Tanzania Zanzibar
End of the rainy season,
the lull before the storm of the full summer tourist rush; it was an ideal time
to go on safari.
I had (Brian just comes
along for the ride!!!) decided I wanted to see for myself huge areas of
grassland, what a Baobab tree looked like, a Rift Valley, a soda Lake brimming
with pink flamingos, an African sunset followed by deep night and massive herds
of wild animals etc. Our safari of 12 days amply allowed us to see
all of that and get a feel for the country and people in
Most Tanzanian safaris
start in Arusha. We arrived there via
It was impossible to fall
asleep with all the juddering, and then suddenly in the middle of the road
loomed a lonesome giant, a rather startled giraffe! The
others in the bus ignored the animal, but I felt quite a rush of excitement, I
certainly haven’t ever driven along a road and been confronted with quite such
a large animal! He stood his ground
until fear got the better of him and he loped off into the bush to the rest of the
group!
We arrived in Arusha with
night falling, Maasai standing on the roadsides, tall and upright in their
bright red cloaks; fires burnt outside every mud house with pots of food bubbling
away on top. 20 watt electric light bulbs shone feeble and
bare in roadside shacks and shops.
Our Hotel was the
beautiful sounding “La Jacaranda”, an old colonial house converted into a small
Hotel. Our room was large, two beds, a
plastic table, 2 plastic chairs and an ancient bathroom with a pot plant in the
bidet! Our first taste
of
Anti-malarial tablets are
necessary in
We
left Arusha and travelled for two hours on a good tarmac road, until a turn off
to our first camp site. The next 10 days
were all on rough road surfaces!
As we trundled along the
road to
Our
transport for the trip was a 6-seater
Most of the accommodation
was in permanent tented camps. Ma
ybe 16
tents, each with
space around them,
chairs for sitting under the front awnings, proper beds and a
"bathroom” that had
a flushing toilet, washbasin and solar heated hot water shower. I have to add that there were also some other
‘guests’ in the tents – frogs, spiders, preying mantis and speedy
cockroaches! But the compensation was
being able to sit outside the tent or round a blazing fire, listening to the
night time sound of crickets, scuffling animals, buzzing insects, birds and
other mysterious noises! No noisy traffic, planes, dogs or
motorbikes!
We loved the freedom of
having a vehicle to ourselves, being able to stop when we saw something
interesting, being able to stand up and look out of the top of the vehicle
without having to "take turns" or "Excuse me, could I just....,
oooh! I'm so sorry, whoops!" Ha Ha! After the tenth time
we saw giraffe or lions or huge herds of dim wildebeest, we did get blasé and
not ask our driver to stop. So it was excellent that we all loved the bird
life and stopped much more often to identify and look at birds than animals! 170 different species of birds
on my list, 50 different animals. (Nothing
stringy!!)
Our first NP in
Down by the
Baboons and indeed all the
animals on the roadway avoided the vehicles partly due to the Park NO-FEED
policy. A group of Maasai Giraffe, with
attendant Oxpeckers, grazed elegantly on the prickly acacia trees; immaculate,
neat Impala danced away on slender legs and two tiny Dik-Dik
balanced on a quartet of knitting needles looked nervously up and down the
road. A troupe of 4 Vervet monkeys
ambled to a puddle for a drink; the male showing off his bright blue balls and
red dick, before deciding he had time for a quick ‘doggy’ with a willing female
and then moving on!
And so our first day was
spent looking at nature with our “Long-Eyes” (Nixon’s term for our binoculars!)
and being hooked by its splendid bio-diversity.
Finally we reached our
tented camp. Very basic, damaged by El
Nino it looked rather forlorn as our tent was the only operational one! Getting replacement building material is a 6
hour ‘bump and jar’ ride to Arusha!
Looking out towards
Brian looked inside the
primitive ‘kitchen’ and said I shouldn’t!
The food was decidedly basic!
Our tent had no
electricity, but one of the local Maasai brought us an oil lamp; he was the
camp guard and sat by his fire all night. So having nothing to do, it being
completely dark, we were in bed by
The early morning light
was the signal for various birds to announce day! Delicate Little Bee Eaters, noisy Weaver
birds and loads of tiny things without name!
After breakfast we drove to the lake over ground crusty with soda, to
see around 500 flamingos feeding along the shoreline. It was a wonderful place, the volcano behind
us running down to a flat soda-dry area with rivulets of fresh water flowing to
the lake bordered by green reeds. Four
pelicans sat solidly in the shallows and an Egret fished in the fast flow of
the stream by twisting and stabbing at fish.
Maybe 3 times out of 10 he succeeded!
From mud prints we could tell that there had been hyena and mongoose
around, too.
The flamingos were not as
numerous as I had hoped but in their varying shades of pink they were graceful
on their personal stilts and very elegant in flight. Partly the remoteness and partly the feeling
of timelessness made our visit memorable.
The
The
We left our very basic camp
at
We joggled and bumped our
way for a total of 9 hours to get to the Serengeti N.P. The most spectacular part was climbing the
side of the Great Rift Valley and then stopping to look down at the huge
natural ‘fault’ in the landscape. We
passed small villages perched on slopes, drove over
A long tiring day!
