They all live in this community and the government has built a dispensary and school for the 75 children! Innocent also pointed out the Rift Valley - where humanity is said to have begun.
We stopped at a cultural centre where we looked around a big warehouse of souvenirs which reminded me of just about every other organised tour I've been on. Tom bought some coasters and I got a plate and we bargained them to about £12 each which is good considering my plate is large, hand painted with a beautiful design. We had our lunch in a picnic site next door and it consisted of a tasty chicken leg, burger in a bun, beef samosa, cake and mini banana and fruit juice. I had some chicken and a bit of burger but the rest was too meaty for me.
We drove on to Ngorongoro National Park and went into the information centre while Innocent sorted out entrance permits. We saw baboons! The landscape had changed now from bare scrubby brown land to a forested slope of cloud forest, and when you looked back as you ascended the crater ridge you could see the clear divide between these contrasting landscapes.
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| A baboon! |
The road was rough and bumpy and it was quite chilly. We stopped at a viewpoint on the rim of the crater and it was an awesome view. There is a huge salt lake which is white around the edges and the crusted salt looks like snow. You could see little bunches of black dots but we couldn't work out what animals they were. There seems very little vegetation and there is a freshwater lake. We drove on and saw zebras and went on a walk around the cater edge with a guide who spoke no English (and creeped me out a bit). At one point he pointed out something and from his sleeping gestures we thought it was something sleeping in a tree, but no it turned out to be his house or something. Disappointing.
We saw some pretty blue and red birds and it was nice just wandering through the forest and it felt very tranquil and peaceful. We came across some Masai who hid when I tried to take a photo and then tried to pose for me (and obviously get money) and I ignored them. We ended up near a Masai village of some kind and our jeep was waiting. Tom tipped the guide 10,000 shillings (£3) and he seemed disgruntled as always seems to be the case with us and tips (although we thought 10,000 was quite a lot).
We drove on to our campsite where our tents had been left set up by a previous party. There were zebra as we came into the campsite! They are 2 man tents (not with beds as we wee promised) so not much better than my family camping equipment! I didn't mind, it's just the fact we specifically asked and we don't like the dishonesty. Oh well it was a minor hiccup and we were camping after all so were never expecting luxury. Tom had a shower and said it was cold so I passed.
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| In our tent |
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| The kitchen and dining huts |
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| It was quite a busy campsite |
In the evening it got pretty damn cold!!!! We had some popcorn and tea sat in the dining hut and chatted (and shivered!). Our table had been set up right at the end - the guides bring their own tables and set them up for the tourists. We had food around 7pm - leek soup (which was yummy and I had about 4 helpings) and sliced bread that was quite solid and semi briochy. We anticipated great things from the mains from the soup standard, and the fact that each group seemed to have different things ranging from spaghetti bolognese (which we sniffed at), stew, chicken, rice and veg, fried round things, chips, curry...we guessed ours would be authentic Tanzanian grub. But no it was spag bol!!!! We were so disappointed. We got mini bananas and oranges for pudding. We spoke to Innocent at the end about what time breakfast would be (6am) and subtly asked what was for supper tomorrow. He said it was a surprise usually but did we want anything in particular...this was our queue to say that we liked authentic food (emphasising that we enjoyed tonight's food so as not to offend. Rather than being offended he seemed quite happy and said he'd tell our cook.
We went back to the tent (I was so cold by now!) and wrapped up in blankets and watched a film on toms iPad about a man who donates his sperm and has 500+ children. I didn't get properly warm and was dreading going to the loo and cleaning my teeth. I'd taken a thermos with hot water back to the tent and made a hot chocolate. The loos by now were wet and soggy-tissuey and gross - but I managed and cocooned myself in blankets and wrapped my pashmina around my head. I slept quite a lot I think but when I woke up a few times I was cold to the bone and hadn't properly got warm so felt on edge all night. I was ready to get up at 5:30am.
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| All wrapped up |
Wednesday 2 July
It was still dark when we emerged from the tent. Breakfast was busy as everyone was doing the same thing. I had some mango, watermelon and papaya for breakfast and coffee. Tom ate most of the omelette. We set off just after 6:30 am in the jeep with Innocent (the cook stayed behind to pack up which meant we could just go). It was so misty - the campsite was in cloud so was very drizzly and driving into the crater was a bit nerve wracking as you couldn't see anything in front or the side of the road. Hats off to our Innocent who apparently could! When we got onto the crater bottom the mist had cleared and Innocent put up the roof of the jeep. It was chilly and I was wrapped up in a fleece and rain jacket with a hood up (so standing with my head out of the roof was bearable if not fresh!)
