Dear Friends,
I know that reading anecdotes of other people's vacations can be about as scintillating as pouring over photographs of other people's grandchildren. Believe me when I say that Tanzania is a very special place and this trip was one of the richest experiences we have ever had. This first installment is lengthy, but I'll stay with highlights for subsequent e-mails, okay? Photos are: Baubab tree (about 700 years old), water buffalo, coffee trees, elephants, Tarangire River, street market
Tanzania Day One:
After spending literally 18 hours of actual air time inside a jet, we finally arrived in Kilimanjaro, met our guide Ephata, and were summarily squired to our first night of recuperation at The Coffee Plantation of Arusha. Ephata's attempts at friendliness were unfortunately met with grunts and yawns; my head felt like a rubik cube from jet lag.
The Coffee Plantation was lovely and so completely modern that I realized that this trip was going to teach me many lessons about judging the proverbial book by it's position on the world map. The room was appointed with a sumptuous king sized bed shrouded with the ubiquitous mosquito netting. The bathroom was elegant with glass counter tops that looked like coffee beans fossilized in amber and up lit with golden light.
In the morning, we were awakened by the music of an exotic song bird perched in the coffee trees just beyond our window. We ate a wonderful buffet breakfast (rather English style) by a shallow pool with a mosaic design of flowers at the bottom...The best coffee imaginable (having been grown right outside our door). In fact we learned that they grow the coffee, but then send the beans to another country to be processed before returning the beans to Tanzania! No infrastructure for manufacturing one of their greatest exports.
We soon met up with Ephata and embarked on our journey toward Tarangire National Park for an all day game drive. We wended our way through the town of Arusha, a bustling place that seemed to be straddling the fence between African and western culture. The streets were teeming with women dressed in billowing long wrap skirts of brilliant colors and bold designs. Most also wore shawls that in no way matched the skirts and many wore head wraps of yet another design and bright color. Some wore the head wraps of Muslim women. (Tanzania has both Muslim and Christian as well as many tribal spiritual practices.)
The shops were open front concrete structures that lined the roadway. Woman sat on colorful blankets selling their fresh produce and woven clothing as passers by argued over the prices. The narrow streets were crammed with noisy cars with choking exhaust fumes (no rules about air pollution in Tanzania). The effect was surreal, that of a country experiencing the inexorable transformation to westernization while hanging on steadfastly to the vestiges of tribal life.
There are 126 tribes in Tanzania alone, each speaking it's own mother tongue! The Tanzanian government declared that Swahili would be the national language so that the descendants of the various tribes could communicate with one another. There is a very strong push to educate the children in private schools in Arusha (some paid for by American donors). These children, dressed in western school uniform, are a jolting contrast to the adult women in the market place.
As we drove through Tarangire I was baffled by the sheer number and variety of animals that we saw. I knew there would be animals, but they were everywhere.... so visible, not like the shy animals of the North American forests. Around every bend in the bumpy road we would find a group of elephants assaulting the trees, eating every bit of green they could get their trunks on!
(An aside about elephants: Apparently they are such indiscriminate eaters and their gastric system is so inefficient that they digest only 30% of what they consume. Their dung resembles little bails of hay and is coveted by the native tribes for its healing properties. There are so many different herbs in the elephant poop that it can be smoked and used to cure all kinds of fever (including malaria). Ha! No thanks, I'll take the malaria!!!!)
Gene was snapping photos like there was no tomorrow. Finally Ephata had to gently remind him that we had another 12 days and would see many such sights. We were completely in awe of simply seeing these creatures. I had imagined that we would have to lie in wait for a giraffe to come into our sight line. Who knew that they were so free, so unconcerned about the land cruisers roaming their territory?
Day one was the obsession with identifying.....
We saw wildebeest, zebras, water bucks, impalas, ostrich, giraffes, elephants. Our wise and patient Ephata answered our questions and told us many stories of the nature of the various animals in the wild. I'll share some of those in subsequent e-mails.
The day culminated with our arrival at the Tree Tops Tents just outside of Tarangire Park. These are literally tents that are on platforms up in the Baubab trees. We were greeted in the front by the entire staff of the place with a most warm and welcome, "Jambo," (hello in Swahili), handed a cold glass of Baubab juice, and a wet towel drenched in Eucalyptus for our dusty hands and faces.
More about these fabulous tents later....
We had a lovely dinner on the veranda as we watched the silhouette of hippo against the blood red African sunset!
