TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th
Our flight was scheduled for 3:00 am - they do this intentionally so the incoming international flights which arrive around midnight have time to get transit passengers to their next plane, but it’s absolutely BRUTAL when you’re as old as we are. Fortunately, we managed to score a business class upgrade at the last minute and sky priority lounge access in Tana and Kenya, which made the journey a little easier. They weren’t lay-flat seats, unfortunately (that would have been amazing) but it was still comfortable.
Mount Meru from our hotel room
When we landed at Kilimanjaro airport, I withdrew some
Tanzanian shillings (about $200 worth) and we waited for our driver, who was
late. Airport security used their phone to call the Lion King office, but
just as he managed to get through our guide, Simon, appeared and gathered our
luggage. He was extremely personable and very proud of Tanzania. He
calls it “the birthplace of mankind - so when you come here, we say ‘welcome
home’ because this is the first home for all mankind.’”
The drive to Arusha was extremely bumpy - Simon (a member of
the Maasai tribe) calls this the “African massage” and recommended that while
we had time before our safari that we try the local food and buy some
Tanzanite, a precious gem only found in Tanzania. Simon was a great
storyteller, but whenever he’d start telling us facts about Tanzania, he’d turn
around and look at us in the back seat - which was a little nerve wracking as
he wasn’t watching the road - and the roads are fairly chaotic (though not as
bad as India).
He also taught us some Swahili:
"Jambo! Jambo!" Hello
"Shee-kah-moo" - greeting of respect to a
person older than you
"Assante" - Thank you
"Karibu" - Welcome
"Chokula key tom sanna" - the food was very
delicious
"POH lay POH lay" - no hurry / no worry
"Hakuna Matata" - no stress / no worry (yes, they really say this)
Simon dropped us at the Mount Meru hotel where we were
slightly delayed as the hotel had our reservation in for yesterday. It
made me slightly panicked, because our driver had already left and we were
without a backup plan. Eventually they got it sorted and we checked into
a very nice room with a beautiful view of Mount Meru.
After a shower, we grabbed lunch at the local coffee shop in
the lobby and I had the most gorgeous avocado salad - I’ve been craving a salad
for several days, but Micah warned me against eating salad in Madagascar
because they wash the lettuce in non-potable water. I thought here at a
five star hotel I’d be okay - and it was a lovely treat.
From there, we went back to the room and found that what we
thought was a blister on Damian’s foot was actually a fairly impressive shard
of glass buried deeply. We were able to dig it out and clean it up - but
I was mortified since I’ve been massaging that foot for several days thinking
it was a knot when the entire time it was a sharp piece of glass.
Dinner included in our safari at the buffet so we sat on the terrace outside and enjoyed the beautiful view of the golf course as we ate. There was some confusion about whether or not dinner was included in our room - so the waiter offered to bring the bill up for a signature after he checked. I said, “Great!” and we went back upstairs. A few minutes later he knocked on the door and I answered it expecting to sign - but instead, he said, “Let me help you” and he opened the door and pushed past me making a beeline straight to Damian with the bill. I was like, “WTF?” Okay, it’s obviously a cultural thing - no need to get offended - but then when he got back downstairs he immediately called up to the room and said, “The gentleman signed his name Hess and the room is under Roberts.” I said, “I’m Roberts.” He said, “Is this okay?” I said, “yes, of course.” In addition to being a very patriarchal society, they are also very curt and direct - it isn’t rude, but it could be perceived as such if you aren’t used to it. Personally, I appreciate direct - but I admit that after flying all night, when the flight attendants were popping off, “Give me your bag.” “Go over there and wait.” I had to take a minute to remember that my being tired was unfairly affecting my perception of their attitude.
Random facts: The languages in Tanzania are Swahili and English
There are no bus stops - people just stand on the side of
the road and the public transport watches for them and picks them up.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10th - TARANGERIE
Let the Safari begin!
Our guide was to pick us up at 8:30 but was late, so I was running from jeep to jeep asking, “Are you our driver?” until we finally found him - his name is Amani and he’s a local guide from here in Arusha with 10 years of experience as a driver/guide. He explained that we’d have good roads today, but they’d be pretty rough in some of the parks - and that while in the national parks we weren’t allowed to drive faster than 50 kph for the safety of the animals. There are also restrooms/washrooms located throughout the parks - but in case of emergency, one only had to request the option of “Checking the tire” - in other words, if you can’t wait he’d find a safe place for you to squat in nature.
Driving to our first National Park - the Tarangire (meaning “river of warthogs”) - I noticed the streets are much cleaner than in Madagascar, although they still have their fair share of rubbish. Also - drivers are VERY strict about stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks. Jaywalking is rampant, and they manage to weave in and out of the cars - but there was never a question about stopping for an official crosswalk. Off the main highway on the service roads in each town there were shops with houses behind them - everything from farm fresh fruits and vegetables to electricians and car repairs, Like Madagascar, the towns are a bustling social center full of life, tuk tuks and motorcycle taxis. Between towns, we’d pass MULTIPLE packs of goats and cattle being herded by children around 7 or 8 - they’d stop and wave whenever they saw a safari jeep. I thought that was SUPER friendly, but Amani explained they are hoping you’ll stop to take photos and give them money.
Amani told us there are over 3,000 tour companies that offer safari tours, although not all are officially licensed - some of them are freelance that work to manage the overflow of licensed companies - but it makes sense from what I was reading during my research. There was a WIDE array of options and price points to choose from depending on whether you wanted a private tour, a shared tour, five star accommodations or “roughing it.”
Tanagerie National Park is also called “Elephant Paradise” - it consists of 2800 square kilometers and was established in 1970. It houses the Maasai tribe, which is one of over 120 tribes that live in Tanzania.
On our first game drive, we saw striped mongoose (“Timon” from Lion King), Wildebeest, Water buffalo, Giraffes, Water bucks, and Impala. The interesting thing about the Impala is that they have either a bachelor herd (completely male) or they have a harem herd (one male, many female) - we were fortunate to see both. And of course, we saw plenty of elephants. The park wants to keep the “natural” beauty of the park so none of the roads are paved - making a VERY bumpy and slow going drive.
We stopped for lunch at the picnic grounds in the park with an absolutely beautiful view. Amani laid out spaghetti, rice and vegetables and we stopped for a short rest and to take some photos. Amani asked a random guy (another guide, likely) to take a photo of the three of us. He took two....
After an incredible day, we made our way to Kitela Lodge where we enjoyed our own private bungalow with an enormous bed covered by mosquito netting. We arrived just as happy hour was beginning, and we were offered a glass of bao bab juice from the bao bab tree - I didn’t much care for it, but our guide absolutely loved it - I think it’s somewhat of an acquired taste (like beer). Damian went to the room for a shower while I snacked on some amazing spring rolls and sweet potato crisps until it was time for a magnificent buffet dinner. We were told after dinner we’d need an escort to our room (as wildlife frequently roam through the grounds), and that we’d need to call the office if we wanted to return to the main building at any time - but honestly, after a wonderful dinner and a glass of wine we were both out cold for the night.
Random facts of the day:
The big
five of a safari are - Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant, Water Buck - we saw 3
today (Lion, Elephant, Water Buck)
Tanzania
is approximately 49% Christian and 49% Muslim with 2% of the population being
atheist or agnostic. However, everyone gets along. (Having said that,
Muslim Amani proceeded to express some VERY misogynistic ideas about how his
Christian wife is expected to not work and take care of the children even
though she had a career when he met her)
CB talk - “Roja! Roja!” = “Roger! Roger” = okay okay
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