A safari in Tanzania with a visit to the parks of the north

Parks of northern Tanzania in April May 2010
From April 20 to May 2, 2010.

Route: it was from Milan Linate (departure at 16.00), but because we started from Fiumicino-volcano Kilimanjaro Airport (arrival at 13:55), then Parks Arusha NP, Tarangire NP, Lake Manyara NP, Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro NP, Lake Eyasi, Arusha, Kilimanjaro airport (departure at 15.50) Milan-Linate Airport (arrival at 11.10)

Tourists do it yourself, couple "young", no tour operators, direct contact with a local guide recommended by another couple who had been last year. Basically we were two more driver and cook. The route we have always brought us up signs of the pair last year that we have contacted them after reading the diary, the guide then gave us some suggestions that we have accepted.
We spent more or less than 2500 euro a head flying safari, tips, travel for 12 days.

Viewed: 50 € Tanzanian Consulate in Milan

Vaccinations: malaria prophylaxis, typhoid and hepatitis

Batteries need a charger for the cigarette lighter of the car, needless to seek outlets, we had two batteries each, one-to-use and charging while on the move, even though it was useless because the camera we have " lost ...

Safari Tent, igloo type of thick canvas, the budget is a comfortable mattress for me, uncomfortable to Clare, a sleeping bag we took him to us, the tent we rode the kids, field kitchen, the water is not drinkable and that we used in the bottles of which we had an escort and the bathrooms are clean camping sites, very Spartan and hot water for the shower is almost always, you eat the European way, or at least what I think is European-style food ; bring toilet paper and towels, bidet unknown; need flashlight or better yet to put in the head, the tip is mandatory, we gave $ 100 and 60 to guide the cook at the end of the tour.

Money: we could leave behind a credit card, we have taken shillings from ATMs in Arusha for our small expense, during the safari we did not say anything, partly because there was nothing to buy ... the rest in U.S. dollars cash. Attention to the euro that are evaluated by a "creative exchange" on a par with dollars, except, of course, banks.

Off-road: a beautiful Toyotona large and spacious, not brand new, with the roof open to stand up and protect us from the sun, we were only two so we have not hampered, but I saw the other car and up to four people is comfortable. The roads are very bad, especially towards the Serengeti, Clare had a little 'car sick, but I was not too well ... but the first lions rose more ... Although we were not with an agency, our guide was always in contact with other drivers via radio, so we were always informed of the sightings, although very often we were to call the other ... We have a flat tire, but it was a foreseeable problem and solved in 40 minutes.

Flight: Ethiopian Airlines, the airport (Addis Ababa) made us lose some time, especially in the return leg at Fiumicino as we went by train because the Icelandic volcano, but the arrival at Kilimanjaro is convenient because in a ' now we were in Arusha. We saw the plane Kilimanjaro: wonderful and very rare, because we were always immersed in the clouds ...

Concluding remarks: before leaving doubts on custody in a local guide, not certified, we have had virtually unknown, but in the end the choice away from the official tour operator has been our best travel experience. Roman, to whom we had only the mail was always very polite and earnest in his work, and we soon had a wonderful time, making a budget almost in a safari luxury safari ... A few years ago we were in Namibia, but with a tour operator "official" that still had the strict schedules to follow. With Roman now it seemed to really travel with a friend who knows his country and wants to show you the best. Roman tried where possible to satisfy all our requests, and when we met other tourists in the camp we really have not noticed any difference in substance in the itinerary, the organization and management of the safari. The publicity because we do not deserve it really!
The only downside was the loss of the camera, not our fault, but never mind, it means that we will come back, the bad photos are those made with the phone. I leave here the Roman Raphael email to contact him directly:
romantanzania@yahoo.com or realblackmaninafrica@hotmail.com
Lorenzo e Chiara
if you need more information write to Lorenzo.Fini67 @ gmail.com

 

Arusha

And now the itinerary:
April 21, Arusha
Arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport at 14.30. The bags are not discounted. Pick us up and lead us into the office to pay, $ 1000 we had anticipated. Of course, in dollars and in cash. Then take us to the Hotel we had booked, economic loooong ... just to acclimatize. It's called Annex Hotel. Free afternoon for the city, the market is very near, indeed that neighborhood seems a bit 'all a market. We withdrew after dark because the city is also very dark. Dinner all'Annex, bell'esperienza. Pretty cool at night, cloudy and humid.

Arusha National Park

April 22, Arusha National Park
We start at 9 in the first game drive. In half an hour we are there, the weather is cool and cloudy, should always seems to rain, but no rain. The guide presents the Ranger who accompanies us for the walk, which should be of three hours but it will be just two ... the man of few words, armed and peaceful, and we are calm, in the park but there are lions, we gave a tip of $ 5. After seeing buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and antelopes back entrance for lunch "picnic box. Then into the evening game drive where we see the Ngurdoto Crater, filled with grazing animals and Momella Lakes. It 's all very green, and even a few flowers. We also see the Colobus Monkeys are two-tone, very shy. Return to the campsite, the impact is good, the tents are already mounted and we have dinner together with other tourists in a common area, improves the time, but the sleeping bag goose down is a good idea.