I know that reading anecdotes of other people's vacations can be about as scintillating as pouring over photographs of other people's grandchildren. Believe me when I say that Tanzania is a very special place and this trip was one of the richest experiences we have ever had. This first installment is lengthy, but I'll stay with highlights for subsequent e-mails, okay? Photos are: Baubab tree (about 700 years old), water buffalo, coffee trees, elephants, Tarangire River, street market
Tanzania Day One:
After spending literally 18 hours of actual air time inside a jet, we finally arrived in Kilimanjaro, met our guide Ephata, and were summarily squired to our first night of recuperation at The Coffee Plantation of Arusha. Ephata's attempts at friendliness were unfortunately met with grunts and yawns; my head felt like a rubik cube from jet lag.
The Coffee Plantation was lovely and so completely modern that I realized that this trip was going to teach me many lessons about judging the proverbial book by it's position on the world map. The room was appointed with a sumptuous king sized bed shrouded with the ubiquitous mosquito netting. The bathroom was elegant with glass counter tops that looked like coffee beans fossilized in amber and up lit with golden light.
In the morning, we were awakened by the music of an exotic song bird perched in the coffee trees just beyond our window. We ate a wonderful buffet breakfast (rather English style) by a shallow pool with a mosaic design of flowers at the bottom...The best coffee imaginable (having been grown right outside our door). In fact we learned that they grow the coffee, but then send the beans to another country to be processed before returning the beans to Tanzania! No infrastructure for manufacturing one of their greatest exports.
We soon met up with Ephata and embarked on our journey toward Tarangire National Park for an all day game drive. We wended our way through the town of Arusha, a bustling place that seemed to be straddling the fence between African and western culture. The streets were teeming with women dressed in billowing long wrap skirts of brilliant colors and bold designs. Most also wore shawls that in no way matched the skirts and many wore head wraps of yet another design and bright color. Some wore the head wraps of Muslim women. (Tanzania has both Muslim and Christian as well as many tribal spiritual practices.)
The shops were open front concrete structures that lined the roadway. Woman sat on colorful blankets selling their fresh produce and woven clothing as passers by argued over the prices. The narrow streets were crammed with noisy cars with choking exhaust fumes (no rules about air pollution in Tanzania). The effect was surreal, that of a country experiencing the inexorable transformation to westernization while hanging on steadfastly to the vestiges of tribal life.
There are 126 tribes in Tanzania alone, each speaking it's own mother tongue! The Tanzanian government declared that Swahili would be the national language so that the descendants of the various tribes could communicate with one another. There is a very strong push to educate the children in private schools in Arusha (some paid for by American donors). These children, dressed in western school uniform, are a jolting contrast to the adult women in the market place.
As we drove through Tarangire I was baffled by the sheer number and variety of animals that we saw. I knew there would be animals, but they were everywhere.... so visible, not like the shy animals of the North American forests. Around every bend in the bumpy road we would find a group of elephants assaulting the trees, eating every bit of green they could get their trunks on!
(An aside about elephants: Apparently they are such indiscriminate eaters and their gastric system is so inefficient that they digest only 30% of what they consume. Their dung resembles little bails of hay and is coveted by the native tribes for its healing properties. There are so many different herbs in the elephant poop that it can be smoked and used to cure all kinds of fever (including malaria). Ha! No thanks, I'll take the malaria!!!!)
Gene was snapping photos like there was no tomorrow. Finally Ephata had to gently remind him that we had another 12 days and would see many such sights. We were completely in awe of simply seeing these creatures. I had imagined that we would have to lie in wait for a giraffe to come into our sight line. Who knew that they were so free, so unconcerned about the land cruisers roaming their territory?
Day one was the obsession with identifying.....
We saw wildebeest, zebras, water bucks, impalas, ostrich, giraffes, elephants. Our wise and patient Ephata answered our questions and told us many stories of the nature of the various animals in the wild. I'll share some of those in subsequent e-mails.
The day culminated with our arrival at the Tree Tops Tents just outside of Tarangire Park. These are literally tents that are on platforms up in the Baubab trees. We were greeted in the front by the entire staff of the place with a most warm and welcome, "Jambo," (hello in Swahili), handed a cold glass of Baubab juice, and a wet towel drenched in Eucalyptus for our dusty hands and faces.
More about these fabulous tents later....
We had a lovely dinner on the veranda as we watched the silhouette of hippo against the blood red African sunset!
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