The first animals we saw were Thompson Gazelles - quite small with stripes and so dainty and elegant. We also saw wilderbeast. They really do look odd but strangely beautiful - like a surrealist artist has redesigned a cow, buffalo, horse and zebra into one animal. They have a body like a water buffalo (with the hump at their necks and the skinny bony appearance) with a long elegant swishy tail for swatting flies (like a horses) and they gallop like a horse, but bound and paw at the ground like a bull. They have stripes on the top of their legs and the sides of their back like a zebra. As Tom said, their faces look like wise old men with their long noses and beard.
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| Thompson Gazelle |
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| Wilderbeest |
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| The 2 female lions pre-hunt |
We also saw lots of zebra, buffalo, another bigger gazelle, warthogs, crested stalks (apparently the symbol of Tanzania and rare because they only lay 1 egg at a time and leave them on the ground so predators eat them - kind of their fault and for once not ours!) ostriches (huge!!) hippos (lounging around in the watering holes - their skin is very sensitive so they stay in the water during the day, and there were birds perching on their backs) hyena and jackals. But the most amazing sight was the lions. We saw about 14 in total - the first were 2 females licking each other. The second pair were 2 females approaching buffalo to hunt. We watched them for ages moving stealthily towards the buffalo - a two-pronged attack. But eventually the buffalo saw them and ran.
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| Buffalo |
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Going off to hunt the buffalo
Can you see the lion behind the buffalo? |
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| Zebra having a scratch.... |
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| Hippo! It smelt pretty pongy... |
We then saw two females and their three lion cubs! The cubs played around their jeep and the females had just hunted and eaten as they were covered in blood. It was amazing. We were the first jeep to see them, and moved on when loads more came. We saw some more females after, and 2 males.
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The two female lions. Can you see the red tinge
which is blood? |
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| The lion cubs! |
At the end we saw 2 African elephants in the distance and Innocent said he could see rhino in the distance but they were so far away we couldn't distinguish them. Oh well you can't have everything. And there are only about 25 in the crater.
We drove back to camp where everything had been packed up and loaded the jeep. It was now midday and we set off for Serengeti National Park. It got a LOT warmer as we got lower.
We arrived at Serengeti National Park gates and had our photos taken and then drove on to the entrance gates. We had our boxed lunch - chicken leg, cucumber and tomato sandwich, a cake, biscuit, juice, orange and watermelon (Tom gave me his watermelon as they'd not given any to me!). There were people by the bins extracting all the food the tourists didnt want - good for them! Then we walked up to the top of a mound to get a view. It was so HOT!!!
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| Entering Serengeti National Park |
We had a slight problem: Innocent came up to us after what seemed like a remarkably quick time to say it would be 5 minutes till the permits were sorted. But after 5 minutes he came back to say his card had expired and could we pay by MasterCard and be reimbursed?! We said NO!! It would have been like 200+ dollars. After a lot of hanging around (and watching him like a hawk) and seemingly endless phone calls, he managed to get a mobile transfer of money or something (Tom was excited as he knows all about the system they have in Tanzania but we don't have in Europe called M-PESA, so he was reassured!). It took about an hour extra and I was hot from pacing in the blazing sun, but soon we were off again.
We drove for a few hours through endless plains (that's actually what Serengeti means in Masai language) and saw giraffe in the distance. As we were approaching camp we saw elephant, and hippo in a watering hole with crocodile and then....a leopard in a tree and his prey (a dead gazelle we think) strung up in the tree next to it!!! We looked at it for a while but decided to speed on to camp, dump the stuff (because it was on the roof we couldn't open the top of the jeep) and go for an evening game drive. So we did that - literally chucked the stuff out of the jeep and the cook stayed to set it all up.
We then went for a tranquil game drive and saw more elephant, several types of gazelle (including the one that jumps the highest and one with different coloured patches of brown called Topi or something). We also saw hippo, and another leopards kill strung up in a tree (the leopard was in the ground but no luck spotting it. I wondered if the other jeeps had seen the one we saw earlier and felt quite smug we'd seen one!) and lots of giraffe. We also saw baboon - including babies!!
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| Giraffe |
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| Eland |
We returned to camp around 6:30 and it was all set up. Innocent told us on the way back that he was the driver for the lonely planet author when he was here, and is doing it for the next edition. he named the author and co/author which authenticised this. He also told us he works as a mechanic in his dads business in Arusha when he isn't being a guide - he is new to the company so doesn't get that much work, and also they are on rotation.
The temperature was warm and pleasant - a relief after yesterday!! It also felt quieter. I had a shower- cold but refreshing - and felt nice and clean and relaxed. Our cook said he was going to cook local food for us so we waited in anticipation.
Dinner was more authentic - a stew of potato, small bananas (that tasted like potato) carrots, some kind of meat and a yummy gravy. It came with bread, so I thought it was a hearty starter...but it was the main which I was initially disappointed at but then glad about. We also managed to get mango for pudding. I was cold again during the night, although I went to bed warm. I had to put a fleece in in the night and an extra blanket. Really weird, but I think our tent was drafty and also we were on the ground.