Tarangire National Park

April 23, Tarangire National Park
We start after breakfast. An incredibly high road, and paved with lines on the ground. We supply of water in a large European-style supermarket, and here if you forgot something is the only opportunity to buy. For peace of mind we have 12 bottles of one liter emmezzo. We arrive at the Campsite Kigongoni, nice and clean, unload everything and while the chef prepares the field and the dinner we enter the park. Elephants, elephants, elephants. Small, large, alone, in groups, quiet, angry, taking the bath, drinking ... and many think they are annoying sand flies that flies sleep disease ", we dive nell'Autan. There is the Tarangire river full of water with zebras, buffalo and various antelope. From an observation point at the top we see a lively "discussion" between a buffalo and un'elefante. Some lioness relaxed. In the evening you return to the camp where everything is ready. Still cool and cloudy.

Tarangire National Park

April 24, Tarangire National Park-River Mosquito
After breakfast, still in the park, lunch in a private area, shaded by giant acacia trees, although not closed, where among other property you see a large snake, probably a python, but all are quiet and then we decide we do not worry. In the late afternoon we return, we help sbaraccare hour of track and we are in a bustling village, published in Mosquito River, and spend the night in a room of a true "resort" with private bathroom and swimming pool, dinner Our chef prepares always eat in the restaurant but common there until a late hour we talk with Korean tourists really UFOs. Several mosquitoes till eight then the cold has driven the ...

Lake Manyara

April 25, Lake Manyara National Park
After breakfast, we notice that the park is really close and the road is still good. Lots of birds, see the picture after we fill a book ... We also see a pair of leopards in the trees, but still far enough away. The lake is a green expanse, we see the flamingos, many of them. Our guide takes us there where we ask, except where prohibited, and only once has told us to do, "the Neapolitan" taking a path not marked ... In the forest near the Rift Valley several baboons always very busy. We were still seeing a puddle of water with the hippos at least an hour and we finally heard in National Geographic documentaries. Our guide, thanks to radio, where he took us to see the animals that could be in action, also had with him un'atlante birds really useful. Almost seen leopard. The sky was a bit 'cloudy and we got the jackets, but it did not rain. Late afternoon return, along with the Koreans have done a tour of the city, and the stalls in the market to buy some 'stuff to take home, there was even an internet point. Dinner and still stay in the resort.

Lake Manyara

April 26, Lake Manyara, Serengeti National Park
We start after breakfast, we salute the Koreans, then you drive all day to get in the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater along the ridge, I do not understand why we can not turn around, because everything is flat ... However, the good road ends abruptly at the entrance of the Conservation Area and becomes a dirt track with potholes impressive ... proceed at a crawl. Windows closed until the dust that penetrates through your clothes. After the first 2000 meters of the crater, back down, but the road improves. We stopped for lunch "picnic box entrance to the Serengeti, an oasis of civilization in the middle of the savannah. There is a bit 'of overcrowding at the checkout, so we stopped for over an hour, but at least let your stomach time to stop after the jolts of the road ... We set off again towards the campsite and the trail is our game drive, in fact sight immediately antelopes, zebras and giraffes that an impressive number of curiously went on the same side. Deviation for a tip on the radio and off to see a pair of young male rhino, quite rare. While we are still around the other side and I see a cheetah who ran away on the sly. So is the Serengeti. A group of lions was eating what remains of a wildebeest ... and the usual cazzeggiano hippos in the pool of water, always on the road. We arrive at Seronera Camp. As we shower, clean bathrooms, we set up the tent and prepare dinner. You eat in an area protected by a network to keep out animals for food. Few mosquitoes. At night it is better to go out with the battery and look good around the camp is not fenced.

Serengeti

April 27, Serengeti
We wake up early and head north to the Grumeti river, we see from afar some vultures flying in the same place and we go there always accompanied by the radio. We see many herds of wildebeest and zebras on the move are enormous but not endless as we expected, the guide tells us it is a kind of rearguard and with the little time we have to be lucky to see something of the migration of animals. We arrive at the river or its tributary, since it is not very great, and actually see wade by many animals, with binoculars you can see the crocodiles on hold. We are very excited, but on TV they make you see everything very focused, in fact, the times are those of nature, so we only saw a zebra caught and dragged underneath. Some lions watching, but you see I was not hungry and did not move all the time. In the evening we return, and we see other leopards and hyenas, the trip was long but it was worth it.