The Serengeti N.P.
Immediately we
were inside the National park we saw a large herd of zebra. Beautiful faces, pointed ears looking alertly
at us, round plump bottoms, they really are lovely animals. Youngsters are skittish, their stripes more
brownish than black. I loved the way the adults
stood in pairs, nose to tail, watching both directions!
We were booked into Lobo
Wildlife Lodge for one night. It was
designed to blend in with the surroundings and used space and wooden structures
well. Unfortunately, due to some bottled water that we were given at
The Serengeti is huge, and
we started off through ‘grassland’, but to encourage new tender grass growth
for the migrating animals our first views of it were blackened earth. The smell of smoke drifted all around us from
the controlled fires. A small tortoise
was trying to escape the heat by getting onto the track and then in the sky we
saw vultures gathering, circling then converging onto a spot where even more
vultures and 3 Marabou storks were jostling and flapping over a recently killed
zebra. They were an unruly mob,
squabbling and tearing at flesh. It got
particularly frantic when a tasty bit of intestine was exposed! One of the Marabous managed a quick dash for
a black ash-covered morsel and then walked pompously down to the water pool to
wash it before gulping it down! The
melee continued, the vultures by now deeply into the body cavity, their heads
covered in blood and their manners deteriorating.
Our accommodation for the
next night was another tented camp (just outside the Serengeti) where we were
the o
nly guests; much better
than the
Most of the next day we
stayed fairly near the camp (in case of further
pan-splatter!)and stopping by a seasonal river saw
three wonderfully named birds: a Bataleur overhead (large Bird of Prey), a Hamerkop (Heron-ish) in the water and Go-Away birds in the trees. Later, in the afternoon, we sat under our
awning watching small herds of Grant’s gazelle and zebra in the distance, 
while in front of us the
garden and mowed field occupied our eyes and binoculars with Hildebrandt’s
Starlings, White-headed buffalo Weavers,
woodpeckers, Cordon-bleu, a beautiful green Wood Hoopoe and a pair of Hunter’s Sunbird. Behind the small water pond was a makeshift
housing for 5 Fischer’s Lovebirds, rescued from the bird trade, waiting impatiently
for their flight feathers to grow back! As the rain started to come down we saw a
group of placid Ground Hornbill plod slowly onward, seemingly oblivious to the
weather!
In the Park, baboons gathered
in mixed age groups, babies remaining dependent for a long time. The groups amble along the roadside, rushing
into the verges as vehicles approach.
With tails held high, they wander to a safe distance and then sit on their
shiny bottoms and stare at you!
The giraffe have superb grace but are quite dim looking. They eat the tender shoots of the acacia before the thorns are like needles, so their dimness is relative! Generally they were quite calm about the vehicles going past.
The wildebeest were an odd
looking mixture. Small piggy
eyes, long, long faces elongated by a beard but then a strong lithe body
balanced on quite dainty legs. The
blackish brown markings down the shoulders look like a long mane at first but
they are just part of the design! Around
the camp we could hear them grunting to one another and when a weather front
came over prior to a heavy rain burst, the young animals charged back and forth
with a mixture of fear, fun and excitement.
Young wildebeest can walk within 5 – 6 minutes of birth and after 10
minutes they can follow the herd. All
wildebeest are born within a 3 week period.
Imagine what the rutting and mating season must be like with trophies to
be won or lost!
Thompson’s Gazelle were
everywhere, delightful, delicate animals each with a small black non-stop bum-flicker
of a tail! With their two little horns
and delicate legs they are a cheetah’s favourite delicacy. These gazelle set up loose, mixed herds.
Impala on the other hand
organise into two groups – the dominant male with a harem of around 40, (he works
hard defending his conjugal rights!) and Bachelor Boy groups. Impala are pretty animals, elegant and swift,
although the Bachelor Boys play rough games of boxing or ‘chicken’ in front of
safari vehicles!
The Serengeti is huge
space surrounded by blue distant hills – vast plains of grass where the soil is
so thin nothing else can grow. Parts were
already dry and brown, parts still green and growing. Easy to realise just how fragile the
eco-system is if rain doesn’t fall at the right time on the right plain. Drought, Rinderpest and predators are all
enemies, but drought must be cruellest.
In good times the
Serengeti is laced with freshwater streams and pools that eventually feed into 
impossible to
believe that there were Hippos in a pool as they can submerge for up to 3
minutes, but the smell of decaying, festering, fermenting green dung is
unmistakeable! Our first pool was a
favourite with all the guides, with around 25 hippos and 3 gigantic crocodiles
on the other side of the pool! We stood
on the bank watching ear-flicking, farting, stubby tails flapping to disperse
the dung, yawning fetid breaths, quick splashes of surprise, floating blobs of
‘hippo-processed’ grass. What a good job
they can close their nostrils as they submerge!
Back at the camp that
night we sat with a glass of South African Chardonnay around the camp fire
discussing how odd it was to have a Maasai night watchman complete with bow and
quiver of arrows looking after our safety in the 21st Century!
