Safari in Tanzania

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I joined a group organized by the Memphis Zoological Society to go on a safari in Tanzania. Excluding the traveling time to/from Tanzania, we spent 8 nights there. I joined the rest of the group at London Heathrow International Airport to take a Kenya Airways flight to Nairobi, Kenya. The overnight flight took about 8 hours, and the service on a Boeing 777 was great. After reaching Nairobi, we transferred to a twin-engine propeller plane for a short (about 1 hour) flight to the Kilimanjaro International Airport. We then transferred to safari vehicles and headed to our first hotel in Tanzania - Serena Mountain Village, a beautiful lodge in a coffee plantation near the city of Arusha. We would then go on a 9-day safari that would take us westward to the Lake Manyara National Park, Ngrongoro Crater and Conservation Area, and the Serengeti National Park. We would end up in the Western Corridor of the Serengeti Plain, near Lake Victoria, and then take a small propeller plane from an air strip near Camp Kirawira back to the Kilimanjaro International Airport for connections to Nairobi and then to London Heathrow.

Click here to view these photos as slide shows.

Arusha

We check into Serena Mountain Village which is set in a coffee plantation by Lake Duluti. After a nice lunch, we drive into the city of Arusha to visit the African Cultural and Heritage Center where many of the fellow travelers engaged in serious shopping. I received a free lesson in playing drums and the balafon, a xylophone like instrument. Upon return, some of us enjoyed exploring the hotel grounds, and then had a wonderful dinner. The night sky was marvelously clear with so many stars brightly shining! The Southern Cross was very easy to spot but most of the constellations were unfamiliar. The Big Dipper was, of course, inverted - unable to hold water.

Lake Duluti

Mountain Village

Main Highway

Banana Farm

Small Stores

Bicycle Shop

Roadside Market

Arusha

Mto Wa Mbu Village

On the second day, we drove to Lake Manyara to visit a clinic operated by a Lutheran Church and Mto Wa Mbu village, a microcosm of rural life in Tanzania. Because the soil is very fertile and water is readily available, this is a very productive farming area. We, also, visited a primary school in the village, where some of us donated school supplies. We had a very nice lunch among banana trees and acacia trees in the village.

Savanna

Maasai with Goats

and Cattle

Ostrich

Banana Farm

Bananas and

Banana Beer

Dried Banana

Leaves

House of

Mud Bricks

Drying Rice

Classroom

Lunch

Lake Manyara National Park

After the tour of the village, we checked into Manyara Serena Lodge which is located on the edge of the escarpment of the Great Lift Valley. Enjoyed a nature walk around the hotel and took it easy for the rest of the day.

The first two days were very slow, and some of us were becoming impatient to see the wild animals... Well, we would see them today!