Jambo From Tanzania

Michelle and Craig’s thoughts:

On our first day in Tanzania we knew that this place was special. We arrived at Dar Es Salaam early on Nov 1st. We then took a plane to Kilimanjaro in the afternoon. As we sat in the airport we watched the staff’s interactions. Everyone had a big beautiful smile, no matter what job they had or who they were interacting with. They were friendly, pleasant and welcoming. This warmth and courtesy has been seen with all the Tanzanians we have met. It’s hard not to smile ourselves because we’re so happy to be here.

After being immersed in the desert in Jordan and Egypt, the lush greenery we encountered in Arusha was wonderful. Our first day we met our guide James. We chose Roy Safaris Ltd. for our safari tour. It was recommended to us by our friends, Lee and Beno. We were very happy that we were given the same guide because they had great reviews about him. James is really nice, respectful and very informative.

We booked a nine day safari tour visiting Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park. With a 4 x 4 truck, James drove around each park as we stuck our head out of the top of the truck taking pictures and videos. Sometimes the animals were far and we took pictures using our zoom lens and other times the animals were right beside the truck completely ignoring us. Surprisingly enough, the animals totally ignore the trucks that drive through the area. There are strict rules when in the area and feeding the animals is a huge violation; thus, they don’t come up to the trucks for food.

The attitude for the animals seems to be business as usual. They hunt, kill and eat right in front of you. We’ve seen cheetahs and lions eat their prey and vultures, jackals and hyenas eating what’s left from a kill. Pretty awesome, especially seeing the cheetah eat the gazelle! We saw thousands of wildebeests migrating towards the rain. It was so fascinating! We’ve seen giraffes, monkeys, zebras, elephants, hyenas and other animals drink water beside us. There once was an amazing frenzy of zebras clamouring together in the river to drink and cool down It was of the most riveting sight to see. The cutest sight was seeing the young animals of the baboons, warthogs, elephants, zebras, hippos, lions, and rhinos. A great urge to take them home as pets was always the discussion. The funniest sight was watching the hippos get up from the water and start pooping and wiping their butts with their tails at the same time with lightening speed! We were always caught off guard and laughing when they did their performance, such that we were never ready with the video camera to film the dirty deed.

The lodges that we stayed in were located in the park; thus when going to dinner, we had to call security to escort us to the dining area because of the animals (lions, leopards, etc.) roaming around. One morning, we woke up to see zebras and a waterbuck outside our back window. We heard from the security men that there were a number of zebras that morning drinking water from the pool. Too bad we missed that!

We learned so much from James about the life and behaviour of the animals. It was fun trying to spot the animals before the others! We were getting pretty good at it. The safari was an experience we will never forget. Being in their habitat and watching them was an honour.

Love,
Michelle and Craig