Thursday 3 July
Woke up at 6:45am and had breakfast at 7; watermelon and mini bananas for me as the toast was cold and like cardboard and I can't stomach omelette at that time. We set of with a packed lunch for a whole day of safari. It felt very relaxed and like we were explorers as there were no other jeeps around and we were just driving through endless plain. It was odd weather - brilliant blue sky with the sun beating down with intense heat even at 8am, yet the wind was chilly. It felt as though you had a temperature - your skin is hot but you are shivery!
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| In our jeep with the roof up |
We saw a female lion basking in the sun on a rocky outcrop called a kopje. We saw lots of Thompson Gazelle, and also Eland and Heartbeest. We came across a lion wandering along the road and followed it, as Innocent thought it was going back to its young. Indeed it was! It wandered into the grass as called them and some yappy/squeaky sound came back as they emerged. There were 3 of them - like little bouncy adorable cuddly soft toys. One kept falling behind but then got the hang of keeping up, and they all bounded and trotted around mum. They were about 3 weeks old, and they obviously weren't used to walking far as they kept sitting down! They were so cute. We followed them until they disappeared - either to find the prey their mum had hidden or to find a new home.
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| A lion basking on a kopje |
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| Gazing at the lion |
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| A male lion |
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| Following the female to see where she takes us... |
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| She took us to her cubs! |
Moving on we saw elephant and giraffe and more gazelle and ostriches and warthog... then Innocent pointed out a male lion lying with 2 females. The jeep broke down and we spent half an hour twiddling our thumbs by the side of the track whilst Innocent did some mechanics and some passers by chipped in. It made me realise just quite how remote and vulnerable we were.
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| We broke down...but help arrived!! |
Then we drove back into civilization (in the form of the Serengeti Visitors Centre) for lunch, where there were giant guinea pig like things called Hyrax in our picnic site! The chicken was good again, the jam sandwich and boiled egg less so, and we had food envy of some rich looking American tourists who delights such as antipasti and focaccia. But hey, ours was more bush-like and authentic!!!
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| A Hyrax under our bench |
We were forced to take a guided tour of the signposted walkway. I was annoyed because all of the information was on the information boards (its in the name) and our guide was rubbish and distracted us from reading them! When he asked did we have any questions after each board Tom said no, but I said can I just read the board please. He looked impatient while I actually learned something.The one thing he did tell us that was interesting was how the wildebeest is interpreted by local people (with the aid of a man-made wilderbeest...everything was man-made in the information centre, including the animal footprints, which seems bizarre given the volume of real wildlife outside!). I was excited as just yesterday I attempted to interpret the wilderbeest. The 'official' interpretation is slightly different: the face of a grasshopper, the mane of a lion, the body of a lion, the hips of a zebra (same as me) the tail of a horse (same as me). We gave him a tip at the end as we felt obliged .
After lunch we went on another game drive and we saw a cheetah lying under a tree, a leopard in a tree and lions under a tree. We also saw elephants really close (they came behind our jeep), and hippos in a pool surrounded by palm trees - like an oasis. It was hottest at 2-5pm. I can't believe how the temperature changes throughout the day.
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| Male lions seeking shade |
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| A leopard in a tree |
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| Suddenly an oasis appeared... |
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| With hippo! |
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| Faced by an African elephant |
Dinner was good - the best food yet in Tanzania. We had pop corn andtea/hot water before and then showered (cold, but it was nice to wash the dust and grime off) and then soup (very yummy again) and cardboard white bread. For the main we had rice with amazing veg (fried green beens and very fine cabbage fried I think in garlic and salt and so tasty) - and a chicken and vegetable hotpot thing with big slices of chicken. And pineapple for desert.
When we returned to our tent we found the zip on the back flap had been fixed so it closed and hopefully wouldn't be as drafty. We secured the front guy rope with rocks to minimise flappage. Tom and I watched an episode in our tent (it had got blowy and a bit chilly) and then opened the tent flap and had hot chocolate whilst watching the stars. The moon looks amazing through binoculars!
Friday 4th July
I slept a bit better but was still chilly last night. We had breakfast at 6:30am and then set off for a morning game drive. We saw pretty much the same as yesterday, but another cheetah hiding in the grass eating its prey and another leopard in a tree and another pride of lions sat in a kopje (a rocky outcrop).
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| Can you see the cheetah in the grass? |
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Can you see the lions on the rocky outcrop? There were lion
cubs too |
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| Swiftly changing the tyre... |
After we reached the park gate and had lunch, and had recovered from roasting in the back of the jeep (Tom had to have the windows closed because he was really allergic to the dust) we drove another 2 hours to Ngorongoro park entrance where Innocent had to pay a fee again. Then another 2 hours to the Tarangire conservation area where we were staying in the Nyerere lodge owned by East African Safaris (our company). I have no idea how Innocent navigated his way through the scrubby bush to the lodge - it was no mans land!
