African Safari in Tanzania

Part 1

Tonight I am sleeping under white mosquito netting. It sounds strange but this has always been a dream of mine. I'm in Africa.

We left Memphis Thursday morning. I am in Tanzania Friday night by way of Detroit and Amsterdam. "Take care of the boys," Papa said to me before we left Memphis. "They've never done anything like this," he said. "I haven't either," I laughed back. He teared up as he shook Alfred and Clayton's hands and gave me a hug. I've never seen my grandfather cry, but this was pretty close. He was sending three of his grandkids off to one of the places that changed his life and his perception of the world. It will probably change mine too.

Arusha town

We made it through the long flights and landed in Kilimanjaro airport this evening. Customs was a little hairy for me as the students in front of me kept having problems. I told the official I wasn't with their group and he didn't lecture me like he did the boy in front of me. I always get nervous going through customs, I have no idea why.

We walked out into the small airport parking lot, barely lit. Our group of 15 people divided into 3 jeeps and headed towards our accommodations. It took about an hour to get to the lodge, a coffee plantation near Arusha. I can't wait to see this place in the light.

They opened the huge iron gates for us. The reception area was well lit compared to what else we've seen of Arusha. (For a city of 600,000 it is very dark in my opinion.) The staff was very welcoming and carried each of our bags to our "rooms."

My room is basically a cabin. It is not attached to any other structure. The wood on the walls and floor is dark and smooth. The bed is a step up from the sitting area that faces three walls of windows. The bathroom is wonderful and exactly how I would lay out my bathroom. The colors of fabric and the textures are raw and earthy. I would build a house based on this "room."

Tomorrow we are meeting at 8am. Augustine, our in country guide, is taking us to Arusha National Park. It will be brisk and cool in the morning since we are at the base of the highest peak in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro. I do not know what to expect from the park tomorrow. I do not know what to expect from this trip at all.

This is the most foreign I've ever felt. Europe has their customs, Asia has their languages, but Africa is just wild. You can just smell it. It is similar to the adventure smell of camp when I was younger, but this grass, dirt, and fresh air is not the same as anything I've experienced before. I know each day is going to be a surprise.

Arusha National park

The first night was interesting. A bush baby cried all night. It sounds like a woman crying in pain. It scared me until our guide told me what it was the next morning at breakfast. We left the lodge and headed to Arusha National Park on the other side of town.

The city is very poor but very busy. Vendors are lined along the road with fruits and vegetables. Everyone is biking or walking between the Saturday markets. Kids are carrying bags of groceries or begging from cars. A lot of the men stare at our jeeps, the women look and turn away, the kids wave and yell out their best English phrases to us. I definitely think each generation has a different view of white people and colonialism. It's noticed driving down the road.

We made it to the park which is in the foothills of Mt. Meru. We could also see Mount Kilimanjaro off in the distance when the clouds cleared. It was much higher than I expected a 14,000 foot mountain to look. It may have been because the surrounding land is so much lower and flatter. There isn't a gradual incline of mountain range around, or trying to pick out one mountain in the middle of the Rockies.

Arusha was a small park but a great way to see some of our first animals. Giraffe, zebra, warthogs, cape buffalo, crown cranes, baboons, colobus monkeys, water bucks, flamingos, and Egyptian geese.

lake manyara & the great rift valley

We left the next morning and started the drive towards the Great Rift Valley. Along the way, we passed Masai villages, schools, and other small towns. The colors of cloth the Masai wear are so bright you can see them far away on the road. We saw little children watching over their herds of animals. The kids were probably only 6 or 8 years old. To have an important job like that at such a young age is something our American culture would never be able to adopt or understand.

Our lodge is on the eastern side of the Great Rift Valley. It is a straight vertical cliff that leads down to Lake Manyara. Our lodge is on the cliff essentially. It's amazing to look out the huts and see seven different ecosystems below us.

game drive

After we dropped bags and ate lunch overlooking the valley, we went for a short game drive. A lot of the area we drove through was lush and green because of the mountain streams that run through the area. We were so close to a group of elephants that they were walking between the Land Cruisers. At a hippo pool we got out and walked around. There we saw our first wildebeest and Thompson gazelles. The first of our grasslands animals. I know we will see thousands more.

We did two more game drives the following day and the animal list continues to grow with all the species we are seeing: impala, hornbills, Klipspringer, vervet monkeys, monitor lizard, dik dik, giraffe, bush buck, saddle back stork, jackals.

the village school

We left Manyara and drove west. We broke up the 3 hour drive and stopped at a village school. Even though we couldn't communicate without the translator helping us, everyone knew what a smile meant. They sang for us and we got to ask each other questions about how we live and how they live, what our houses look like, what I learned in school at their age, if I have a car, if my dogs look like their dogs. Kids are so curious and innocent. It was great to hear their outlook of the world and their town. Plus, stretching your legs from the car ride and playing tag with them is never boring.