Africa is the rich continent of colors, noises, flavors and odors. I cannot stop admiring its beautiful nature, rich with many kinds of animals. I love especially big cats and elephants. This time I travelled to Tanzania that I had dreamed of for a long time. Over two decades ago I visited Kenya. That trip is one of my best trips and I have called Kenya the pearl of Africa. So I though that Tanzania is more or less the same. But I must say that Kenya stays as special target in my memories. Maybe because I travelled there with a good friend of mine who had lived in the country for years and we had our own schcedule during two weeks. This time I had bought a package tour and although we were only four of us and the guide and the driver, the visit was quite touristy. Also in Africa nowadays we can see the effects of mass tourism.
I had a long flight via Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro. When we arrived it was an evening and the following day it was cloudy, so we could not see the mountain. From Arusha we drove to Tarangire national park. Very close to the park area we had accommodation in Tarangire River Camp. It was great to sleep in a tent because so you hear well many sounds of the night life: birds, insects, hyenas and even lions. There was a whistle by the bed in case of emergency. In Tarangire national park we observed herds of elephants.
After Tarangire we headed to Ngorongoro national park. The crater forms the limited area which is a sort of natural zoo, including all kinds of African animals. But there were also many vehicles of tourists. Anyway, I enjoyed the visit and especially admired the lovely couple of lions.
We also heard about Lake Manyara and its lions in trees but we didn't see those lions. We saw the whole area from the viewpoint. The national parks in Tanzania have no fences, so animals can move from one place to another although it can be risky for them in the areas populated by humans.
From Arusha we took an internal flight to Zanzibar. There Tanzania has a very different face, affected by Arabian culture. Zanzibar is famous of history of slavery, so we can see the variation of peoples in its streets even nowadays. Anyway, first we relaxed on the white beaches in northern part of island. The Flame Tree Cottage was a lovely spot. Its restaurant by the beach had an excellent location to admire the sea and the sunset. The first evening we celebrated our independence day by having a special dinner in that restaurant: table clothes were blue and white like our flag but food was seafood. We enjoyed the nice breeze from the sea and the sky full of stars. The following day was for relaxing and massage. After that day I needed action and snorkeling was a must in that area to see the coral reefs. It was also fun to sail in an old type of dhow.
At the end of our journey we moved to an old and nicely renovated Hotel Dhow Palace in the Stone Town. We made a tour in narrow streets of the old town and visited its historical landmarks. Because most people are muslims, most women were veiled and many used even black clothes. On the other hand, many women dressed colorfully in African patterns. It was very hot and humid, too hot for me! Fortunately there was an air conditioning in the hotel room. The room was lovely and I had the seascape from the balcony. In the evening I ate quite well local food in a restaurant and had a walk at the seafront promenade. It was a special evening and many people were out. There was plenty of street food at hand.
Tanzania is the land of safaris, African nature at its best, and it's the land of white beaches. Very much like Kenya but anyway, different from neighbor because it has its own history.