The lodge was awesome - we had a room (well a permanent giant tent under a stone roof) with a double bed and mosquito net, and you could see through the translucent tent walls into the bush beyond. The shower and toilet were in little stone semi circular walls surrounded by straw walls which imitated a Masai Duma. The shower was a bucket contraption and was filled with heated water. It took a while for the Masai staff to make it work but when it did it was nice to have a warm shower standing outside!!! It felt like something out of a herbal essences advert (except for the part where the water runs out before you have got all of the soap out of your hair...). It was so quiet with no - one else which made a change from the busy campsites.
Dinner was in a big stone building that reminded me of Cantalapiedra in Ecuador. It felt very private and romantic with our solar powered lanterns, and we ate popcorn and nuts and drank tea what waiting for our dinner. The table next to us was set and an Indian man turned up who was also staying here but was on a more expensive package (so we felt quite smug we'd ended up here!). He definitely got better food, and we had the same meat stew (Machala) which we had on our first night in Serengeti...oh well at least it was Tanzanian food and we liked it.
We went for a night game drive after and joined up with the Indian man (we felt a bit sorry for him having to associate with us!) because there was only one 'spotlight'...i.e. a Masai sat on the top of the jeep with a very bright light!!! But the bright light failed and we ended up with a Masai with a torch. We still went for a drive and it felt magical and was very tranquil and mesmerising. The baobab trees stood majestic in the beam of the jeeps headlights, and you could hear the cicadas under the black sky studded with stars and a waxing moon. We didn't see anything apart from rabbits, but that didn't matter as it was just cool to drive around in the bush at night. When we got back, Tom and I drank hot chocolate sitting in our porch looking out into the bush beyond.
Saturday 5th July
Woke up at 6:45 to one of the Masai staff calling us because he had put warm water in a bowl on the vanity table outside. Very civilized (but needed, as there was no running water). We had breakfast and were joined by the Indian man again, and we got proper china cups and a different thermos flask! We then went on a walk with a Masai guide, the Indian man (again the poor guy was joined with us... or rather us with him) and Innocent. We walked up to the top of a rocky mound and saw cattle being herded, and I picked up some marble stone that was mixed up with the dusty stony ground. I guess it came from volcanic activity.
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| Our Masai guide |
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| Masai herding their cattle |
It was a nice walk - just over two hours there and back, with the only annoyance being the flies around our faces and the thorny bushes which kept attaching themselves to Tom and I (but not the Indian man obviously). I also got my hair caught on a branch which was quite amusing. The Masai sandals and ankle length cloth is definitely more practical than western pumps, socks and long trousers for ease of movement through the bush. I asked Innocent where the Masai got their cloth and he said they used to wear animal skins, but now there are markets which lots of Masai from all around travel to and buy their cloth, motorbike tyres (!) etc. He also said they only drank the blood of their cows for medicine and mostly ate porridge and barbecued meat such as goat. But he did say that they were fiercely protective over their identity, despite pressure from the government, and were an important part of Tanzanian culture. They certainly do seem to be defending their identity, but sadly this is increasingly being done through exploiting their culture to tourists, working in the lodges, acting as guide and posing for photos rather than just wandering the bush with their cows.
We returned to the lodge, packed up and drive to Tarangire National Park - a bumpy drive through no mans land and scrub. The park was really worth visiting, but I'm glad we did it after Ngorongoro and Serengeti as we didn't see the amount of different animals that we saw in these 2 parks. But we did see some of our favourites in a different context: herds of elephants wandering the plains and heading towards watering holes, many more giraffes including a baby, and loads of zebra and big clusters of widerbeest (the latter were absent from Serengeti). The landscape was very different- a mixture of scrub with wide open plains and scattered with huge baobab trees. Baobab trees can live up to 3000 years, and there is a myth that they used to wander the earth but God got annoyed and picked then up and planted them upside down (explaining their root-like tops). Also they have hollow trunks and store water in them which elephants tap into with their tusks.
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| Watching elephants going to drink |
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| A baby zebra |
Our lunch spot had an awesome view of the elephants at the watering hole. What was nice was seeing the combinations of animals - zebra following elephants, zebra and giraffe, zebra and wilderbeast....this didn't really happen in Serengeti as you tended to see one type of animal on its own, albeit often in groups/herds. There are no rhino left in Tarangire because of poachers, and you could see holes in the baobab tree where poachers still hide to poach illegally.
We sped through the last bit of the park and it was exhilarating standing in the jeep seeing the herds of animals, scrub and baobab trees zip past. One of our last sightings was of lions lying by the river - 2 females and one male. You could tell we were pros by now as all the other jeeps were jostling for a view and we only lingered for a bit - by now we'd seen over 50 lions! We left the main gate at 3:30pm and are heading to Arusha. On the way we passed a market for the Masai and saw them buying cloth etc.
