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Hi from Tanzania, which in some ways will be a sequel to the Kenya report. But in The Empire Strikes Back way, not the The Return of the Jedi way, hopefully. We didn't want to like Tanzania, because its government made us drive an extra eight hours just to get into the Serengeti National Park. And we ended up doing a whole lot more driving to get around this vast land, on bumpy dirt roads which made Kenya's roads look like freeways. Nevertheless, once you get to its destinations Tanzania overwhelms you with its beauty.
Serengeti is five times larger than Masai Mara NP. So we drove a lot more. But we also saw a lot of animals, even if most of the great herds of wildebeest had still not arrived in the central part of the park where we stayed. There were heaps of cats, and we got close to seeing a kill on plenty of occasions. But still no cigar after a close shave between a pride of lions and some wildebeest. We did get to see some lions mating, which was some consolation. And we did feel the adrenaline rush of watching several predator and prey situations. It really is hard for these guys to catch things. Still, the closest thing to real danger after a day of watching seriously wild animals was when Geoff stepped on a bee getting out of the lodge's pool.
After two days in Serengeti we drove 8 hours (first through the park and then past Olduvai Gorge where the oldest human fossils have been found) to Ngorogoro Crater. This huge caldera (like a volcanic crater) houses a 350sq km park encircled by a mountain range which is covered in rainforest, like a tropical coliseum, making for dramatic scenery. And we finally saw, as well as four of the big 5, our first kill, when a cheetah ran down a rabbit (well at least we saw one, and man can those things move). And the hotel was great, nice rooms and strong gnt's with a view over the crater at sunset. The staff, as in all the hotels, were very friendly, loved talking about 'dee animools', and sang beautiful harmonies after dinner. These guys seemed seriously happy to have work. And when you drive through African countries and see the rural poverty you can understand why. It is hard to see but at least by traveling we've felt we're making a tiny difference by providing employment, tips and the occasional food (tourism is the major industry in the areas we've visited).
After two nights at Ngorogoro we drove through mist to Lake Manyara National Park, where the weather fined up to allow us a great view from our hotel over the park and a much reduced lake (we were in Tanzania during a dry season). Nonetheless the park was beautiful and had some nice animals including species of monkeys we hadn't seen before, as well as the much sought after pink flamingos (in the distance on the lake). It was a nice way to end our safari, which yielded many special moments. Geoff is happy to have finally seen East Africa and its famous parks. And Gi is totally converted to safari. Unfortunately it is expensive and somewhat hard yakka so it'll be a while before we do it again.
To unwind we did like American GI's and headed for the beaches, in this case, Zanzibar, which Geoff's wanted to visit for seven years since a raft of expats on his last visit to Africa sung its praises as heaven on earth. Naturally the island had certain expectations to live up to, particularly as we celebrated our second anniversary there. And it is beautiful, an iconic island paradise on a warm and crystal clear Indian Ocean with golden, fine sandy beaches fringed by coconut palms. But! The weather sucked. We were unlucky. It rained a lot, the only really fine day being 10/10 (our anniversary) which was kind of the weather gods. And the hotel gave us a beautiful dining hut on the beach. But the rest of the time we did a lot of rain watching, which was at least a fine way to unwind.
Talking gods, during our time on Zanzibar, an Islamic state, Geoff would point out to Gi the speakers on the towers of Mosques and say : "That's where the imam (priest) broadcasts the muezzin (call to prayer)." Gi would grunt disinterestedly. On our last day in Zanzibar, in Old Stonetown, there was a speaker right underneath our hotel which began blaring the muezzin at 5am, never a good time to wake Gi. The call to prayer was answered in most unholy Portuguese by our harried heroine. Oh well. Stonetown did have some interesting architecture (centuries old windy lanes) but the wakeup call we didn't order and the slave museum (the dungeon which housed a hundred people was the size of a small wine cellar) and only feet tall, unfortunately left perhaps the most lasting impressions. Still, travel isn't and probably shouldn't be all roses, and it was something worth seeing.
So we said goodbye to East Africa by way of a couple of flights, one a light plane which was quite some ride. We saw a lot of animals, a lot of beauty and met some cool people. We also saw a lot of poverty. The region has a long way to go. And on a personal level our behinds were happy to see the behind of the place. But it is magic. We'll go back.
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