Cradle of mankind
stuff!
The
Ngorongoro Crater
The road to the NG Conservation
Area was really rough and we travelled miles with nothing of note, except that
the Maasai were back with us again in this area, their villages dotted
inconspicuously in the landscape. Young
men are starting to get into the ‘begging’ habit, “Photo?” chorused 4 tall
handsome dark-skinned, red-robed Maasai – but we drove on. I took a sneaky and wildly wobbly photo of a
village as w
e rumbled past.
Finally we reached the
Crater rim and our first impressions were disappointing! A vast crater (10 miles across) with a soda
lake in the centre tinged with pink.
(Flamingos) But nothing much else
was visible from the rim. Descent is one-way
and only 4WD are allowed. (Costs $70 a day)
Easy to see why only 4WD, as the road was steep, rough, twisting and
narrow! As we got further inside, animals
became visible; zebra, Thompsons, Wildebeest mixed with domesticated cattle
herded into the crater each day by Maasai herdsmen. Once on the floor of the crater we could see
the Greater and Lesser Flamingos standing a good distance in the water, away
from any predators. Nixon (and us)
stopped for ages watching a lone wildebeest staring at a ridge of grass – was
there a lion hiding? If there was, he had more patience than we
did!
On one side of the crater
is a small forest which even has elephant in it! The
reason that NG Crater is so well known is the sheer diversity found in such a
small area; we saw hyena – ungainly ruffians, more hippos – one lumbering its
way back into the water, lions lying besmirched with mud and idly ignoring us
while whisking flies off their exposed tummies, herds of zebra, wildebeest
etc. There are Cheetah in the crater,
but with the dry grass four feet high, we could have driven past one and not
even realised!
The steep climb out of the crater could best be described as diabolical! It made Brian’s headache into a throbbing nuisance and sealed our decision that one look in the crater was enough! It was good to be back in a Hotel Lodge with steaming hot water in the bathroom and a decent food buffet! In fact the next morning the crater was full if mist, so without too many regrets we left the area.
Many times during the trip
we stopped to look at birds, and on our route out of the NG Conservation area
we saw a small wagtail (with a fan-like tail).
A family of 6 children piled out of a mud shack to watch us, so I
wandered over with my Bird book to show them the pictures. Grime and snot made me a little careful about
handing the book over (!) The children
were fascinated at the pages of pictures, finding special “Ooohs!”
for the flamingos and the Long tailed Widowbird.
Back to Arusha through its
poor shanty outskirts, unkempt roads, untidy buildings, makeshift stalls and
muddy sidewalks, past people pushing cheap wooden carts with old car tyres
piled with goods. Battered
old cars jostling with Abercrombie and Kent shiny 4X4’s.
Back to civilisation – I
suppose!
The next part of the
holiday was to the sexy, exotic, alluring, tropical paradise of Zanzibar for rest and relaxation, and
Emerson & Greens (Hotel) was our
little bit of luxury after all the tents and cockroachy bathrooms!
The guys
that bought, repaired, styled and now run Emerson & Greens
are 2 gay Americans. Wonderfully be-caftanned Emerson appeared one
evening in orange floaty top and trousers followed the next night by a similar
blue creation. Immaculate; coiffured and manicured he sat exuding his
New-Yorkness in the Bar. Conventionally dressed Tom, was the
designer of the place - had studied Theatre design, classical ballet and stuff,
informative about living in
Our room was at the top of
the building, smallish, with nowhere to hang clothes, but the huge green
outdoor bath, with trellis dividing us from the outside world, the canopied
four-poster bed and thick purple drapes gave it an unforgettable ambience which
made it worth it. On our
second night we had booked for an extravagant meal on the rooftop –
lobster and various exotic dishes to the accompaniment of a group of musicians
and dancers. Never have I seen dancing
like it, the dancers kept their bodies, from head to waist, absolutely still
but their hips gyrated and swung, circled and flicked back and forth to
furiously fast rhythms. Eye-popping
stuff!
Poor
The 'work ethic' so
beloved by Europeans, missed the Africans here completely.
We idled our 3 days in
Stone Town, looking at the dingy remains of slave markets, dungeons,
crumbling palaces and fly-blown markets, then decided to go to the North to
idle a bit more by the sea.
We had a vision.
It's
always dangerous to pre-visualise! The north just didn't meet up to
our vision; we ended up in a community built around a stretch of coral sand, a
couple of dive outfits and just one restaurant.
And little to
do. We did the walk along the white coral sands a
couple of times, found the rotting remains of a turtle shell and lumps of
blackened driftwood, we watched the picturesque dhows set sail for their night
fishing. We read a bit.
And we sat outside our
clean, neat little bungalow and plotted escape!
Emirates said they could
change our flight home with no penalty, so we paid for our bungalow and bumped
back along the unmade road to civilisation and the ferryboat to
Two hours after leaving
Two nights in cocooned
colonial style! Lawns, planted prettiness and a cricket pitch separated
us from the realities of Dar.
It was OK by us!