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| A baobab tree |
Sunday 6th July
Today we left Tumaini Cottages and Arusha for Zanzibar!!! We had breakfast at 9:30 (and had a nice lie-in), and then the man who owns Tumaini drove us to the airport. Arusha airport is tiny, and check-in was handing over your passport to a man standing by a Precision Air sign who went off into an office and came back with your boarding passes. But ironically we passed the time much more easily than in Dar Es Salam airport; there were loads of little shops and stalls where we bought a few things and then had a drink in a cafe looking onto the airstrip. We saw our plane land (or rather the man who owned the cafe did and told us we should go through to he 'boarding gate' i.e. the other side of the fence!) and Tom was very disappointed that it wasn't one of the tiny prop planes...but it did have propellers.
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| Waiting for the plane to Zanzibar |
The flight was at 1pm and took just over 1 hour, and we got soft drinks and a bag of cashew nuts each. We got a taxi from Zanzibar airport to our hotel called 'Tembo Hotel' which took about 15 mins and cost $10 each. In the taxi there was a laminated information board, and it
explained why Tanzania is called so....in the 1960s Zanzibar signed a treaty with Tanganyika, and along the with the Greek word for union (Anzar), the 3 words were combined to form Tanzania.
Initially there didn't seem to be much distinction with the mainland, but as we got into the old town suddenly the streets became really windy, with little stalls and shops and old colonial
buildings, some with beautiful ornate carved wooden doors. Zanzibar is famed for its original carved doors.
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One of the many carved doors in Stone
Town |
Our hotel is amazing - it is on the beach, with a pool in the centre with rooms all around the edge, and our room has a balcony with a view of the sea, beach and pool. It certainly seems like we are in an Eastern paradise.
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| The pool was just below our room |
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| The view from our room |
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| Housekeeping had made our towel into a dog! |
We went for a wander through the streets, and the smell of spices wafted all around from the nooks and crannies of the winding streets. It is Ramadan, so I had to cover my shoulders out of respect, and many of the restaurants serving lunch have made it really obvious that they still are doing so, although it has to be served inside. Motorbikes sporadically weave through the streets; the town reminds me a little of Marrakech with the Indian influence, winding streets and perilous motorbikes and carts! We booked a spice tour for tomorrow morning, which cost $15 each and includes lunch. We then went for a swim in the pool in our hotel and sat on our balcony, marvelling at the view of the sea bathed in the soft evening light with the bobbing Dhows (wooden boats) and reading our books.
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The view from our room at sunset of local dhows and
a tourist dhow |
We found a bar with happy hour, so mojitos worked out at £2!! It was right on the beach so we sat with our feet in the sand watching the sun set (and occasionally popping in to watch the Djocovich v Nadal Wimbledon final). It was amazing - I couldn't quite believe how idyllic it was. We then went to Forodani square where there were little tables all set up and selling seafood, naan breads, breadfruit, cassava, bananas, fruit and Zanzibar pancakes. Firstly we got a fish fillet, salad, corn on the cob and garlic naan. In our excitement we just paid 20,000 Tsh and it was only after that we realised we should have bargained and were ripped off! It still only cost £6 though so not a disaster. We perched in a step and were surrounded by stray cats! The fish was awesome - so meaty. The corn on the cob was awful, like plastic! Then Tom got a Zanzibar pizza...not really a pizza but more like dough filled with chopped veg (onion, green pepper and tomato) and mince andthen fried, sliced up and drizzled with chilli sauce (if you wished) and topped with salad. He liked it and it cost 3,000 (about £1). I then picked out a fish kebab and some banana and got a nasty shock when I bit into the fish and it was cold. The fish had already been cooked but it still freaked me out!!! We got it recooked and they did it in foil and practically incinerated it this time!! For pudding we got watermelon and mango.
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| Drinking with our feet in the sand |
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Ghost Alex....Tom playing around with his photography
skills |
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| The night market |
Monday 7th July
This morning we got up and had a pre-breakfast swim. It was raining but still very warm so it was fine. We then had breakfast - our best so far with a huge buffet, and sat on a table outside. At 9am we were met and walked to a random shack where we were told to wait for the mini bus to take us on the spice tour. When it arrived, we went past our hotel and picked up a woman from New Zealand...why was she favoured?! Maybe we offended the man in the office with our attempts at bargaining and walking away which didn't work.
We drove to the demonstration farm which was about a 30 min drive. It was a cool tour, with lots of smelling and tasting. We learned lots about different spices and fruits:
- Cocoa: comes in large pod, which contains fleshy white pulpy seeds. You can suck the pulp and it tastes like lychee (bizarrely). This white pulp is used to make cocoa butter and white choc. The inside of the seed (which is bitter so you shouldn't crunch into the seed) is used to make cocoa and chocolate.
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Inside a cocoa pod: the white pulpy
seeds are used for cocoa butter and taste
sweet when sucked |
- Cinnamon: all parts of the tree are used. The bark is used for cinnamon powder (the outside is strongest), the branches are dried and make cinnamon sticks as they naturally curl when dried, and the root is medicinal (eucalyptus-like smelling and for colds).
