TANZANIA


We arrived in Dar es Salaam 37 hours after leaving Brisbane.  There were no problems getting our Tanzanian visas at the airport (US$50 each) and a Takim’s representative took us through the industrial suburbs to our overnight hotel, Tanzanite Executive Suites.  (By  the way, tanzanite is a precious stone used for jewellery).  Our room was good, clean and spacious, though the view from the window reflected the poverty resulting from 27% unemployment.  We noticed many men sleeping on the streets the next morning.



Dinner that night in our room comprised a good pizza and very nice Mocktails (Strawberry Daquiri and Pina Colada) – no alcohol is allowed in this hotel. Dar is predominantly Muslim.

 Very early 4am wake-up for our short flight to Mt Kiliminjaro Airport and the start of our safari.  The flight left early from gate 5 instead of gate 8 as advertised - fortunately I heard and deciphered the broadcast message.  We arrived an hour early so our guide was not there to greet us for another 30 minutes.  His name is Freddy, a very pleasant man with good English.  He drove us in our safari vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser, to Arusha Coffee Lodge for breakfast.  This place is not a cafĂ© but a luxurious resort and we had a most sumptuous meal.



Google Earth map for our route - Lake Manyara is near Arusha.

We drove past a market, Masai settlements and villages en route to Lake Manyara for our first game drive.



Masai village




Manyara village tourist shops







Lake Manyara is a forested area famous for tree-climbing lions but we saw no cats of any description.  However, it was very attractive with an abundance of other wildlife, especially near the lake.

2 silvery-cheeked hornbills
Blue monkey
Olive baboon and baby
 Wildebeest, Thomson's gazelles, hippos, zebras, elephants and giraffes (both Masai and Rothschild) were the most common mammals.
 
And now for some of the many birds.  The huge flocks of flamingos on the lake were just a pink haze.
Ground hornbills, as large as turkeys
African jacana

Cardinal woodpecker

Cinnamon-chested bee-eater

Emerald-spotted dove
Juvenile fish eagle
Long-tailed fiscal
Malachite kingfisher - tiny
Pipit ?

Red and yellow barbet
Red-billed hornbill
Pelicans and saddle-billed storks




 Other mammals seen later in the day included a rock hyrax (related to the elephant), a handsome bush buck (90cm at the shoulder) and tiny dik-diks (35cm at the shoulder),shy, and travel in pairs.
Female dik-dik

Male dik-dik

Male bush buck
Male elephants
Rock hyrax
Vervet monkey
A wonderful introduction to the animals of Tanzania!  Unfortunately, our overnight stay at Nysa Lodge was not good.  Power was off except between 9pm and 4am.  We could not recharge batteries.  They were supposed to have a generator as this is a common problem in the area.  We also had no hot water and the hand basin leaked.


We spent 2 days in the Serengeti which is an amazing place.  It looks so barren because of overgrazing by the Maasai cattle.   However it's crammed with easily seen animals wherever there is grass and/or water.  We saw lions everywhere, including a pride of 15, several sightings of cheetahs, five different views of leopards.

Masai village with cattle, adjacent to national park
En route there were many groups of Maasai teenagers aged 13-18 years with painted faces, recently circumcised.  We gave a group US$1 for a photo at the entrance to Serengeti.  A ranger appeared and chased them away.


Once inside Freddy left us at a lunch spot while he spent an hour doing the paperwork.  We walked up to a lookout for our first views over Serengeti.