Serengeti - Ngorongoro

April 28, Serengeti - Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Wake up early, breakfast, last game drive and then came back for a quick lunch, and you sbaraccare way to the Ngorongoro. Other herds, other lions, leopards other, a pair of small dragons and so on ... Farewell and your endless Serengeti plains. The way we know already, is the same bad came. We arrived at night with all the internal shakes, fits the tent, we dress like Eskimos and do a tour of the Camp Simba. It 's wonderful because it's right on the edge of the crater with a breathtaking view and all the live sounds of the savannah: trumpeting, roaring, screeching, the sound of broken branches ... The camp is surrounded by forest, which slopes towards the crater, and heads out of the forest buffalo, elephants that come to water to the tank of the bathrooms ... In short, the evening was pleasant with the cold because we were all together until late at night drinking with other tourists and then the Canadian and Australian irresistible and hysterical laughter coming out from each tent every suspicious noise ... However, nothing happened.

Ngorongoro - Eyasi

April 29, Ngorongoro - Eyasi,
Breakfast, do a little 'destroyed. It starts early, always plenty of clothes, down a steep road and crazy down the ridge, came down we immediately realize that the place is popular with tourists and traffic immediately began to get nervous ... try to avoid the most beaten tracks but it is true that being a relatively closed we have more chance of seeing more action scenes, in fact in the late morning we see a shooting of three lions who have chosen their prey in a herd of wildebeests . Gnamm! Around them were at least fifteen cars ... The park is very beautiful, green and full of red and yellow flowers with herds and predators, very different from areas as far as the eye of the Serengeti. Now begins to make quite hot, even if you see the clouds come from the crater rim, lunch with the "box lunch" on the shore of a lake full of birds that attack us from above if they see you eat ... Then in mid-afternoon return, is dismantled, it loads everything and start again, we do not have time to draw breath on the road that we take another dirt road to the Lake Eyasi, the landscape is varied, in places reminiscent of the Tuscany ... Then back to the bush sometimes yellow and sometimes green. The road passes through groups of poor huts, and children chasing us for short stretches, the poverty is immense. Let's stop talking and the windows are closed and the dust is not to try to see and feel the suffering of those lives, basically we're just tourists ... We arrive at dusk in a fenced yard that could also be called a campsite, to say the truth seems a parking lot. In the midst of an acacia dream and there under your tent. I had read about our "diary / guide" that the bathroom was "unusable", well, it really was! But we have accepted as a way to better understand the local situation. Later there's 4 other German tourists, but they were not very sociable. Dinner and we go to bed early, our guide Roman, if there are nearby villages goes to drink a beer and greet friends.

Lake Eyasi

April 30, Lake Eyasi
We wake up before dawn, along with another local guide and go to "search for" Hadzabe. This is because they do not live in villages and moving constantly. The trip takes about an hour of non-road, there seemed to be advancing at random, including large parts of the lake and rivers that cross it, but apparently we were wrong because at some point we stop, we go behind a bush and we have the small tribes that will bring us to hunt. The impact is strong, also because it made me seem pretty bad, I do not know if malaria or chronic bronchitis in a few seconds and make fire with sticks and put the embers in a beautiful cilum full of marijuana, and has just sunrise! Meanwhile, the guide explains the uses and customs of this tribe, which is very similar to that we had already met Bushmen in the Kalahari in Namibia. Clear mandate for women to pack food that the guide had advised us to carry, while the children pack bracelets and necklaces. Here come the Germans who watch the greedy cilum more than listening to the lesson. Then start the "hunt" means Hadzabe run for the bush, we're behind him, the guide keeps talking, occasionally firing arrows: surreal. I soon find myself full of thorns. Then we stop and split their branches for us to taste the honey inside, not to seem too picky I think I've eaten some little bee, then we are trying to access the fire to us with sticks and I miraculously I can! take my brace off and another cilum marijuana while you cook the birds that have driven, a little taste, like eating the sparrows and return to the "field", actually sleeping on the floor and act like real primitive happy. Then he starts a show for tourists, although I do not look so nasty to make it look really fake. We danced with them, tried their bows, ate their food, their bought beads and smoked their maria: hard not to give him money .... The Germans have also bought the shoes, which were then spare tire ... And in the end we felt very cheated tourists. We ask our guide if Roman could see something real, and he makes a phone call and stop in a village without a name along the way, talk to someone, and visit a school for a few minutes. An unforgettable experience, and above all true. We greet all the children one by one and let the teacher $ 20, hoping that they go into the coffers of the school ....
We return to the good road and we stop for lunch at the resort near Lake Manyara. Now the road to Arusha is a real luxury ... Approaching the city begin to feel discomfort for the trafficking and "civilization." The guide takes us to the usual Annex Hotel now it seems the Hilton.

Arusha

May 1
Free morning in Arusha where we visit the market "souvenirs" and end up with empty pockets. The people are friendly, however, once you get rid of the pressure salesmanship. Then, unscheduled and surprise, Roman invites us to dinner at his home and his wife were preparing local dishes of rice that are quite different from what we ate during the safari, their kindness is very disarming and we're almost embarrassed and in the afternoon takes us to Kilimanjaro airport, this race was not included in the price and we paid for separately. Then return ....