- Vanilla: grows on a vine in long green bean shaped pods. It is part of the orchid family. It's the most expensive spice for the locals as it takes a long process to make.
- Nutmeg: a really cool seed! The red evils looking strand around the black seed is mace, and the black seed is nutmeg. Nutmeg is an aphrodisiac!
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The black part in nutmeg, and the red
part surrounding it is mace |
- Cloves: little tiny buds that look a bit like trumpet- shaped chillies. There are different grades: the yellow unripe looking one is grade 1. The smaller red one is grade 2 and the bigger red on is grade 3
We also saw:
Seville oranges
Grapefruit
Sour sop (tastes like juicy, butter pear with huge seeds like a pumpkin)
Star fruit (way more bitter then I remember!)
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| Tasting starfruit |
Jackfruit (same family as the breadfruit but doesn't need to be cooked - raw it tastes like a mixture between banana and something juicy, and cooked it is nutty - I know this from Sri Lanka)
Chilies
Ginger
A red flower which when crushed makes a red paint which people use as lipstick (I tried it and according to Tom I 'looked like a whore, and a cheap one at that'....nice!)
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| Natural lipstick... |
We also acquired woven gifts form one of the guides - I got a flower bracelet, ring and a necklace and Tom got a mans bracelet and a tie!! He wove them in minutes out of palm leaves! He used the basket he wove for himself to collect tips....
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| A handmade bracelet |
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| The manly equivalent... |
After the tour we stopped at a house to look at oils (which no one bought) and a pepper tree - the seeds produce red, black and white pepper depending on the stage at which they are picked and if they are dried. We then had lunch - in a hut sat on the floor on a blanket. We had pilau rice with sticks of cinnamon in and cardamom and black pepper pods and cassava, a vegetable sauce and some spinach. It felt very authentic.
We then drove onto the beach via Mangapwane coral caves which (allegedly) were used after the slave trade was abolished to illegally hide slaves. The caves have fresh water in which was used by the locals, and the caves were found by a farm boy who lost one of his goats down them. The beach was beautiful - a deserted little cove with coral white sand and blue water and little wooden fishing boats bobbing about. Just as I imagined a Zanzibar beach. The sun came out and it was hot so Tom and I went for a swim. Some of the others in the group went out in the dugout canoes with the fishermen who had come in with their catch earlier. They got caught out when the heavens opened and got soaked. We watched, amused, under a shelter.
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| On the beach in Stone Town |
We got back around 3:30pm and went for a browse around the shops and then for a swim. Then we went to the bar on the beach and to the night market. This time we got the fish, salad and some coconut bread (which had the texture of crumpets!) for 8,000 Tsh (about £3). Much more like it! Then we got a stick of lobster in tandoori sauce (nice when you avoided the extremely hot chilli sauce on the side) a giant falafel and salad. For pudding we got fruit salad - also cheaper than last night!
Tuesday 8th July
We spent the afternoon lying on the beach, swimming in the sea and walking along the beach. It is was so quiet and for most of the time there was no one in sight along the whole of the vast stretch of beach. The little boats pulled up on the sand, the Dhows (local fishing boats) sailing in the distance, and the local people digging for fish in the sand give it a real Zanzibarian stamp!
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| A dhow sailing past |
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| Exploring the deserted beach |
The tide is amazing - it goes out so far and really stealthily so you don't notice, and by far I mean way out into the distance so you'd have to walk a fair way to swim! But it comes in around 10am and goes out around 4pm so perfect swimming conditions. The only problem is when the tide is out the local people dig for fish (we assume that's what they are digging holes in the sand for) and so when the tide is in you sink down into the holes every now and again which was a shock until we realised what they were!
We went for a barefooted beach jog after afternoon tea, which is served in the beach bar and you can have all sorts of teas and an amazing selection of home baked cakes. We also played chess - there are game boards in the tables. We had a Serengeti beer in the bar, and the old man who owns the hotel came and talked to us. He had a very convoluted story which involved him coming to Zanzibar initially to help a nephew use 'spare money' which he didn't know what to do with to build a hotel. Then apparently he was asked by someone else to help them build a hotel, and then he built this one. His wife (who l found a little severe and intimidating) is apparently a professional chef (which explains the amazing food) and plans all the menus. They are originally from Canada and he told us he used to sell perfumes. They are a very odd couple and its an odd story but hey, it was interesting!
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| Reading on the balcony |
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| Drinking Kilimanjaro beer in the hotel bar |
Dinner was amazing again - fresh bread and fragrant lemongrass soup, chicken with potato dauphinois and stuffed aubergine, and fruit (Tom had some cinnamon cake which was the most fragrant cake I've ever tasted!)
