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 café 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.
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| Masai village |
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| Manyara village tourist shops | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| 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. | | | | |
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| 2 silvery-cheeked hornbills |
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| Blue monkey |
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| 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.
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| Ground hornbills, as large as turkeys |
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| African jacana |
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| Cardinal woodpecker |
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| Cinnamon-chested bee-eater |
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| Emerald-spotted dove |
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| Juvenile fish eagle |
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| Long-tailed fiscal |
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| Malachite kingfisher - tiny |
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| Pipit ? |
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| Red and yellow barbet |
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| Red-billed hornbill |
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| Pelicans and saddle-billed storks |
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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.
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| 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.