Wednesday 9th July
A day of pure relaxation! An early morning swim in the pool, breakfast (you pick from a menu and can have as much as you like - the fresh bread and jams and fruit platter were particularly good) and then lying on the beach, swimming in the sea (when the tide came in) and walking along the beach. The weather has been beautiful- dazzling blue sky with some relief provided by the occasional scudding cloud.
Lunch was amazing again - more fresh bread and soup, awesome fish cakes with relish and wedges, and fruit. We spent the afternoon on the beach and then had afternoon tea (and played more chess, this time with a time limit so it was a fast moving game and I enjoyed it more) and did a beach jog. We went to the bar for a cold beer and anticipating more good food.
For dinner we had fish soup and fresh warm bread, then chicken curry in a little earthenware pot with rice and broccoli (but not enough for my cravings!) and an impressive chocolate cake baked individually in a jar with ice cream on top. When the ice cream ran out the cake was just too dense to eat - it really was a monster! After dinner we went for a beach walk and sat on the beach for a bit. The sky wasn't nearly as starry as in Serengeti - the nearly full moon may explain why, or light pollution could be more pervasive than would first seem.
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| The chocolate pudding |
Thursday 10th July
We had breakfast, and ordered pretty much everything off the menu between us, including the usual fruit, pancakes and bread/pastry basket (we realised the bread and pastries all came in one basket rather than separate baskets as it appeared on the menu) along with 'chunky monkey French toast' made with with Nutella, vanilla and banana sprinkled with coconut.
We got a taxi to our next hotel - Dimokuchu Beach Bungalows - at 10am. I wasn't feeling great, with a bit of a dodgy stomach and queasiness. It took about an hour to get here - we are now near a village called Paje which is still on the East coast, but further south. We are staying in a beach bungalow which has amazing views; the beach has whiter sand and bluer sea than the beach at Chwaka. It is paradise again! The bathroom is en-suit but has no roof so feels very 'at one with nature!'
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| The view from our room |
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| Our beach bungalow |
We walked along the beach up to Paje and had lunch in at the Ocean Restaurant up there and marveled at all the kite surfers (it seems to be the place for it). We shared a tuna sandwich (with fresh tuna steak) a bowl of potato wedges and a salad. The prices were quite decent. It felt a little like we were in Thailand/gap year territory up in Paje so we were glad to come back to our deserted and tranquil part of the beach - once we'd battled against the wind! The sun and air temperature were so hot, but the wind was something else. It meant the clouds cleared though.
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| Again the beach was pretty quiet...and windy. |
We spent the afternoon swimming in the sea and later played cards on our terrace and had.a beer gazing out at the view. There was a power cut because of the wind and it came on when we were in the restaurant behind our hotel having dinner. It was a very chilled place and the food was good - we shared a fish steak with chapati and seafood skewers with chips, and the 'side' of veg came with chips too...but we managed it!
Friday 11th July
I went for a beach jog before we were brought breakfast on our balcony. I jogged up to Paje and back - back was a mission as the wind was SO strong!!!when I got back there was a platter of fruit, and a plate of chapattis and hard boiled eggs on our balcony. We ate it sitting on the step where it is most sheltered (and had to deal with an ant infestation after!) and then I got an attack of the runs and felt awful. When is recovered, we went to the hostel where we ate dinner last night to use their pool. We bought drinks and spent the rest of the morning there - it was sheltered and the sun beds had cushions and the pool was really nice.
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| At the pool behind our hostel |
Then we walked to Paje and lunch at Ocean restaurant again. This time I had soup (which was more like a veggie pasta sauce or something) and salad and Tom had a steak sandwich and we shared wedges. Walking back was a mission against the wind and we tried to stop to get wifi to book ferry's but it was too slow.
We went in the sea in the afternoon. It was so wavy and choppy but fun. We also walked up to Jambiani to see what there is to see...not much! A nice walk though. Now we are about to have a beer on our balcony and go for dinner at the place we went to last night as its close and seems nicer than the one on the beach next door (whose pool is pretty sorrowful too).
Saturday
12th July
This morning the
weather wasn't great, it was quite drizzly and grey and had rained in the night
(which got meant getting wet when going to the toilet!). I went for a beach run and was the only
foreign person on the beach as there were no kite surfers; the wind was calmer
and the tide was quite far out. It was interesting to watch the locals go about
their daily business - women with their children in ragged clothes collecting
pebbles in buckets, and men repairing their boats. When I returned we had
breakfast on the balcony again and then went for a walk out to the beach-island
which had been formed by the low tide.
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| Walking out to the beach island |
We then waited around for the
hostel owner to get us some cash. There are no cash machines outside Stone Town
and very few places take card. We had run out of cash and had arranged to pay
extra on card in return for some shillings. We ended up being driven, with his two
cute little girls who were born in Britain and have perfect English as they
also go to an international school, into a nearby village, and got the cash
there (I’m not sure what he was doing but hey). On the way back, we stopped so
he could get some provisions and he got cross with one of his girls for
dropping the bag of groceries when he gave her a fruit juice. He has them at
the weekends and has to juggle them with running the hostel (we think his ex-wife, who is British, lives near Stone Town and
part owns the hostel with him but we couldn’t quite work it out. The woman who answered
all our emails had perfect English though and an English name).
We then walked into Paje and had a light lunch at the Ocean
restaurant, and by this time the weather had significantly improved. We came
back for a swim and sunbathe, although I got quite chilly because of the wind
so didn’t really do much lying on the beach and had a second quick swim before
going to bask in the sun on our veranda. We left about 4:30 to walk to Paje,
and negotiated a taxi to take us to and from ‘The Rock’ restaurant where we
were having diner, and also to Stone Town tomorrow. We negotiated to 65,000 shillings all in, although the driver was cunning and kept changing it!
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| The Rock restaurant |
The Rock restaurant is a must eat place! Tom found it on a
list of top places to eat in the world, and certainly I see why! It is a
restaurant built on a small rock out to sea, which you have to reach by boat
when the tide is in. It certainly was the best restaurant entrance I’ve ever
made. When you were inside you felt as though you were somewhere really
different, and the tiny windows and candlelight gave it a magical and
mysterious feel. I had a really good mojito sitting outside before dinner, and
for dinner we had fried calamari and prawns and chapatti, and shared lobster in
a butter sauce and tuna fish steak in curry sauce with chips and veg, and then pineapple
flambé with ice-cream for desert. We had a really good bottle of Prosecco which
went with the seafood. We
were able to walk back across the beach at the end as the tide had gone out;
this was to my liking in y slightly tipsy state!!
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| Getting the boat to The Rock |
Sunday 13th July
I woke up at 5am with the runs, which wasn’t fun, especially
given the fact that we had a giant stick insect in the bathroom! I still went
for a last beach jog though, and it made me feel better. The tide was much further
in than at the same time yesterday, and I could have almost gone swimming. This
puzzled us: the high and low tide have
varied a lot over the past few days, by hours, and we thought the tide times
changed a lot more subtly. (Note to self – look up tides in Zanzibar).
We got our taxi to Stone Town (it was the brother of last
nights driver but it made no difference to us so long as the price was the
same!) and on the way we drove past Jozani National Park and saw Red Colobus monkeys. We
felt lucky to have seen them merely by driving past in a taxi, as tourists go
on walks to try and spot them. You aren’t actually allowed to stop on the road
and take photos (I guess so the park can make money out of you!) but our driver
did, although he was very nervous because you can be fined. There were also a
lot of police out checking peoples licences, and our driver said they just want
money.
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| We spotted Red Colobus monkeys |
We got dropped of at Tembo hotel where we asked to leave our
bags, and we used their pool and beach sun loungers and bought drinks and
lunch. The weather was beautiful, really sunny and hot with a light breeze. It
was a nice way to pass the time waiting for the ferry.
We walked to the ferry port and it was quite a hot and
stressful experience, as everyone wanted to offer us taxis, and it got so busy
near the ferry port. We were glad we walked as the traffic was gridlocked. We
briefly go to wait in the business class lounge (i.e. the tourist bit) where
there were awesome reclining chairs. But we boarded pretty swiftly (prematurely
in my opinion!) We waited for about 45 mins until the ferry left.
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| Lounging in the waiting room |
It was a nice journey. I spent the first half on deck watching
Zanzibar disappear and all the little islands, including prison island, pass by.
I went below deck for the last hour, and by this time a lot of people were
seasick. When sick bags were offered around before we left I was little
alarmed, but I felt OK because I only spent a little time down below. We walked
to Tanzanite executive Suites where we were staying, and had dinner there. The
fired fish was so so good and just what I felt like (I had been feeling bit off
all day).
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| On the ferry leaving Zanzibar |
Monday 14th
We spent the morning wandering around Dar. There were more
shops open and it was a lot busier, as it was a Monday. There were still only a
few cafes and restaurants open though because of Ramadan. We got a taxi to the
airport around 1:30pm and the traffic was pretty bad. The international departures
was better than domestic, and we passed the time browsing the shops and shared
a falafel burger and chips and tom had some samosas. Our flight was delayed by
an hour (which we were aware of from checking the internet, but didn’t want to
turn up later to find it was no longer delayed) but this meant less time
waiting in Dubai so we didn’t mind. We arrived in Dubai about midnight
Tanzanian time and sat in Costa where tom got a Panini and hot chocolate and I
had a mint tea and white chocolate swizzler. I managed to seep on the next
flight for about 3 hours. We got back to Toms house at about 8:30am, and Tom
went straight into work! I didn’t go to bed as I knew i'd never get up, but my exhausted
state meant I felt more upset to be home than I was expecting. Next adventure:
Romania, Lithuania and Latvia!!
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